Cause to Kill

An Avery Black Mystery, Book 1

By: Blake Pierce

Narrated by: Elaine Wise

Homicide Detective Avery Black has been through hell. Once a top criminal defense attorney, she fell from grace when she managed to get a brilliant Harvard professor off - only to watch him kill again. She lost her husband and her daughter, and her life fell apart around her.

Trying to redeem herself, Avery has turned to the other side of the law. Working her way up the ranks, she has reached the rank of homicide detective, to the scorn of her fellow officers, who still remember what she did, and who will always hate her.

Yet even they cannot deny Avery's brilliant mind, and when a disturbing serial killer strikes fear into the heart of Boston, killing girls from elite colleges, it is Avery they turn to. It is Avery's chance to prove herself, to finally find the redemption she craves. And yet, as she is soon to find out, Avery has come up against a killer as brilliant and daring as she.

In this game of psychological cat and mouse, women are dying with mysterious clues, and the stakes could not be higher. A frantic race against time leads Avery through a series of shocking and unexpected twists - culminating in a climax that even Avery could not imagine.

©2016 Blake Pierce (P)2016 Blake Pierce

Accent

Didn't like the English accent. Especially because the story was set in Massachusetts. Next time have someone who speaks with an American accent.

Wrong Accent!

The narrator was good but she was English and everyone in the story was from the US. When the character had a "strong Boston accent" she spoke with a cockney accent. The story was great though although the "romance"/ flirting Avery Black did was kinda lame. Overall pretty good

good story, bad narration

The story was good, but I kept getting distracted by the English accent. It really needed an American accent.

Snooze Fest!!!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, waste of money.Constantly had to restart the book because I just couldn't get a grip on it.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

START ALL OVER!!!!!

What three words best describe Elaine Wise’s voice?

Ok, better than book

Do you think Cause to Kill needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

NO, NO, NO!!!!! BORING!!!!!

Any additional comments?

I felt as if I was reading a take off of a Angela Marson's / Sibel Hodge book. Without the imagination. I feel that if someone were to ask me what this story was about I could probably tell you the basic details, then sum up the plot in a couple of sentences. Sorry Blake...

Good story bad narration

The story takes place in Boston however the narrator has an English accent. So weird and inappropriate. She's not a bad narrator it just doesn't make sense.

Narration

The book takes place in Boston but, the characters are all British. Why? Doesn't make sense and was distracting.

British accent

Book was good, but listening to a story about a Boston murder read by a very competent narrator with a British accent was somewhat unsettling.

Serial Killer vs. Flawed Cop

Avery Black, high powered attorney, turned homicide detective, is on the trail of a serial killer . . . but she is plagued by her own past, not accepted by the very team she works with . . . and questioning herself at every turn . . . yet she is dogged in her search for the killer, and her instinct as a cop is right on . . . I found it sick that she had to go visit the old man in jail to get "advice" on the case, the very one that caused her fall from grace as an attorney . . . yet in some ways, I understand, given her childhood . . . the narration is very confusing, as the setting is in Boston, yet the narrator is British . . . you just have to ignore that . . . this is a book for women . . . I don't see men getting in to the nuances of the story . . . it could be better without the profanity . . . but realistically, I'm sure that's what goes on in police precincts . . . the resolution was very good . . . harrowing . . . nail-biting good . . .

An average story and over-the-top performance

This is the first book in the series about Avery Black, lawyer-turned-cop.
This book really started to annoy me early on. The main character, Avery, having just joined homicide, makes a lot of really bizarre decisions to get her at odds with her colleagues and bosses. But on top of that she reaches conclusion in her investigation that just leaps without any kind of foundation.
Additionally, her fellow cops are described as almost caricatures of police officers, brawny, loud, almost as if unable to show normal human emotions.
The conclusion of the book was somewhat satisfying, though not without some of the problems described above.
Finally the audio performance left something to be desired, I personally felt the choice of narrator was wrong, one with English accent was used for a story taking place in Boston...

Lawyer turns cop but can't leave old case behind

Decent read with decent characters. Avery had some redeeming moments but they were so interlaced with "what the hell??" moments that they balanced into something that felt more like 'troubled but lucky.' And the other detectives in book were so oddly characterized that they didn't seem real.

My biggest issue was the accent of the narrator. I felt like I was listening to a British police procedural even though the entire book was set in the US. Bizarre.