Customer Reviews

Driven to Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery

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This book is much improved over the last two in the series - Pretty in Ink and Missing in Ink. Those books suffered from an overabundance of characters and fairly convoluted plots that were hard to keep track of. This book is much better (although not perfect), and it's the unique subject (tattoos) and setting (glitzy Las Vegas) that keep me coming back to this series. The same main characters are all back, Brett Kavanaugh, a Vegas tattoo artist with a penchant for finding dead bodies, her brother Tim (a detective), and her assortment of friends and coworkers. In this installment Brett discovers a body in her trunk and the mystery is: who is this dead man and how did he end up in her trunk? The case takes Brett and her frenemy Jeff Coleman throughout Vegas looking for answers. The relationship/friendship between Brett and Jeff is at the forefront of this book as mainly it's the two of them doing the legwork; Jeff's mother and stepfather are somehow involved with the crime, so he has a vested interest in the outcome. There are a few loose ends that remain at the end of the book (did Sylvia and Bernie stay together or not?), but overall it's much improved from the last two books. There are fewer characters and a tighter plot.

For the third time, Las Vegas tattoo artist managers to get herself mixed up with dead bodies, this time in page one of Karen E. Olson's latest tattoo shop mystery. After lending her car to elderly couple Sylvia and Bernie, friends of her rival tattoo artist and pal Jeff Coleman, she finds a dead body in her trunk with a That's Amore tattoo, plus a dead rat. The corpse was one of several Dean Martin impersonators at, yes, a wedding chapel called That's Amore, and she soon winds up immersed in yet another case where similar tattoos appear and she gets sent all over Las Vegas and the surrounding area to try to unravel the mystery.

I don't want to give too much away except to say that the pace is, once again, perfectly fast and keeps you guessing, while adding another layer of mystery to Brett's romantic life, as she flirts with doctor Colin Bixby. However, there were so many characters in this one that I had a little trouble keeping track of them, but I still greatly enjoyed it, especially as Brett questioned whether she would make a good detective while watching her cop brother Tim work and puzzling over little clue she'd noticed. Olson does an especially good job of making tattoos--and in this case, tattoo equipment--a part of the mystery. I also liked getting a little insight into Brett and a look at her staff - I hope to see more of Bitsy. I'm looking forward to the next installment, Ink Flamingoes!

Karen E. Olson's DRIVEN TO INK is set in Las Vegas where impersonators of the Rat Pack are performing nightly at clubs all over town. The trouble is - not all are alive, and it takes a dead body in a loaner car trunk to involve Brett in the investigation of foul play.

you won't choose wrong with brett as your co pilot. the info about las vegas is interesting and it is well written! i really love it and i want more!

Karen E. Olson, the author of the Annie Seymour Mysteries, here brings back for her third appearance Brett Kavanaugh, owner of her own tattoo shop, The Painted Lady, in Las Vegas. As the book opens, Brett calls Jeff Coleman, her almost-boyfriend, to tell him that Jeff's mother, Sylvia, who had borrowed Brett's car to marry Bernie Applebaum in one of the ubiquitous wedding chapels that abound in Vegas, had returned the car with a little something extra: A dead body in the trunk. Wearing a tuxedo, no less.

Brett is the daughter and sister of cops; in fact, she shares her home with her detective brother, Tim. Jeff is actually a competitor of Brett, running a tattoo shop specializing in `flash,' or stock tattoos, whereas Brett does only custom designs in her shop on the Strip in Vegas. She has come to L.V. by way of the Philadelphia University of the Arts, having ultimately decided "if I couldn't set up an easel along the Seine in Paris, then I'd tattoo body parts in northern New Jersey" but, at 22, when the opportunity arose to own her own shop in Vegas, she jumped at the chance. A redhead nearly six feet tall, she cuts a striking figure.

It is determined that the dead man was one of several Dean Martins employed at a drive-through wedding chapel, and is also one of several characters in the tale who, by book's end, have had the words "That's Amore" tattooed on various body parts. Appropriately, that's also the name of said wedding chapel. When three people go missing, including the new bride and groom, matters escalate. It begins to look as though someone is trying to kill all the Dean Martin impersonators. As is her nature, Brett decides to investigate, all warnings from brother Tim and the detective assigned to the murder notwithstanding.

The author captures the glitz of Vegas, as well as the aura of desperation in the casinos. I did feel that the book could have benefited from some tightening, with a bit less rehashing of the various points in the story line, though I must admit it was still difficult to keep everyone and everything straight. As in the previous entries in the series, the teachings of Sister Mary Eucharista are frequently invoked, to amusing effect, always provoking smiles. Brett is a funny, clever gal, words that also describe the books in which she appears, which are always entertaining.

Brett finds a body in the trunk of her car after she loans it to Sylvia. When Jeff is concerned about his mother's whereabouts, and despite her brother's request, Brett once again gets involved in a police investigation. The more Brett gets closer, the more the killer is determined to stop her. The plot, the cast of characters and the non-stop action kept me turning the pages until the killer was revealed with some surprising twists. You don't have to know anything about tattooing to enjoy this colorful story.

A Tattoo Shop Mystery
Obsidian Mystery
Release Date September 7, 2010
3rd Book In Series

This series features tattoo artist, Brett Kavanaugh, who owns The Painted Lady tattoo shop that caters to high class clientele, she doesn't do "flash". Her shop is in a ritzy mall in Las Vegas and from the outside looks more like an art gallery than a tattoo parlor. She lives with her brother who is a detective for the Las Vegas police.

Her employees include Bitsy who is a little person, but acts 10 feet tall, you don't want to mess with her. Joel is a big man, very overweight and always on a diet, with a long braid that reaches his waist, and a soft voice. You may picture him on a Harley until you hear him talk. And Ace, who is a frustrated artist, doing tattoos to earn the money he needs to live while creating comic book style paintings, some of which grace the walls of The Painted Lady.

This edition doesn't take long to grab your attention. In the very first paragraph Brett finds a dead body in the trunk of her treasured Bullitt Mustang. Las Vegas is the home of the quickie wedding ceremony and Brett had lent her car to an elderly friend, Sylvia, a former tattoo shop owner, to use for her Drive-Thru Wedding. She never expected it to come back with a trunk full of trouble. The body is identified as a Dean Martin impersonator from the wedding chapel, That's Amore. The elderly newlyweds are nowhere to be found, and than dead man had been strangled with a "clip cord", a power cord for a tattoo machine, that may have come from Brett's shop.

Before the "ink" is dry on the police report Brett jumps right into investigating the murder, much to the dissatisfaction of her brother and the detective assigned to the case. She even teams up with the competition, Sylvia's son, who has taken over her business, and goes undercover posing as a couple wanting to get married to find out what is really going on at the wedding chapel. They need to be careful or instead of crooning out Dean's famous tune "That's Amore" they maybe singing another of his famous tunes "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?".

I LOVED IT!!!!!
I didn't expect to like this series or this book as much as I did, tattoos have never been my thing, but I really enjoyed these books. The stories are face paced, the characters are quirky but lovable, and the plots believable. The references to Sister Mary Eucharista, whenever Brett is lying, breaking and entering or doing anything unsavory just cracked me up. I can't wait to see what Brett becomes "inkvolved" in Ink Flamingos coming out next June, I am sure it will include some cool new body art.

You can find out more about this author, The Tattoo Mystery Series and her Annie Seymour Mysteries at her website.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Obsidian, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

In Las Vegas, Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist who caters to a high class clientele. Her store, The Painted Lady, is located in an upscale mall unlike her prime rival Jeff Coleman, who owns Murder Ink in an out of the way strip mall next door to a bail bondsman. When Sylvia Coleman wants to marry Bernie Applebuam, Brett lends them her car so they can drive to the chapel served by several Dean Martin imitators.

The day after she retrieves her vehicle, Brett hears a thump in the trunk. When she opens it inside is a dead Dean Martin actor. Underneath the human corpse is the remains of a rat. The victim is Ray Lucci who worked at the chapel where Sylvia and Bernie got married. Around his neck is a clip cord missing from a room of one at Brett's tattoo artists. Additionally the honeymooners are missing and not on their honeymoon. Brett and Sylvia's son Jeff investigate as she feels violated and both worry that the newlyweds and all the Martin impersonators may be in danger, but the scenario escalates dangerously when another person is killed.

Driven to Ink is a delightful amateur sleuth mystery that focuses on a Vegas that tourists rarely visit. Readers see Sin City through the eyes of residents who know what lies beneath the glitter and glamour of the Strip. This is a multilayered plot with so many twists that the audience will struggle with who the killer is and the motive. Karen E. Olson provides a refreshing mystery with a touch of whimsy as readers shout: will the real Dean Martin please stand up.

Harriet Klausner