Customer Reviews

Murder Off Mike: A Talk Radio Mystery

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3 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

California eco-politics, the changing world of corporate Radio and one of the world's largest music festivals are the backdrops for this tightly wound thriller from Joyce Krieg. The story's voice is Shauna J. Bogart, a top rated host on Sacramento's leading Talk Radio station. We follow Bogart on her quest to find the truth behind the suspicious death of a long time friend, and radio mentor, Dr. Hipster. Krieg's knowledge of the inner workings of radio made the readng particular fun for me. I also liked the way Krieg weaved tidbits of Sacramento history and subtle detail into the story.
Very skillful storytelling from a writer with enormous potential. When's the next one coming out?

In Sacramento, California, Shauna J. Bogart hosts one of the top rated radio talk shows in the area. She receives a call from Rudy, who claims brown suits killed a man at the address where Shauna's mentor and fellow radio emcee Dr. Hipster lives. Not long afterward, the police substantiate that Dr. Hipster committed suicide, something that Shauna refuses to accept as no one lived life fuller than her friend. Adding to her disbelief is an apparent note of unrequited love addressed to her, but she knows otherwise, as they were buddies.

Unable to accept police Lieutenant Gunderson's unofficial position, Shauna begins her own inquiries. She starts by seeking a missing logger tape that contains a warning code from the Hipster to her. Her investigation leads to a strange pact that place her in danger from a source that she would never have anticipated anything but hugs and kisses from.

Readers will quickly comprehend why MURDER OFF MIKE won the St. Martin's first novel contest, as the delightful amateur sleuth tale is fast-paced and insightful into talk radio. The story line provides the audience an intriguing look at talk radio including the warning that the media's dwindling independents are rapidly being replaced by national syndication. The characters especially Shauna and her call in loonies are a delight to follow. All of this resides inside a strong investigative who-done-it and why. Perhaps the only complaint is this reviewer wants Hipster's collection.

Harriet Klausner

One of the problems I have with some of the so-called traditional mysteries is that the author becomes so enamored with the characters that he or she delves into every tiny aspect of their existence completely ignoring the simple fact that they are supposed to be telling a story. These books,though highly touted by some, prove to be pure drudgery to others- myself included. MURDER OFF MIKE is one of those books. It also won the St. Martin's Press/ Malice Domestic Contest for Best First Novel Traditional Mystery.
Shauna J. Bogart is a talk radio show host in Sacramento, California. She is startled one day when a caller tells her he has witnessed a murder then hangs up. The murder witnessed is that of Dr. Hipster another host of talk radio and her mentor. The police are calling it a suicide. However, through subtle clues, Shauna is convinced Dr. Hipster was murdered goes about trying to prove it.
Joyce Krieg did a very good job in creating her characters. It really is the major redeeming value of this overwritten and overblown debut. The talk radio industry she describes is not interesting enough to compel the reader to turn the pages. The pacing is so lethargic that by the time we reach the conclusion, we really don't care. A very average debut.

Joyce Krieg achieves mainly two things in her first novel:

1. She manages to put us into the world of talk radio, without the cliches created by movies, a topic she certainly knows about. And her passion for radio as media, shows on every page up until the heart stopping finale.

2. She crafts a decent murder mystery, with a complete conspiracy, political backwroung, historic perspective, jazz, clever characters, and even if a bit predictable at moments, it held me completely glued to my copy in the last 100 pages.

Her character S.J. Bogart has complete sleuth literary voice, one I would like to read in the future.

One of the best mysteries I've read in the year.

Really recommended.

I sat up half the night to finish MURDER OFF MIKE, the

series debut of Joyce Krieg's Talk Radio mysteries. The story moves at an amiable pace, but when it began the windup for a lulu of a finish, I couldn't put it down.

Krieg sets her series in Sacramento, and her protagonist, Shauna J. Bogart, is a talk show host. Krieg writes from experience, having worked in Sacramento radio for many years.

Shauna J. reminds me of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone.

Like Kinsey, Shauna J. keeps her wits about her, and can

survive anything as long as she has clean underwear.

Her method of detection is to pick at something until she

finally unravels the mystery. In this case, it's the

death of a colleague, an elusive caller who may have

witnessed the dirty deed, and how it all ties in with the

radio station's survival and a popular politician's run

for the state senate.

The action takes place in the lead-up to Sacramento's

annual Jazz Jubilee. Along the way, we get a little tour

of California history and politics. We get to know Shauna

J., and the baggage she drags as the daughter of a

politician and a blues singer, both long dead.

Shauna J's coming to terms with that baggage is one of the reasons I liked the book. Another is her love-hate

relationship with California's great San Joaquin Valley. I gave her an imaginary high-five when I read this:

"I seated myself gingerly on a metal folding chair,

scorching in the ninety-degree heat. People keep telling

me about Sacramento, 'But it's a dry heat.' To which I

reply, 'Yeah, but it's still hot.'"

Joyce Krieg makes my short list of writers who know our

Valley landscape well enough to set a good mystery novel

here. She's had an interesting life, and talks about that-among many other things-on her Web site. Check it out at:

http://www.joycek.com/

Pat Browning, author of FULL CIRCLE.

http://www.patbrowning.com