Customer Reviews

Shoot from the Lip (Yellow Rose Mystery)

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In Leann Sweeney's Shoot from the Lip, sarcastic, Houston-based, private investigator, Abby Rose, is on the case again. After being approached, well, make that harassed, by reality television's Reality Check: The Lifestyle Makeover Show to assist in finding someone's long-lost relative for an upcoming episode, Abby puts aside her initial distaste for Reality Check's smarmy and conniving producers, when she meets the amiable Emma Lopez. Abby is a PI specializing in the location of birth families for adopted individuals and vice versa.

After an anonymous letter detailing the lives of Emma Lopez and her siblings is received by Reality Check, the television show decides that Emma Lopez should be their next makeover candidate. Emma Lopez put herself through school and raised her three younger siblings after their mother abandoned them. Life has not been easy for the Lopez family and now the only thing they own, their house, is set for demolition by the city. Although the city would give them money to rebuild, the paltry amount would be inconsequential. Reality Check wants to build a house that Emma and her siblings really deserve given all of the life hardships they have endured. However, Abby quickly surmises that Reality Check's motives are less than altruistic.

Unbeknownst to Emma, a missing baby was mentioned in the anonymous letter, a fact Reality Check did not disclose prior to her signing the contract. Given the exploitative nature of the media, Reality Check producers are fully prepared to capitalize on the search for Emma's missing sibling in an attempt to increase ratings, much to Emma's chagrin. With the help of her clinical psychologist sister, Kate, and members of the Houston Police Department, Abby begins the search for Emma's missing sibling, making some shocking and gruesome discoveries along the way.

Before long, the search unfolds, baby bones are found buried under the Lopez house, and a homicide investigation also ensues. The case turns deadly and Abby soon finds her own life in danger as well as those around her: her sister Kate, her crotchety, yet well intentioned Aunt Caroline, and her homicide detective boyfriend Jeff Kline. As Abby races to find out what happened to Emma's mother and the identity of the baby bones, Sweeney creates the appropriate amount of drama around the case and keeps the reader engaged. Sweeney's characters are both believable and likable and she cleverly incorporates America's obsession with reality television and its voyeuristic nature to provide a modern day twist. Readers will find Shoot from the Lip an entertaining read and will look forward to Abby's next case in the Yellow Rose Mystery series.

Shoot From the Lip is number 4 in the Yellow Rose Mystery series of books, and you wouldn't even know you missed anything! Leann Sweeney does a wonderful job of capturing the reader from the very beginning and keeping them till the very end. Shoot From the Lip is full of emotions! Anger, sadness, fear, happiness, laughter, joy, and tears...they are all there, and you will feel them along with the characters in this book!

Abby Rose finds herself wrapped in another adoption mystery that has more twists than a pretzel, and she organizes her life around her newest client, Emma Lopez. Emma, the strong sister who has raised her brothers and sister, now leans on Abby as she is plastered across the newspapers and TV because of a mysterious body found under her house. But what will happen when Abby learns that by helping Emma, she has also seriously involved her own family? And what about Jeff, Abby's boyfriend? Will he be able to help her figure out this mystery?

Abby, the police, and the rest of the crew, do a fantastic job of narrowing down the suspects and bringing the guilty one to justice.

I truly enjoyed this book by Leann Sweeney. There were many times I kept telling myself, "One more chapter, one more chapter..." and then an hour and a half later put the book down! It drew me in and had me almost from the first page. I actually thought I had the mystery figured out, and WHAM! She surprised me with the ending! I would be truly happy to read another of the Yellow Rose Mystery series books.

Armchair Interviews says: This book's a pleasure!

This series is fast becoming one of my favorites.

The mysteries are well-written and leave you guessing until the very end. The regular characters are enjoyable and don't get on your nerves, and the supporting cast fits in well.

I look forward to the next installment.

Reality Check is a TV program that claims to turn American dreams into the real thing. Abby Rose is not excited about working with the producer and crew for this show, but she does want to help Emma Lopez. She's been raising her three younger siblings since their mother disappeared. The show received a letter about this family and decided they should be the next makeover candidate. Their house has been set for demolition. Since the amount the city would give them to rebuild would not be enough Emma agrees to go on the show since they have promised them a beautiful new house.

While Abby believes Emma deserves the new house and a break, she's skeptical on Reality Check's motives. The show, unbeknownst to Emma, has been told about a long lost sibling of hers, something they didn't disclose. The show plans to capitalize on the search which does not thrill Emma. Abby, and her psychologist sister, Kate, begin searching for her sibling.

When the house demolition begins, baby bones are found. A homicide investigation has begun. Could these be the bones of Emma's missing sibling? Can Abby figure it out without putting herself in the middle of a dangerous situation?

Abby is such a fun character. The idea of an adoption PI as a protagonist is wonderful. So different from any of the other cozy series out there. Her sister Kate, the psychologist, always helps with the investigations and really balances Abby. They work so well together even though they are different, they are twins.

I like the story line of this book. There are so many reality tv shows out there now. It really is timely. Although I don't watch many of them, I do like ones like this where they are helping a deserving family. Of course, the show in this book has ulterior motives.

I highly recommend this book and series.

I just love Abby Rose, and the supporting characters in this series. Each book is unique, and keeps your interest. And I really love that Abby is smart --she doesn't do the stupid things that some heroines do, which end up ringing untrue for an otherwise intelligent woman. Great, interesting mysteries!

I loved the characters, the Texas setting was great, the mystery was so well done and I was kept guessing right up to the end. It was difficult to put this book down long enough to take care of real life necessities.

I totally enjoyed Shoot From the Lip and am hooked on Abby Rose, the main character. This was the first book I'd read in the Yellow Rose Mystery series, but I didn't really feel lost or that I'd missed out by starting with this book. I fully intend to read the first three books in the series after enjoying this book so much.

Each entry in the Yellow Rose mysteries gets better. Her plots are getting really good and her characters are fleshed out nicely. The covers and blurbs of the books make one think that these are "cozy" mysteries, but they are not. They address serious issues and are done in such a way that they keep me wanting more. Another factor is that in so many mysteries the heroine is broke and struggling to make ends meet. In the Yellow Rose Mysteries our heroine has unlimited resources which can enhance her abilities to solve the mystery in ways that money can buy.

Abby is asked to work for a Television reality show that does home makeovers. She declines but doesn't rule out helping the young girl find her sister and mother. The girl Emma hires Abby and her sister to find her sister who disappeared shortly after her Mom gave birth. As it turns out, when the reality show was doing a demolition on Emma's house and the discovered baby bones.

Abby works hard on this one. Kate meets a new man, but is he all that he seems to be?

Love this series...perfect for vacation.

This series is one that consistently delivers a mystery in the category I call "can't wait to get back to it." The lead character, Texas heiress Abby Rose, is trying to live a normal lifestyle (as opposed to being a socialite in Houston society). Since she and her twin sister were adopted, she has turned her skills in finding her own birth family into a specialized business finding other people's birth relatives.

The story begins quickly -- the producers of a reality shows that gives deserving people a new home and a lot of other stuff appear on her doorstep. The subject of their show, Emma Lopez, has a missing sibling, and the producers would like Abby to find this person. Abby dislikes the producers but goes to see Emma because she might help Emma. She is drawn into a mystery of what happened to this baby who quickly disappeared, and what happened to Emma's drunken mother, who disappeared a few years later.

The book is well plotted, well written, and the detective lead, Abby Rose, likeable.

I'm currently reading the book after this one in the series, and my only regret is that I have to wait until January for another in this series.

Fourth in the Yellow Rose mystery series, we follow Abby on another investigation involving adoption and missing people. Abby is approached by a TV show about helping to find the missing baby sister of the family the TV show is doing a story on. Abby declines the contract with the show, but agrees to assist Emma Lopez, the eldest sister in the family, in finding out what happened so many years ago. When the skeleton of a baby is discovered in the remains of the house after it was demolished, the show goes from a good-will story to a criminal investigation show, Crime Time. When someone tries to kill Emma, Abby knows she has to get on the fast track to solving the mystery before someone else winds up on prime time.


Emma Lopez has been raising her two younger brothers and sister since their drunkard mother took off for parts unknown without a word. When a television network receives a letter with details of Emma's history, and news that her home has been condemned and is about to be demolished, they decide to create a good-will story and reunite the family with the missing baby sister and mother while building the family a home and providing other monetary prizes.

When Emma finds out about the network's knowledge of the missing baby, she wants nothing to do with it, but is bound by contract. She relies heavily on Abby once it is clear that Abby wants nothing to do with the TV show. During the case with Emma, Abby has her own familial problems - her twin sister has broken it off with her live-in boyfriend and has moved in with Abby, and Abby's boyfriend Jeff is on a mysterious trip, and is testing Abby's patience by asking her to wait for his return. Abby is, once again, not afraid to ask for help, knowing that her career as a private investigator is just beginning and she has a lot to learn. But after a few attempts on Emma's life, Abby definitely feels in over her head, and doesn't know if asking for help will be enough to save this family - or her own.

Sweeney has created a wonderful and realistic private investigator with Abby Rose. Working as an adoption investigator makes for a unique protagonist in the mystery world, and Abby is a generous and loyal friend who wants to help others in a position similar to the one she and her sister experienced.

I really enjoy the Yellow Rose mystery series - and not simply because it takes place in Texas. After having lived here a year it is great to read about places that I have been to visit and territory and cultures I am currently experiencing. There is some violence, enough to be not quite a cozy, but not so much as to turn readers off.