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J. W. Becton

Absolute Liability (Southern Fraud Mysteries) Paperback – July 1, 2011

by J. W. Becton (Author)

352 ratings

Book 1 of 6: Southern Fraud Mysteries

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A woman was abducted in her place. Now, time is running out for Julia Jackson to save herself from the same fate.A woman is taken at gunpoint from a downtown office building, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn’t true.Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar scam that led to the abduction, they encounter several quirky suspects, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must uncover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.The six-book Southern Fraud Mystery series blends gripping suspense with humor and a slow-burn romance.

Book 1 of 6

Southern Fraud Mysteries
Print length

264 pages
Language

English
Publication date

July 1, 2011
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.66 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1719994714
ISBN-13

978-1719994712
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (July 1, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1719994714
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1719994712
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.66 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #8,629,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #77,633 in Cozy Mysteries (Books)
- #114,684 in Romantic Comedy (Books)
- #120,813 in Romantic Suspense (Books)

Customer Reviews:
352 ratings

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J. W. Becton

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J. W. Becton has been plotting murder since she read her first Agatha Christie mystery. She is addicted to crime dramedy (comedy-drama) TV shows and wanted to read books that balanced murder and mayhem with humor and romance the same way.

But she always ended up finding either angsty hard-boiled detectives drinking their way to the killer or slapstick heroines stumbling through cases on stilettos. Those books are fun too! But she wanted to write something in the middle.

That's why books by J. W. Becton balance gripping suspense with humor and slow-burn romance. If you've binged on TV shows like Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, etc., you'll love the Southern Fraud Mystery series and Mercer Murders.

J. W. Becton is a pseudo-pseudonym for historical fiction writer Jennifer Becton.

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4.1 out of 5

352 global ratings

5 star		43%
4 star		36%
3 star		13%
2 star		3%
1 star		5%

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Tony Parsons

legal thriller

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2019

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Mercer, GA. WMER news flash: SA Julia “Jules” Jackson (32, GA Department of Insurance fraud investigator, former officer with the Mercer PD, CJ) has been kidnapped at gunpoint.
Jules called Detective Tripp Carver (MPD VCU) to let him know she was OK.
Amber Willis (intern, Asbury U, comm.) was really kidnapped.

Roger McKade warehouse had burned to the ground.
Eva Sinclair (GA fire marshal) & her arson dog combed the remains.
SA Jackson. & SA Mark Vincent (partner, DoI) were doing the investigation.
Detective Lieutenant Elaine Norris sent Detective Winston, & Detective Diaz to interview Ron “Rubik’s” Raleigh, & Sandra Browning (Hugh’s admin. asst., Southeastern agency).
FBI SA Mark Vincent (Atlanta, USN Chief Petty Officer Master at Arms) was making sure Julia stayed safe.
SA Jackson. & SA Mark Vincent interview list included: Cat Smaha (Mercer Water Reclamation Facility), Leona Winchell (former MWRF supervisor), James Gerwalt (35+, son, U of Georgia), & Geraldine “Gerry” Gerwalt (mother, Gerwalt Insurance Agency co-owners).
Officer Bishop (MPD), & Officer Washington (MPD) had arrived on the crime scene.

It was Amber Willis’ corpse.
Is Roger McKade the murderer?

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written legal thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great legal thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; Whiteley Press, LLC.; EBookStage; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

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Texanne

FIRST IN A NEW MYSTERY SERIES - I LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2013

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This is the first in a new mystery series and I look forward to reading the next entry.

We meet Julia an insurance investigator for the Dept of Insurance in Georgia. And eventually we meet Vincent, another investigator who comes along to help "Jules". He will help her find out which of her fraud investigations might prompt someone to abduct her. Or to abduct someone they believed to be her.

There is an arson investigation at a furniture store. The man suspected of that crime is a gun collector.

There is an investigation into an accident at the sewage treatment plant. It appears that when that policy was first written there were issues that were overlooked in order to write the policy. There may have been a great deal of money involved in the deception.

The people involved in either investigation do not appear to be the type to abduct anyone. And all the while, the young lady who was taken by mistake is still not found.

This is a good mystery. Julia has a history of trying to solve an old crime that affected her family in a major way. She is a good investigator and when she has the chance to work with a partner like Vincent she feels that she becomes even more effective. The two of them make a good team.

All the while there is the ongoing hope that the young woman will be found.

I like this mystery. The author is new to me and I definitely feel she has done a good job of creating a plot that is interesting. The characters, including the secondary characters, are well rounded and complete. Slowly but surely we are getting to know who these people are and what is their motivation.

If you like a well developed mystery, this will be a book you will enjoy. I did figure out the shadowy figure who was the bad guy before the end of the story, but it was still a page turner.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2013

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Free from Amazon. Julia is fighting to find someone from her sisters past who tore her family apart, but in doing so, she has put her life on hold. She stopped living her life at 15 and started focusing on Tricia and how to find this person and became a police officer. When the police department downsized, she became an employee with the state department of insurance(DOI), but little known to everyone else, she took something along with her when she left the PD about her sisters case. Tripp, her boyfriend at the time of Julia's world falling apart and also a now a detective, is still in her life. When it is reported that Julia has been kidnapped on a fact finding mission, she is in shock, when in fact, she just went to get coffee for herself and for a few interns. She calls Tripp and he can't believe she is okay and nearly cracks a few of her ribs when he sees her. But the person taken was to have been Julia and they continue to want to see her dead. The DOI decides to change its policy starting now and it will only send out 2 people when going on the fact finding missions for fraud and in comes Vincent. Tripp and Vincent are both so yummy. Julia realizes her family is at risk as well as her home because address book and house key are amoung the items taken from the office she was working at. Naturally, the guilty parties fumble and continue to mess up. Julia and Vincent conitnue to get to know one another and soon find out that they are somewhat alike. Tripp can't rest because the case is not turning over any leads. When Julia stumbles over something at a warehouse waiting on someone she is so horrified. And she struggles with it because it takes her back to the memories of how she could not help Tricia. I loved how the book took the time to give you the guilty persons side of it, without ever knowing who that person was. Julia figured it out but it was almost too late. And she again suffered for it. I just hope she gets closure for Tricia so she and Vincent can work on, it seems they have a bond that I hope will continue to grow in the next book of this series and I look forward to continuing it.

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EllieWC

Insurance is sure different in USA

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 5, 2022

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I just cannot conceive of insurance investigators carrying guns. But as the premise of this mystery relied on this, it works, in this story.
Overall, pleasantly written and edited and enough suspense and mystery, whodunnit, to make a good start to a series.

Anne

Enjoyable read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 10, 2012

Verified Purchase

I very much enjoyed the opening to this novel - Julie hears on the radio that she has been kidnapped and is being held hostage, she knows that this is not strue, but what has happened ? It is an unusual beginning and done very well.

The rest of the book lives up to this start. Our heroine is an insurance investigator and is teamed up with a new colleague. There is the beginning of romance but instead of both of them rushing immediately to bed and a lifelong relationship as is often the way in these novels they come to know each other better as the book goes on. The villain is easy enough to discern for the regular suspense story reader but the investigation is well plotted and hangs together well.

I enjoyed the writing in this book - it is not as lighthearted and fluffy as the cover might lead you to believe, I thought that the characterisation and plotting were sound. Overall, it is an accomplished suspense novel, not too gritty but not too cosy.I enjoyed it and will downlead the sequel(s).

One person found this helpful

javelinx

Leichte Lektüre für zwischendurch

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on October 23, 2011

Verified Purchase

Die Ex-Polizistin und Versicherungsagentin Julia Jackson befindet sich gerade auf dem Weg zum Kaffeholen, als sie im Autoradio von ihrer eigenen vermeintlichen Entführung erfährt. Wer das eigentliche Entführungsopfer ist und die Hintergründe der Tat bringen Julia in große Gefahr...

Der Auftakt der auf sechs Folgen ausgelegten "Southern Fraud"- Krimiserie um die Ex-Polizistin Julia, die als Agentin Versicherungsbetrüger entlarven soll, erinnert an die "Stephanie Plum"-Serie, mit schrägen Charakteren, untergemischtem Humor, und zwei attraktiven männlichen Gegenparts in dem Polizisten und Julias Ex Tripp Carver sowie dem Agenten Marc Vincent. Die Story bekommt einen ernsteren Hintergrund durch eine Familientragödie, die Julia einst dazu brachte, den Polizeidienst anzutreten, und die wie ein dunkler Schatten über der ganzen Familie liegt.
Der Kriminalfall bietet einige skurrile Charaktere und Orte auf, läßt sich aber von der Konstruktion her bereits ab Mitte des eBooks durchschauen. Die Hauptfigur hat einige sympathische Seiten, wird aber nicht in die Tiefe durchleuchtet, auch die männlichen Charaktere bleiben etwas flach. Daß in zukünftigen Folgen beide auch ein romantisches Interesse beinhalten werden, ist unverkennbar.

Insgesamt eine lockere, unterhaltsame Lektüre für zwischendurch, wenn man unterwegs ist oder beim Lesen immer wieder unterbrochen wird, die man sich für günstiges Geld schnell herunterladen kann.

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Absolute Liability (Southern Fraud Mysteries) Paperback – July 1, 2011

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J. W. Becton

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