Customer Reviews

Murder, Mayhem & a Fine Man (Amanda Bell Brown Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Despite a great title and cover, I was unsure if I would like this book. Would it be too chick-lit, too romance-oriented, for an average white male? Within a few pages, my doubts were erased. By the end of the book, I became a loyal Burney fan.

Amanda Bell Brown is one sassy, funny, and independent woman--Dr. Brown to her counseling patients. Her psychology experience draws her into a murder mystery, which soons threaten her life in a number of ways. First, she is assailed by a spontaneous combustion of the romantic kind, in her initial encounter with Jazz, a likeable cop. Second, she is drawn into the dark corridors of a Scripture-twisting cult, which seems to have been involved on some level with the murder victims. Third, she must face her own painful past or risk losing even more than she has already.

Humor keeps the book well-balanced, and there are some sassy, realistic handlings of the romantic moments. At the point in which I thought things would turn saccharine, Burney kicked things into a darker, grittier gear, never shrinking from some heart-wrenching scenes. Told with style and heart, these parts of the story are all too real, and Burney unveils the deceptions with masterful skill.

What's not to like? If you're searching for suspense, humor, romance, or Biblical truths applied to real-life scenarios, you'll find them all in this wonderful debut. I can't wait for the next Amanda Bell Brown mystery.

In Claudia Mair Burney's, Murder, Mayhem & A Fine Man, it is Amanda Bell Brown's 35th birthday and what began as dinner with her sister turns out to be much more than she bargained for. Bell, who would rather have been at home watching CSI, finds herself, in a hot, little birthday dress and heels, doing some real crime scene investigation of her own. Carly, Bell's sister and medical examiner, gets a call and takes Bell along to the crime scene. On the scene, Carly introduces Bell to Jazz Brown, lead detective and oh so fine man. Bell is immediately smitten, as is Jazz, but tries to keep her cool when he asks her to take a look at the scene and give her professional opinion as a forensic psychologist. What unfolds next, amidst dead bodies and cult connections, is linked to Bell. She and Jazz then set out to find a killer and not only find the connection between Bell and the victims but between each other.

Claudia Mair Burney has written a charming and most enjoyable story. Murder, Mayhem & A Fine Man, the first in the Amanda Bell Brown Mystery series, is christian fiction, mystery, comedy and romance all rolled up into one cool package. Burney's writing style is fresh and witty, also reflective and thought-provoking without being over-the-top. Amanda Bell Brown is a riot. She is hilarious and very real. The seriousness and dangers of murder and religious cults were weaved in, seemingly effortlessly, with the plight of a single woman who tries to balance her faith, her desire for a husband and child, and some serious sexual tension all at the same time. Besides Bell and Jazz, there are other characters you will love as well. Rocky, Bell's pastor, and ex-boyfriend, will crack you up. I highly recommend this entertaining story. If this is not your usual genre, I suggest you give this story a shot. There is something here for everyone.


Reviewed by Donielle
APOOO BookClub

Amanda Bell Brown is celebrating her thirty-fifth birthday by having dinner out with her sister, Carly, who is a medical examiner. Carly gets a call to go to a crime scene and has to take Amanda, a forensic psychologist, with her. The investigation interests her and Jazz Brown, the detective in charge, is one fine man who also interests her. She looks over the scene and offers some suggestions to Jazz, who wants nothing more than a date with her. During the course of the investigation, they manage to get together, but both have trust issues with the opposite sex, as well as remembered pain from past relationships. In addition, Jazz, who was previously married, has religious beliefs which conflict with becoming involved with another woman.

MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN by Claudia Mair Burney, also explores cults and the deviousness involved. Amanda has first hand knowledge with cults and uses it to help solve the murder. Her only problem is, she gets very close to the cult responsible for the mayhem. Will she survive? And if she does, will she and Jazz be able to bury their old pain and move on?

Claudia Mair Burney has written a wonderful mystery that keeps you guessing about everything right up to that very last page. It is well written and the characters are so well-developed I could actually feel their emotions. The novel brought out love, hate, religion, as well as cults and I found myself reacting to the emotions of the characters. I alternately wanted to slap them, rejoice with them and urge them to move on with their lives. It is a novel that is extremely hard to put down.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

If you like mystery, a litle madness and a more than fine man, you've come to the right place. This book made me laugh, cry and really think about how we relate to each other as women, as Christians and as friends.

Bell is an engaging character with a cute dress, a sexy sister and a raging case of endometriosis. Oh and did I mention she just turned forty? Enter Jazz Brown, tall and smooth just like the music in his name. Mix those two with a a mysterious group suicide and Bell's cool emergent church and its pastor, Rocky and you're in for one delicious ride.

A page turner that you won't forget, MUDER, MAYHEM AND A FINE MAN is a must have. Go ahead and pre-order the next one too and save yourself some time. I can't wait for more of the Bell Brown Mystery series.

While Amanda Bell Brown is a part of the living, she's basically just holding space. It's been 10 years since she fought love, or some semblance of the word. Bell advocates for others, yet she has been unable to find her own inner peace and continues to live with the shame from her own devastating past. While celebrating her birthday with her sister, Carly, a medical examiner, she is called to the scene of a double homicide. Could this also be the place where love and Bell reunite?

Lt. Jazz Brown (no relation) is on the scene. Impressed with Bells' accolades, he invites her to utilize her forensic skills to evaluate the crime. While the immediate answers escape her, unlike Grisham, it's clear that something magical is sparking between the two. In the face of death, can it be, is this real love? Whether it's love or lust, it's two sided. Before the two can further investigate the cravings from the other one, Lt. Brown makes it clear that he's unavailable to love, participate or build a future. Understandably distraught, Bell decides just to be grateful for the moment. That is until the very `unavailable' Lieutenant decides to incorporate the psychologist into his investigations. Soon the sparks and rules continuously lead them towards trouble.

Readers immediately forget that they're involved in trying to find a murder suspect as they get a front row seat to the meeting of hearts. While I may not be a lover of romance, I do love love! I love how Claudia Mair Burney makes you feel like you're a part of the story; there with the insatiable desires, the bouts, the yearning and the learning. `Murder, Mayhem & A Fine Man' is recommended reading that is spiked with sin, shame, and a little knowledge of God.


Reviewed by: Crystal

Amanda Bell Brown is a forensic psychologist. Her Sister Carley is the medical examiner who just wants Bell to find a good man and she has one in mind. Jazz Brown, no relation, is tall, handsome, great sense of humor, trouble is, he's unavailable.

Bell has bad memories of love gone wrong, and when she accidently ends up at a crime scene Jazz is investigating, she realizes she has been there before and she knows the dead men. Although she doesn't tell Jazz, she just might know the killer.

Jazz has his own problems. He's been hurt before and that's why he has put out the word that he's not available for romance. He's a good cop, smart, capable, with a truck load of self-esteem until he meets Bell. The minute he thinks he has her figured out she does some so frustrating he's ready to throw up his hands and walk away, except he can't stop thinking about her.

Expect this book to be flip, sarcastic and funny. It's all that, but it also has strong suspense with realistic heartbreaking problems. Jazz is the kind of hero every woman wants to meet, and Bell is the kind of woman we all want to be like. In Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man, Claudia Mair Burney dips into the murky world of religious cults and the terrible impact it has on those foolish enough to believe the false claims. There are levels of depth and she pushes all of the reader's emotional buttons. Burney is a new writer for me, I'm looking forward to her next one.

I picked up Claudia Mair Burney's book at a sales convention along with 30-40 other books. In fact, when she initially asked me if I wanted the book, I said, "No." (Sadly, it's true.)

But this book is good. Claudia Mair Burney is a sort of Christian Walter Mosley. With that in mind, I flipped through my tall stack of books that night, and Mair's book is the only one that inspired me to keep reading. At times, I admit, it felt a bit chick-lit for me. But the characters were so funny, I didn't care. Before I knew it, I had read 3 chapters.

It's funny. It's gritty. It's honest. Three things missing from most Christian fiction these days. Thankfully, NavPress is beginning to make some headway into more complex Christian fiction.

Consider Mair's description of a late night religious network:
"An elderly, southern woman, with an enormous old-lady-blue beehive hair-don't--a far cry from a `do--smiled at the camera with dentures as tall as skyscrapers. This woman frightened me more than all the forensic shows I had watched combined."
This book has got the goods--good characters and good plot. And like the title says, a little bit of "murder and mayhem." It even manages to address the religious extremism of "Christian" cults. The ending is quite a ride, and don't miss the preview of the sequel.

The last people Amanda Bell Brown expected to spend her fortieth birthday with were the dead. But it seems the unexpected is all too common in this forensic psychologist's life because she definitely didn't plan to meet the man of her dreams at a creepy crime scene. Jazz is a gorgeous detective with smooth moves and a sharp tongue. And he's bold enough to take on Dr. Amanda Bell Brown, who has a sharp and witty tongue of her own. When they begin working together to solve the mysterious deaths of two young men and unravel their ties to a cult, sparks of romance, passion, and tension fly between Amanda and Jazz. Both of them, wounded in prior relationships, ponder if it's possible to love and be loved again as they take an introspective look at the most important relationship of all: the one with God.

First-time author, Claudia Mair Burney, has crafted this novel with the pen of a seasoned writer. Her characters are so real it seems you can reach out and touch them. A string of unanswered questions and surprising twists will have readers on the edge of their seats and guessing until the end.

A delicious blend of suspense, romance, drama, humor, and faith make Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man a captivating read, hard to put down, difficult to forget. I'm hungry for more of Ms. Burney's work and eagerly await the release of the second book in this not-to-be-missed new series.

Reviewed by M. Elliott for [...]

This book is a rare gem, from its delicious cover all the way through the last page. I was hooked in the first hilarious chapter, and got weepy at the end. These characters are real, their romance is smokin', and the spiritual depths they dip into on occasion did my soul deep good.

The Cheeses-Jesus sequence was my favorite... And I was absolutely delighted with what the publisher let the author "get away" with in terms of edginess. Those parts were what made it so rolicking.

Claudia Mair Burney is a natural.

Detroit based, forensic psychologist and CSI television series fanatic, Dr. Amanda "Bell" Brown receives more than an alluring red dress from her big sister, medical examiner, Carly Brown on her fortieth birthday. She gets to witness a real crime scene investigation and meet Detective Jazz "yummy birthday treat" Brown after Carly deters their birthday dinner plans to investigate a possible double suicide. Bell gives Jazz an unexpected and unforgettable kiss after he carries her home, literally. However, Jazz does not want to requite his passion for Bell. He's divorced and doesn't believe in remarriage or dating. Yet, she can't stop seeing this man, because she agreed to assist him with this cult suicide turned murder investigation. As Bell gets closer to the truth she uncovers some truths behind her so-called marriage and the tragedy that closed her off from the world for the past nine years.

Detective Jazz Brown received more than a kiss when he flirted with Bell Brown and her red, hot birthday dress. He found his soul mate. So when he commissions Bell to use her cult psychology and forensics expertise to solve a murder investigation again he gets more than he bargained for. He gets his own psychoanalysis. When he gives Bell a dose of her own medicine and lashes out at her after he becomes threatened by what she discovers Bell breaks their client relationship. She seeks out the cult's lair without him.

Can Jazz save Bell in time? Can Bell save herself from her own demons? Can they ever be together? And most importantly...who's the strychnine communion murderer?

Burney's light-hearted voice and spiritual undertones turn this Christian mystery into a cross over classic who-done-it. Jazz's and Rock's ethnicities sparks a suggestive study on race matters in American Christianity. Bell's grandma-isms and body image struggles makes her triumphant, real, and unforgettable. The sizzling dialogue between Jazz and Bell are witty and tenderhearted. I would love to see this first edition to the series on screen. Burney's writing is flawless, scary, smitten, nail biting, keep you up all night faith reading fun. It's nice to have a good laugh, talk about race, watch a romance blossom and learn about Christ's love at the same time. Kudos.