Customer Reviews

Murder Takes the Cake (Sullivan Investigations Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Murder Takes the Cake (reunites Mac Sullivan, a retired cop trying to start a PI business, with Rachel Brenner, a 40-something divorcee and funeral make-up artist, in Washington, DC. When Rachel discovers that the inventory of coffins at the funeral home doesn't match the invoices, she asks Mac to look into the discrepancy quietly since her boss is stressed out about his daughter's upcoming wedding to the son of a snooty New England socialite family. Mac fears that the request is just a ploy on Rachel's part to pin down his intentions about their sort-of relationship, but he needs a case to keep JJ, his young punk assistant, and Edger, his walker-bound researcher, from driving him crazy. Then the bride ambushes Mac, swears someone is trying to kill her, and hires him to catch her would-be killer. Everyone assumes this is just another case of pre-wedding jitters, but Mac worries that she might really be in danger. Whiskey, Mac's junk-food addicted Irish wolfhound adds yet another source of fun in this light-hearted and fast-paced cozy.
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/D_Authors/David_Evelyn.html

Murder Takes the Cake
Evelyn David
Echelon, May 1 2009, $13.99
ISBN: 1590806182

One week before Thanksgiving DC private investigator Mac Sullivan, a loner except for Whiskey the dog, finds his world upside down since Sullivan and Company has "grown". First, his business is in trouble needing paying customers not just bartering clients. Second, his assistant twenty-two years old Juliana "JJ" Jarrett and his elderly ailing researcher Edger are driving him crazy. Finally there is divorcee single mom Rachel Brenner who works at a funeral home and whom he is attracted to and believes she reciprocates his feelings, but he has no idea how to act on a date.

Now his about to marry goddaughter, Boston reporter Bridget O'Herlihy, visits him asking for his help as she swears someone is trying to kill her. Although he doubts this is the case, he takes the threat seriously and sends his team out on assignments. Soon the corpses pile up while the groom and his family insist she is being a drama queen; at a time her dad Jeff wonders who stole caskets from his funeral home. Mac, JJ, Edger, Rachel and Whiskey keep digging looking for the ties that bound everyone involved.

The second Murder Takes (see MURDER OFF THE BOOKS) is an amusing cozy starring an ensemble cast of eccentrics. The story line is fast-paced while containing two mysteries tied to death (corpses and coffins are like peanut butter and jelly), a maybe romance, enemy canine-feline, an out of control wedding plan, and junk cars. The characters make for a fun lighthearted frolic as Evelyn David proves in deed MURDER TAKES THE CAKE.

Harriet Klausner

Evelyn David is actually a partnership between Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett. Marian is an author of ten non-fiction books and hails from New York. Rhonda lives in Oklahoma and is the coal administrator for the state. The most interesting facet of their relationship is that they have never met in person. MURDER TAKES THE CAKE is the follow-up to their first effort, MURDER OFF THE BOOKS. Both books feature Whiskey, an Irish wolfhound.

Rachel Brenner leads an interesting life. After her divorce from a meandering husband, she landed a job in a funeral home. Mac Sullivan runs a private detective agency. What do they have in common? Rachel and Mac have an uneasy relationship bound by their past experiences. But after Rachel discovers the inventory at the funeral home doesn't jibe with their invoices, she inveigles Mac to look into the problem. Hilariously, the skittish Mac thinks she's trying to pin him down regarding their relationship:

"'What?' Mac was confused. Somehow he'd misread the whole situation. Maybe she wasn't breaking up with him. Can you even break up with someone you really haven't dated yet?

'The missing caskets? Did Jeff already tell you about them? There's about $20,000 worth that we can't find. Jeff is talking about running some kind of sting operation to catch the thieves.'"

Tales about mid-life detectives scream out for laughter, and the Evelyn David team complies with aplomb. They add a wedding between Mac's goddaughter and a spoiled little rich kid who has the sensitivity of a hockey puck to keep the plot lively. Characters abound, from the endearing Rachel and Mac to the confused teenager who is brought into line by Mac's office manager, JJ. Whiskey, Mac's Irish wolfhound and Snickers, Rachel's cat, also fit into the mix and promise to have many future exploits.

MURDER TAKES THE CAKE is light-hearted fun, with a little mystery; a little romance; a little family dysfunction; and several out-of-the-ordinary adventures thrown in to make it a fun-filled whodunit. It's worth reading just to sort out all the characters.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

This is the second book in the series and so pleased as to how the progression is flowing. It is a "cozy" but perhaps with a tad bit of an edge. The characters are unique in history, occupation, age, and relationship. Not the run of the mill cast of characters. Good plots, lots of twists and turns. Of course, having owned numerous, IW's i.e. Gentle Giants, for many years... just makes the series that much more delightful, good memories.
Would highly recommend this series, but do start with the first book, "Murder Off The Books", best let the cast develop in your mind.
Hope there will be many more to come!!!!!!!!!Murder Off the Books

Rachel Brenner discovers caskets are missing from the funeral home where she works. She asks Mac Sullivan, a private detective and her boyfriend, to look into it.

Mac is also trying to protect his goddaughter who thinks someone is trying to kill her. It doesn't take long for Mac to really believe her.

J. J. Whiskey, Mac's office manager, sets out to help with the cases. By being in the right place at the wrong time, she discovers the thief of the caskets and sets out to help put him back on the straight and narrow.

Mac and Rachel's relationship keeps getting mixed up in everything and there is plenty of humor to go around.

Mac's goddaughter's fiancé and his family are rich and want everyone to know it. But could there be a tie-in to what is going on?

Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett, who have never met in person. Reading the book, you would never know two different people wrote it. It is well crafted and full of humor. The characters are a lot of fun. You will laugh out loud and not want to put it down so you can turn the page!

I highly recommend this book.

I very much enjoyed Evelyn David's second installment of the Sullivan mysteries. Any bride or mother-of-the-bride can identify with the trials and tribulations of planning the wedding for Brigit and Joshua. However the family complications prove to be more than imagined. The tug and pull between Rachel and Mac again enchants. The twists and turns of the plot keep the reader engaged throughout. A good read.

The second in the Sullivan Investigation series continues the story of Mac, the investigator, with a dog as a sidekick--no dog lover should resist. The plot is fast-paced and complex but entirely understandable. Rachel, who does makeup on bodies being prepped by a funeral home, won my heart when she was in a tight jam and was wondering who could ever find their pepper spray at the bottom of their purse...

Lots of laughs amidst the mayhem.

Another fast-paced, fun-to-read, whodunit by Evelyn David. As if an impending wedding between private investigator Mac Sullivan's goddaughter (newspaper reporter Bridget O'Herlihy) and Joshua Lasky, a guy from an uppity New England socialite family isn't enough to keep the book's whacky characters busy, how about tossing in a few corpses, and a rollicking ride inside a casket through the halls of a tired mortuary in search of a killer. And that's just for starters!

The cast of characters (human and otherwise) is vast, diverse, and except for Whiskey the Irish wolfhound and a newly introduced feline named Snickers, quite unpredictable. It might take a chapter or two to catch up with the pace of the book, but once there, stretch out, tune in, and hang on.