Murder Under Cover

A Bibliophile Mystery

By: Kate Carlisle

Narrated by: Susie Berneis

When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates both recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But then Robin's apartment is ransacked, and the great guy she recently met is murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the number one suspect. Obviously, exploring the Kama Sutra's bliss will have to wait until after Brooklyn finds the killer...

©2011 Kathleen Beaver (P)2013 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Books, books everywhere.

This time it wasn't entirely about the books, but they are always present. I do enjoy this series, but I do have questions.
When is Brooklyn going to press charges against Minka for assault and battery, breaking and entering and stalking? She has witnesses, including the police themselves. It is time Minka learned that she is NOT above the law and take out a restraining order or get an order of protection against. She also needs to realize that the little witch is not only EXTREMELY jealous of Brooklyn but very insecure as well.
Minka's character is annoying in the extreme. Otherwise it is a fantastic story.

Another awesome bibliophile mystery

Brooklyn is at it again, only this time it's her best friend Robin who finds fhe dead body. Together Brooklyn, Derek and Robin try to solve the mystery of the dead body in Robins bed and the connection it had to the rare book that Brooklyn is currently working on. I love these book bc it's full of laughs, mystery and is a all round fun and intriguing read! Can't wait to start the next book in this series!

Hit and miss, but mostly hit

This is one of my favorite series, and I listen to them all about once per year. I love that I get to learn something new in each book. Bookbinding isn't my thing, but I like knowing a bit about it. And the histories of the various books is quite interesting!

In this book the author introduces some new people and new twists. Robin is tired of waiting for Brooklyn's brother, Austin, to make a move, so she moves on with her life. We learn some background about Robin and why she spent so much time with Brooklyn's family when she was a child.

As others have noted, the plot gets wrapped up very quickly at the end of the book. But that makes some sense, since all the threads are related. Sergio and Jeremy, the male same sex couple down the hall, are not among my favorite characters in the series. I must not be alone in that opinion, since the author sends them to Europe for an extended stay in the next book, and brings in a new major character to sublet their apartment.

The narration is both a plus and a minus. It's the first book of the series with a different narrator. Her voicing of Brooklyn sounds WAY too midwest and snarky, and too middle aged. She tones it down in later books, so don't give up yet. If you compare this book with the prior 3, the prior narrator does a better job with the women's voices, in my opinion. I think that carries forward for the later books, as well. HOWEVER, this narrator handles most of the male voices and Derek's British accent MUCH better. Not to mention that the gay men who live down the hall no longer sound like caricatures (no lisp!). And this narrator has fewer strange pronunciations (she knows grosgrain is "grow grain" and not "gross grain"). Everything is a compromise.

In all, a good installment of a favorite series.

Storyline and twists

While the story may seem to start off slow the details are needed to set everything up and allow for a stand alone reading.

a fun action action resd

Mystery is very well done with an engaging protagonist surrounded by a fun cast of characters. I like this new reader better.

Love the new narrator

As soon as the book began, I noticed the difference. At first, I wasn't sure what to think, but as soon as I heard the new voice of Derek, I was won over! He no longer sounds so foppish, completely unlike his character! And, the police sergeant, Lee, no longer sounds like someone is talking while gargling nails. The book itself had a nice twisting motion and a plot line that brought in some extra time with side characters!

Excellent

The story was a little long but not considerably windy or prone to too much detail.
I haven’t read the previous books in the series but will go back and listen. I found the main character, Brooklyn, to be smart and real. It is her character that makes me want to write this review.
I enjoyed her friends and neighbors greatly.
The narrator does a very good job. I was impressed that all the men didn’t sound the same - which has been my experience with female narrators.

Love this series

I love this series, the previous reader did a great job and so does Susie but now Brooklyn sounds older then she is supposed to be. Can't wait to find out what happens to Brooklyn and her new boyfriend.

Not good

Any additional comments?

I'm sorry to say I am amazed that Carlisle is so well read. This book is more juvenile in language, tone and content than juvenile books. I love Janet Evanovich so it's not that I have a problem with girl-talk. I tried another of Carlisle's books and felt the same. Not a writer for me -- though I wish her well as a person.

NOT A Clean Cozy

I read cozies when I want to escape foul language, explicit sexual content and graphic violence. This book uses foul language and almost crosses the line with explicit sexual content. I am not a prude. I read modern murder mysteries/serial killer books. However, sometimes I want a quick, clean cozy. I love the Fixer-Upper series but definitely not this one.