Friday, July 6, 2012

Review: Black Diamond Death


Title - Black Diamond Death
Author - Cheryl Bradshaw
Genre - Mystery
Stand Alone or Series - Book 1 in the Sloane Monroe Series
Publication - March 9th 2011
Format - Kindle

Synopsis
"IN A PANIC I GASPED FOR AIR, BUT THERE WASN'T ANY. I TRIED TO CRY OUT, BUT I WAS ALONE, AND IN MY HYSTERIA IT HIT ME. I HAD FELT A SIMILAR FEELING BEFORE--LIKE MY BODY WAS GIVING OUT ON ME, AND I KNEW WHAT IT MEANT. I WAS DYING"

Enter the world of Sloane Monroe in Black Diamond Death....

A SKIER CRASHES

On the slopes of Park City, Utah's newest ski resort a woman is found dead. At first glance, it has all the makings of an accident. The victim, Charlotte Halliwell, collided with a tree as she schussed her way to the bottom of the hill. But what if her death wasn't a accident at all--what if she was murdered?

A SISTER IS ON A MISSION

In Black Diamond Death, Audrey Halliwell faces a problem: finding someone who believes her story.

Enter Private Investigator Sloane Monroe.

When Audrey marches into Sloane's office with claims her sister's death was no accident Sloane is skeptical at first, but agrees to take the case. With little to go on, she questions the people in Charlotte's life and discovers Parker Stanton, a jilted ex-fiance with plenty to hide, and as the son of a prominent businessman, he will go to any lengths to protect his secrets.

A SECOND BODY IS FOUND

Just as Sloane feels she's close to solving the case she stumbles on another dead body and is forced to re-examine the clues from the beginning, but she must tread lightly. With the killer aware that Sloane will stop at nothing to find him, her life is in danger and her every move is being tracked. Will Sloane uncover the truth before he strikes again?

Review
I actually received the third book in this series from the author, I won it off librarything without knowing it was the third. I had to catch up and I'm very glad I did. This is the first in the series of Sloane Monroe Mysteries.

The book starts out with the murder of Charlotte Halliwell, but is set up to appear as a accident, but her sister knows it wasn't a accident. She hires Sloane Monroe to solve the murder of her sister, so she can have move on. This brings back lots of memories for Sloane because her own sister was murdered. While her sisters case may never have been solved, it just makes Sloane work harder as a P.I. She's not you typical tough nose private investigator either, she wears flip flops in the snow because she loves the warmer weather, and has a little Westie nicknamed Boo.

Charlotte was a local celebrity, she was a world champion downhill skier, she also was top in her career as a real estate agent. Many companies had attempted to woo her from her current place of work, her face was everywhere. She also had recently ended it with her cheating fiance Parker Stanton.

Sloane takes the case and quickly learns that somethings aren't as they appear, she quickly finds that Parker has a nasty side with his woman, and he wasn't cheating with just one but many. Sloane saves one of his many girls from getting beaten, only to suspect that Parker killed Charlotte because she broke off the engagement. However he has a alibi that clears him of her murder, so Sloane continues to search for a killer. Along the way she finds another body, Charlotte's friend who knows more then she lets on, and a secret that changed everything.

Sloane Monroe is well developed character you instantly like her, she's not perfect but who is but she's good at what she does. The book is a great first boo because she has a client dealing with the murder of her sister just like Sloane went through, I felt like it let Sloane grow more as character through the book, she learned from Audrey that she has to let go and move on, letting her open up to love. She's charming but not afraid to break a few bones in the process. I really enjoyed this book, I think if Sloane didn't have the personality she did I wouldn't be so in love with who she is.

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