Customer Reviews

Thrilled To Death (Samantha Shaw Mysteries)

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Barney, sams grandfather is in trouble. He is being blamed for a "hit" on a magician spoiler. the only problem is, he knows the spoiler and had at one time took him under his wing.
Puluzzi and his brother are on the outs! Cal, his brother is in town to hlep with the renovations of the Heartmates/Pulizzi investigations. He is on leave from firefighting after being blamed for jumping on a man and beating him up.
The investigation turns sour when barney realizes it could be a person in his Triple M magic club that had the hit man hired and worse yet it could be a good friend.
Sam of course gets into all kinds of trouble, and she a Gabe have a huge fight. To make matters worse, her assistant, Blaine, has a long lost wife show up and he's not happy.
The ending is very surprizing and very good with a nifty twist.. Promise in the future of Sam's long lost father whom she knows nothing about is a good teazer for another book.

Samantha Shaw, owner of Heart Mates dating service, and her boyfriend former cop turned private investigator Gabe Pulizzi tear down the walls that separate their businesses as he mentors her so that she can legally work his cases. However, her next investigation does not come from her teacher, but from her grandfather, Barney Webb, accused by acclaimed magician Shane Masters of hiring someone to kill him.

Shane was once a magician's apprentice learning the trade under Barney before becoming a traitor to his profession, exposing the master tricks of other magicians. He comes to Lake Elsinore to perform his latest "debunking," that of his former lover Nikki Eden. Attending his performance is many who loath him and that includes Nikki and other students of Barney. All share in the belief that the world would be a better place if Shane was dead. One takes the wishes to heart killing Shane. While family troubles explode for Sam and Gabe, Detective Logan Vance follows up on Shane's accusation that Barney arranged the homicide; Sam figures she better prove her grandfather did not commit the homicide; someone else she probably knows rather well possibly did the deed.

Sam has come a long way from NINJA SOCCER MOMS and it shows in this tale as she still errs, but moves on with confidence in her self; she knows what she wants and she goes out to get it. Solving the case of the dead magician proves difficult because the prime suspects besides being friends are expert sleight of the hand illusionists so red herrings abound. This is a fantastic entry as Sam hopes to soon practice under her license not that of her lover.

Harriet Klausner

Thrilled To Death is number 5 in the Samantha Shaw Mysteries. Sam and Gabe are in the process of joining businesses - his P. I. business and Sam's dating service Heart Mates. Sam's Grandpa is right smack in the middle of a magical mess involving magicians he has known or taught, including the murder of one of his former students gone rogue. Gabe has his own issues with family. His brother Cal is in town and looking beat up and is taking a time out from the fire dept. He's keeping secrets. Gabe's not up to sharing his feeling with Sam and she's feeling left out, and worried about Gabe and her relationship and about Grandpa and the other magicians she's known all her life. What will happen? Will everything work out? Read on and find out.

Samantha's grandfather, Barney, is under suspicion of hiring a hit man to try to kill magician spoiler Shane. Samantha owns and runs Heart Mates dating service, but she also works part-time as a PI under her ex-cop PI boyfriend, Gabe. Samantha is hired by Nikki and her grandmother to find out which magician Shane plans to expose in his upcoming show that will be televised.

Plus Sam and Gabe are deep in renovations. They are putting their two businesses under one roof. Gabe's brother Cal shows up and helps with renovations, but Sam is sure there is another reason Cal is in town, even though the guys won't admit it.

Amidst everything else going on, Lola appears at Heart Mates. Blaine, Samantha's assistant, cannot stand her. Sam has to keep the two of them apart as well as figure out what is going on there while trying to keep her grandfather out of jail and figure out who did kill Shane.

Sam is a great character. She is an ex-soccer mom, but she no longer sits on the sidelines. In this book she is trying to decide whether she wants to continue learning to be a PI. Plus, where does Gabe fit in her life?

Shane's death is difficult for her to solve as all the suspects are friends of hers. Can she uncover the truth without hurting the ones she loves?

I like this series a lot. The interaction between Gabe and Sam is great. Her family is well written and interspersed throughout the mystery.

I highly recommend this book.