15 Minutes

A Maizie Albright Star Detective Mystery

By: Larissa Reinhart

Narrated by: Joan Dukore

She played a detective on TV, but now that her life depends on it, can Maizie Albright play a detective for real?

For fans of romantic comedy mysteries like Meg Cabot's Size 12 Is Not Fat and Stephanie Bond's Body Movers, The Wall Street Journal best-selling author Larissa Reinhart brings her listeners the first in the Maizie Albright Star Detective series, Hot Mystery Reviews’ "Top 10 Mysteries for Book Clubs".

”Child star and hilarious hot mess Maizie Albright trades Hollywood for the backwoods of Georgia and pure delight ensues. Maizie's my new favorite escape from reality.” (Gretchen Archer, USA Today best-selling author of the Davis Way Crime Caper series)

Three Teen Choice Awards, one Emmy nomination, and several Maxim covers later, Maizie Albright was an ex-teen star, stuck in reality show hell, and standing before a California judge. She has one chance for a new life: return home to Black Pine, Georgia, and get a job that has nothing to do with show business. So why not become a private detective - the person she played during the happiest days of her life?

Maybe because...

First: She's got 10 days to get and keep the job.

Second: She has to convince the only private investigator in town to hire her.

Third: She lost the client's wife on the first day. (And the woman may be dead…)

Fourth: She just might be falling in love with her new boss. And she just might have lost him his business.

But what has she got to lose, other than imprisonment, her dignity, and possibly, her life?

Start the Wall Street Journal best-selling series and download 15 Minutes today!

"Sassy, sexy, and fun, 15 Minutes is hours of enjoyment." (Phoebe Fox, author of the Breakup Doctor series)

©2017 Larissa Reinhart (P)2024 Larissa Reinhart

Fun fun fun!

This is a great mystery! These are great characters. You really love them and despise the bad guys! I highly recommend this. You won’t be sorry!

Entertaining

Both the author Larissa Reinhart and narrator Joan Dukore are new to me. This was a fun book that I found entertaining. I was intrigued as I followed the clues all the while chuckling as Maizie Albright tries to follow her dream of becoming a private investigator.

The narrator really brought this book to life for me and did a good job keeping me entertained. This was a a book filled with a fun, intrigue and suspense which kept me riveted as I listened to this story.

Clueless FUN

Maizie is a washed up Hollywood Valley Girl and a clueless detective wannabe. However, she is also hilarious with she self-dialogs and as she overthinks her "every move is carefully planned." With an equally low IQ group of friends, her grumpy new boss (and semi-love interest), and sheer perseverance, can she survive until the case is "solve-d!?!" Sorry for the Inspector Clouseau references but I had to go there, and if you read/listen you'll get it too.

Good - enjoyed it

This was a cute story, well-narrated. Masie is trying to escape her tabloid past but it keeps following her as she tries to become a private investigator by apprenticing to a private investigator in her old home town. Her Hollywood (shallow?) life has given her a real knowledge of clothing designers and cutsie expressions - both of which she uses a lot (perhaps just a bit too much for my taste, but not a big deal). The pronunciation of Julio with a J really threw me but eventually I picked up that he was Italian so assume the Italian pronounce it with a J rather than the Y sound of Spanish. The mystery was good and the characters interesting. A good listen all in all but not, to be honest, riveting. I received a promotional code for this book.

Where is Sarah??

Wonderfully written and performed! I loved the plot twist! It was funny through out but also kept my interest with the mystery of who actually did what. I highly recommend listening to and or reading this book!!

Fun and Mystery

Author Larissa Reinhart creates an interesting character in the title role. Maizie Albright (Spayberry) started as an actress playing a teenage detective. In her role, she thinks out of the box and solves cases. She is a star who has issues, and multiple therapists advising her on failings.

Celebrity lives tend to beat to a different drum. Those who feed off the fame of the successful always show their unscrupulous sides. It is impossible to understand what portions of their media appearances are fabricated to further their career versus the actual person. Mazie attended and graduated college with a criminal justice degree.

When the actress's former boyfriend is sentenced to jail for illegal activities, the judge offers Mazie an alternative solution. This young woman's option is to leave LA and return to her hometown of Black Pine, Georgia, plus she must get a job with proof via a paycheck. She decides to take advantage of her degree. She moves in with her father and uses her last name of Spayberry to worm her way into a job with a Private Investigator, Nash, of Nash Security Solutions. No one takes Mazie seriously as a real detective.

Nash, Mazie, and Mr. Waverly are developed with very distinct roles and characterizations. The supporting cast is easy to keep track of. The dialogue is uncomplicated and easy to follow, though in some areas feels repetitive. The tug of war on Mazie by her mom and manager to bring her back to Hollywood creates some good tension. Finding Mr. Waverly's wife but losing her threatens to undermine Mazie's desire for independence and freedom of choice. The story has highs and lows, with humor placed at suitable intervals in a somewhat obvious storyline.

Joan Dukore's narration was good, with only a few minor issues with some words and tone. Also, she provides a good rendition of the characters versus the narration with appropriate emphasis on the story's humorous sides. It is a lighthearted young adult cozy mystery and a fun start to a new series.

There were no issues with the production or quality of this audiobook.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Edge of your seat story!

Talk about sitting on the edge of your seat reading. This book kept me on my toes on what was going to happen to Maizie next. Maizie is a mess - she just wants to do something different with her life, outside of the controls of her momager but it seems that every time she starts on her detective path, she makes a little mess that her new boss does not seem too thrilled about. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!

Great mystery!

Great mystery with a surprise ending! Def want to read more in this series. I am loving these characters and can’t wait to see what happens next!

I received a free copy and left my honest review

Lighthearted and entertaining

Maizie Albright, 25 has returned home to live with her dad having been ordered by a judge to get and keep a job within ten days or return to a jail sentence in California. The former TV star knows nothing else but how to be a private detective (teen detective, Julia Pinkerton, was the role she played on TV). She has since studied law enforcement and criminal justice and is convinced that is where her future career lies. Unfortunately, there is only one detective agency in town and he's not looking to hire anyone, especially Maizie.

However, something is in her favour ...the detective, Wyatt Nash, might not want to hire her, but his client does ...and she is taken on to follow his wife for a week to prove whether or not she's having an affair. But then Maizie loses track of Sarah, the man's wife, and suddenly everyone is suspected of killing her. On top of that, Maizie is attracted to Nash and working with him leaves her frequently weak at the knees with her head lost in the clouds.

Returning to Black Pines, Georgia is a complete culture shock for Maizie, but with friends like Tiffany and Rhonda around, she begins to settle in again, all the while avoiding her money-grabbing and manipulative mother, Vicki. Her father, however, is much more grounded, refusing to get her a car when there was a perfectly good dirt bike in the barn that she had as a fourteenth birthday present.

I found the story to be a bit slow to get going, and Maizie spent a lot of time in her head pondering what would Julia do before getting to the bottom of the mystery. The pace seriously picked up towards the end with more twists and turns that seemed possible.

In all, 15 Minutes is a fun story, combining cozy mystery with teen detective, plenty of humour and silly moments ... in a nutshell, it's pure escapism. The narration managed to perfectly deliver the high-pitched girly squealing that sums Maizie up, as well as being easy to follow for all of the other characters.

Younger set slothing detectives

This is very much a young person's book, with a lot of upscale items and phrases.
This being said, it was a very involved mystery that our two intrepid P.I.s were trying to solve.
It highlights the difference between the make believe of Hollywood and the possible dangerous world of true life.
I must say, I enjoyed the jaunty feel of the tale, and the few dramatic sequences were spellbinding. Often it is easy enough to get characters into a tight spot, it's getting them out, in a believable way, which is hard. This author mastered these problems and more.