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My Review
A Plus One for Murder is the first book in a new series, A Friend for Hire. I really enjoyed it a lot and though I’ve read other books by this author I think this may be my favorite so far. Entrepreneur Emma Westlake runs a travel agency scheduling client’s dream vacations until that venture goes belly up. Talking to her elderly lunchtime teatime companion Dottie, who is a real firecracker she laments about needing money and how business has dried up. Never one to let the grass grow under her feet Dottie suggests a plan and even sets up her first clients for her. This is how A Friend For Hire comes into being. I really enjoyed her Client “Big Max” he’s trying to impress a certain lady and just “knows” if he takes Emma around this lady that she will see what a catch he is and want to date him. The trouble is when one of her clients drops dead at an open mic night that she is attending the trouble starts. We get clues along the way and I was sure Emma and her wonderful dog Scout had solved the case along with Super Sleuth Dottie who loves reading her cozy mysteries. Well received mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series soon. Pub Date 07 Dec 2021 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own. |
GoodReads Synopsis
Entrepreneur Emma Westlake is reinventing herself as a hired friend when murder gets in the way in this exciting new mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Laura Bradford.
Emma Westlake has always wanted to be in business for herself. As a kid, she had her own successful lemonade stand and dog-walking business. And when she entered adulthood, Emma sunk all her cash into her dream job of travel planning. But as her customers became more and more internet savvy, the need for her services declined. At a loss for what to do next, she turns to an elderly friend who suggests she try to get paid for doing something she’s really good at–being a paid companion. Emma thinks it’s a crazy idea until requests start pouring in. Big Max from down the block wants her to act as his wingman at the local senior center’s upcoming dance, nurse practitioner Stephanie needs a workout partner, and writer Brian Hill asks Emma to be his cheering section at an open mic night.
Brian will be reading from his latest work and wants to know someone will clap for him when he’s done. When Emma balks at the notion that people wouldn’t, he tells her the room will be filled with people he’s invited–most of whom will likely want him dead by the time he’s done reading. Assuming he’s joking, she laughs. But when Brian steps up to the mic and clears his throat to speak, he promptly drops dead. Emma is one of the last people to see him alive, and so she becomes an immediate suspect. Now she’ll have to cozy up to a killer to save her skin and her new business.
About The Author
Websitehttp://www.laurabradford.com/
Twitterbradfordauthor
GenreMystery, Fiction
Influences author: Mary Higgins Clark
Aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey.
While spending a rainy afternoon at a friend’s house nearly forty years ago, Laura Bradford fell in love with writing over a stack of blank paper, a box of crayons, and a freshly sharpened number two pencil.
Those early attempts at the craft had her writing and illustrating stories for young children. Wise beyond her years, Laura saved her first writing attempt in a hand decorated shoe box (complete with sparkly stickers) and moved on to her next idea. Her second book—O’Casey’s Wish—was so utterly brilliant, she sent it off to a well-known New York publishing house at the tender age of ten, confident she was on the verge of becoming the next Don Freeman (Corduroy) or Shel Silverstein (Giving Tree).
Months later, she received her first form letter rejection.
While she wasn’t of the mindset to save that first crushing blow for posterity, Laura did save the original copy of this particular literary masterpiece in the event the letter was a mistake.
Desperate to prove her flexibility as a writer, Laura soon found herself dabbling in jokes (for her Girl Scout troop’s newsletter), stories of angst (a somewhat autobiographical look at her teenage years), movie reviews (for the Xavier University Newswire), and countless news and feature articles (for newspapers in CT, SC, TN, and MO).
It wasn’t until Laura was home raising children of her own though, that she was finally able to dust off that rainy day dream and bring it back to its original form—writing fiction. Today, she is a bestselling mystery author with Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin Publishing), and an award winning romance author with Harlequin American. She lives in New York with her family.
Oh, and if you meet Laura at a book event in the future, ask her about O’Casey’s Wish. It tends to travel with her everywhere she goes.
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