Murder Off Mike: A Talk Radio Mystery [Paperback]

Joyce Krieg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2004

Sacramento Talk Radio personality Shauna J. Bogart loves her drive-time gig. From cranky to controversial to just plain crazy, her guests and callers keep her on her toes-and never fail to keep things interesting-for three hours every weekday. But her show takes a turn for the truly bizarre when a listener phones in a tip about the death of fellow jock Dr. Hipster...

The cops say the bullet wound that killed Dr. Hipster was self-inflicted, but Shauna's not buying it. The man was a friend and a mentor who had everything to live for. Which begs the question: who wanted the good Dr. H. off the air permanently? Could it have been an ambitious colleague angling for better airtime? Or someone the outspoken radio host rubbed the wrong way on his show? With the help of her loyal listeners, Shauna J. begins to uncover some dirty little secrets about Sacramento's big shots. But she'd better be careful-because being on the same wavelength as a killer could make her next broadcast her last...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Politics, greed and murder combine with an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at contemporary talk radio in Krieg's superb debut, featuring fresh, smart and feisty sleuth Shauna J. Bogart. As the popular host of a radio talk show in Sacramento, Calif., Shauna J. deals daily with a cast of quirky characters, including Lenny from Rio and Ferretman Bob. Rudy from West Sacramento, a first-time caller with an odd accent ("Who does this guy think he is with the phony Iron Curtain accent? Boris Badenov?"), phones to report sinister goings-on in a building near the State Capitol where Shauna's mentor and co-worker Dr. Hipster lives, and Shauna has a colleague alert the cops. At the scene the police find Hipster with a bullet in his head and what appears to be a suicide note. Suspecting foul play, Shauna begins her own investigation, which will lead her into the discovery of long past events that put her, and those around her, in jeopardy. So vividly does the author describe the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee and the streets and heat of the city in May, one can hear the music, feel the crowds. Peppered with apt references to popular culture ("Either the entire cast of La Cage aux Folles had set up camp in my bedroom, or Glory Lou was preparing for my makeover for the Jazz Band Ball"), this riveting mystery will leave readers eager for the sequel. FYI: This title won the 2002 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic contest for Best First Traditional Mystery.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The winner of the 2002 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Contest for Best First Traditional Mystery, Krieg's debut reads like the work of a seasoned mystery writer--in many ways, in fact, it reads better than the work of many genre veterans. To start with, Krieg gives the reader a fascinating backdrop (not merely setting) for the story, the embattled world of talk radio. Her heroine is no Grafton or Paretsky wanna-be, but a quirky, well-fleshed-out creation. And Krieg handles plot twists and turns with panache. Her heroine, Shauna J. Bogart, commands the afternoon news and talk block on Sacramento's only surviving independent radio station. In the midst of fielding calls and promos one afternoon, Bogart gets an especially (and that's saying a lot) strange call in which the caller claims to have witnessed the murder of Dr. Hipster, the star rock dj at Shauna's station. Dr. Hipster doesn't arrive for his show and, hours later, is found dead, with a suicide note that blames Shauna Bogart. Once Shauna discovers that Dr. Hipster's last promo was a coded call for help, she launches her own investigation, which takes her from the subterranean world of ex-hippies to Sacramento's high-profile movers and shakers. Krieg's absorbing mystery couples well with her terrific insider account of talk radio (e.g., "Never take calls from women named after months or flowers"). Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312987609
• ISBN-13: 978-0312987602
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,879,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outta Sight!, January 8, 2004

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder Off Mike: A Talk Radio Mystery (Hardcover)

It's a typical afternoon on the Shauna J. Bogart show until Rudy from West Sacramento calls in. He claims to have seen someone carrying out the body of fellow talk show host Dr. Hipster. Since he is Shauna's best friend and mentor, Shauna doesn't find the call at all funny. Just in case, she sends Glory Lou, the station news force, to check it out. She's devastated to learn that it is indeed true. Even more disturbing is the fact that the police are calling it a suicide, and the suicide note makes it seem that Shauna is to blame. Knowing that can't be the case, she starts to investigate, starting with the show that Dr. Hipster had planned for that night. It seems to be a standard show with information about the current governor's race in California. What had Dr. Hipster learned that lead to his death? With constant clues coming in that don't make any sense, Shauna may be facing more then she bargained for.

When I learned that this book was a St. Martin's Press winner, I had to give it a try. And I wasn't disappointed. The clues come fast and furious, but just lead me around in circles. I was so hooked I stayed up way too late two nights in a row to get "just a little further." Shauna and her friends are fun characters. I enjoyed getting to know them and hope the entire gang is around for the sequel. And the setting, a local talk radio station, is interesting. The author's many years in the business are evident as facts are put in smoothly to bring the story more vividly to life. I will add that the first couple of chapters seem a little rough, but once I got past those, everything smoothed out and I never looked back.

I do have two serious complaints about this book. First, I didn't read it sooner. Second, I don't see how the author will ever top this fun, intriguing first effort. I won't be too surprised if this wins the Agatha award this year and will be shocked if it's not at least nominated for best first novel. It certainly deserves it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Romp, May 6, 2003

By 

D. West "Rivergoat" (Los Gatos, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder Off Mike: A Talk Radio Mystery (Hardcover)

In the world of radio, one lives by the airwaves, but in Murder Off Mike, one dies by them, too. Sacramento, California talk show host Shauna J. Bogart takes on a case to prove what really happened to her fellow talk radio star, Dr. Hipster, and keep herself from becoming the next obituary. From the first few pages the story gets going and remains engrossing throughout. A truly fun tale, with a few inside looks at the world of radio today. A fine work from author Krieg.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun First Book!, April 17, 2006

By 

Warren Kelly (Southern Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder Off Mike: A Talk Radio Mystery (Paperback)

Crazy people call talk radio shows, and Shauna J. Bogart loves every bit of it. Conspiracy theories, arguments, idiot callers-these are the stock in trade of the talk jock.

But when one of her callers says he's witnessed a murder-the murder of a fellow talk-radio personality and a good friend-things change. Especially after the wound is deemed self-inflicted by the police. Shauna knows better, and she decides to find out exactly what is going on.

This debut mystery novel is a compelling read. The details offered into the business of radio are realistic and plausible (evidence of the author's prior work in radio in the Sacramento area). The characterizations for the main characters are thorough-if not a bit too detailed; I wonder what we can possibly learn about the main characters in subsequent books, with the detailed backstory we are given in this one. The reader may think that the details in the story are too much, but they are essential to parts of the plotline. The description of the setting is similarly detailed-I felt pretty familiar with the area once I finished the book.

My one problem with this book is the characterizations of those people who are not going to be in future books-not really minor characters, since one is the villain of the book, but not really major characters either, because the detail of description present in every other aspect of the book is absent here. The instant I met the villain of the story, I knew that they were going to be behind everything-just by the way they were written. This made the rest of the book almost anti-climactic, since I was simply waiting to see the murderer revealed. Each new clue made me say "Yep-I was right!!" It's nice to be correct about the solution to a murder mystery-but not halfway through the book.

This book was an impulse purchase-I was looking for a change from the steady diet of science fiction I had been reading, and this mystery was a welcome change. I'm looking forward to reading Krieg's next offering in this series.