A Grand Murder [Paperback]

Stacy Verdick Case (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2011

A Grand Murder is the first book in the Catherine O'Brien mystery series. When a prominent local businessman and friend of the chief of police is murdered on the front steps of his posh Grand Avenue Hill home, Catherine O'Brien a pithy, vertically challenged, St. Paul, Minnesota, homicide detective with a monstrous coffee habit and her partner Louise are given two days to find his killer. They soon discover their victim had a list of people with motives to murder him, including his fashion designer ex-wife, his mistress's husband, and the chief of police. The only evidence they have to go on is a missing cell phone, a stolen book, the victim's letter opener, and an ugly pair of Alpaca wool mittens.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota. After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.

Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband and her daughter. Her Catherine O'Brien mystery, A Grand Murder, is available from Before the Fall Books. Her second Catherine O'Brien mystery Murder is a Family Affair, will be released shortly.

Stacy is hard at work on her third book in the series.

Visit Stacy on the web at StacyVerdickCase.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Before The Fall Books (August 9, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0983713707
• ISBN-13: 978-0983713708
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,949,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota. After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.

Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband and her daughter. Her Catherine O'Brien mysteries, A Grand Murder & A Luring Murder, are available from Before the Fall Books.

Stacy is hard at work on her third book in the series.

Visit Stacy on the web at www.StacyVerdickCase.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun fast paced read! October 3, 2011

By Kathryn Lamee

Format:Paperback

A Grand Murder is a caffeine enhanced race through the upper crust of St. Paul to find a killer. The story begins with the murder of a prominent business man on his own front lawn. At the bequest of their chief- a personal friend of the victim, Detectives Catherine O'Brien and Louise Montgomery are on the case. Armed with coffee and Louise's distinct driving skills, they are on a mad dash to solve the case before the Chief comes unglued.
The story is fast paced, which I love and I never felt lost, which I love even more. Ms. Verdick Case has a fabulous ability to draw the scene and the characters at play in it. She made me laugh, cringe, get heart-ache, and want to shake someone- in all the right ways. I always had a clear picture of her characters and their reactions; Catherine's cringing as Louise barreled her Prius through downtown St. Paul, for example. I fell in love with the characters and their personal lives as well. I was cheering all through the book for Catherine and her husband, hoping the job didn't get in the way of their marriage. Mel, the security guard, was one of my favorite supporting roles. She has such a great sense of person and personality I found myself wishing she would pop up more often. Ms. Verdick Case also has a fabulous cast of suspects. She gives us reason to doubt or exonerate each one. The plot twists were well crafted and the red herrings dangled in all the right moments.
Overall I felt I knew too soon who the murderer was, basically because she was a little too helpful, which the detectives figure out toward the end. I will give Catherine this one though- they were under the gun, so to speak, to figure out the case. In future books I hope that she doesn't fall so obviously for the helpful murderer trick. The plot was very familiar, which I don't think is a bad thing necessarily, especially if you are looking to pick up a traditionally written women's sleuthing mystery. I am a fan of getting what I expect. (As a side note, I also love Alpaca wool, and want a pair of the mittens!) I look forward to reading more Catherine O'Brien mysteries; I feel the characters and the author both have a bright future ahead.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Murder Mystery August 29, 2011

By Jon B

Format:Paperback

This is a good book that was fun to read. A 4 star book for sure! It will leave you wanting to read more about its main characters. If you like John Sandford and Robert Crais you will like this book. A definate must read for Murder Mystery junkies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start for series! March 30, 2012

By IngaKS

Format:Kindle Edition

My review:

A Grand Murder by Stacy Verdick Case is a first book in Catherine O'Brien mystery series. I know that it must sound weird, but it was a fun book to read, even though it's about murders. It was smoothly written and the story flowed nicely. I enjoyed the characters and the humor in the book.

Regarding the plot:

Catherine and her partner Louise are getting a murder case of a prominent businessman and they have only two days to solve the case. It does not help that the murdered businessman was a close friend of their chief. There are not many clues to go after and since one of the the main suspects is also killed, the whole case gets more complicated.

I have read many mystery stories lately and I have to say that even though I think the plot was little obvious, then the book still surprised me with many suspects, interesting twists and turns in the story. I liked the writing style of Stacy Verdick Case, the book was easy to read, but could definitely have more thorough editing done.

Regarding the characters:

Before anything, I would love to tell, that I simply loved reading mystery story, where both detectives were women. It's a very rare combination. usually partners are either man and man or man and woman, but almost never two female detectives. I really liked that! Both Catherine and Louise really supported each other because they were so different from each other. Both of them made the plot stronger with their characters and they also balanced each other.

Generally:

I really liked A Grand Murder and I think that the author has done a good job with the first book in the series. She introduced the main characters very detailed way and it gave a good basis for other stories to come. The only weakness I can point out is the editing of the book. Otherwise I definitely recommend A Grand Murder Case to all mystery lovers! It's a great story!

4 stars.