Mystery Magnet

The Last Picks, Book 1

By: Gregory Ashe

Narrated by: Andrew Gibson

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

He was born to write mysteries. Now, he has to solve them.

When Dashiell Dawson Dane moves across the country to a small seaside town called Hastings Rock, he has one goal: get away from his ex. Okay, two goals - because he wouldn't mind a little help from his new boss, celebrity mystery author Vivienne Carver. With Vivienne's mentorship, Dash is sure he can get over this blasted case of writer's block and start telling his own stories again.

The only problem? Vivienne is murdered on Dash's first night at Hemlock House. And when police find a secret passage that connects Dash's bedroom to Vivienne's, they're sure they know who did it. Now Dash has to prove his innocence - and the only way to do that is to figure out who really killed Vivienne Carver.

©2024 Gregory Ashe (P)2024 Gregory Ashe

Cozy up with this delightful audiobook!!

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by the fabulous author Gregory Ashe. This is the perfect blend of charm, intrigue, and small-town secrets. I loved reading the book, but I always find that a great narrator brings the characters alive and that's what Andrew Gibson does. The Last Picks are characters that I would absolutely fit in with IRL :) It is a captivating start to what promises to be a delightful series. I was kept guessing to the VERY END. I can't wait to hear book #2 Dude Magnet -the narrator's voice makes it hard to hit pause. Please keep them coming, Gregory Ashe!!!

Cozy mystery

Who knew I would enjoy a cozy. No cussing; no sexy times - at least on page. And what a departure from Gregory Ashe's normal story telling. He did an amazing job of adapting the rules of a cozy while still delivering a great mystery, well thought out characters, and enough angst to keep you going. Andrew Gibson is a new to me narrator. I thought he did a relatively good job at bringing the characters to life. Looking forward to being on this multi-book adventure.

Amazing Narration

I have read most (all) of Ashe’s books and I wasn’t sure how this one was going to land for me. Most of Ashe’s books are hard hitting, gritty, long, and he lives to torture his characters and that is what I am used to from him. The Last Picks series is considered a cozy mystery and compared to what I have read from Ashe this book is easy, breezy even with a murder or two.

I listened to the audio of this book and the performance of the narrator was amazing and definitely added to the overall enjoyment of this book. Dash is a little self-deprecating, a little snarky, a little condescending, and a whole lot of insecure. Narrator Andrew Gibson did such a great job with this narration that I had no interest in turning it off until the end. The book takes us through Dash arriving at the mansion, Vivienne being murdered, and then Dash having to clear his name. Dash has some help from the other staff at the mansion such as Millie, who was one of Vivienne’s assistants. I am not sure how Millie would have landed for me in written form, and although she is an over the top character, the nuances that Gibson added made her entertaining.

There is also Deputy Bobby, who may be Dash’s love interest further in the series, but since Bobby currently has a boyfriend and Ashe loves the super slow burn it will be a while to progress these two. The mystery is a little zany, slightly predictable, but a whole lot of fun getting to the end. The last picks, as the series name describes, are the staff at the mansion. Not all of them are fully explained as to why they are there and after an entire book it left a vacancy of information to be filled.

It will be interesting to see how Ashe sustains multiple murders in one small town as the series moves along but I am definitely invested. If you have the opportunity to listen to the audio it’s highly recommended. But either way, ebook or audio, this is a fun series to get started with for a light mystery with an unlikely hero whose dry wit and humor is worth the ride.

Great story. Great narration.

This introductory book in a new series by Gregory Ashe deviates a bit from the type of story that first brought this author to my attention. In place of the usual dark mystery suspense thriller, which fans of Gregory Ashe are familiar with, this series ventures into the comfortable territory of a cozy mystery series. The story still has characters with attitude, a murder or two, vivid settings, and some twisty plots, but it also has conversations at the local coffee shop, amateur sleuthing, laid-back Pacific Northwest coastal culture, and mysterious passages in a creepy old house.

I liked the main character, Dash, from the very beginning of the story. He has a relatable combination of uncertainty and determination that can be both an asset and a hindrance for aspiring writers and amateur sleuths. The plot that tests Dash's mettle is sufficiently complex for fans of a more serpentine mystery. Dash's internal fictional detective is pulled into the real world when he attempts to prove his innocence in the murder of his new employer. The quest to find the real killer builds a persistent tension that held my attention extremely well. Since I am prone to having half a dozen partially read books at any given time, this is a particularly neat trick. The narration was an excellent addition to the story and also held my attention tightly. Andrew Gibson's vocalization of Dash matched my impression of the character. The narrator's unique voices for each member of the Last Picks cast and smooth performance have me anticipating more.

If, like me, you have been on a steady diet of dark mystery suspense thrillers, this is a good series to test the waters of a cozy mystery on the Oregon coast, which really is cold most of the year. I wish Dash had called me before he headed out this way. I would have told him to bring a year's supply of hoodies and rain fleece.

Great New Series!!

Loved book one! Can’t wait for the rest of the books! The MC is great! Also love Deputy Bobby! Narrator was excellent!

Great Start To A New Series

This is the first book in an amazing 13 book, cozy mysteries series call The Last Picks. Cozy mysteries are books with a mystery and relationship but no on page sexy times. I had to look that up. In this installment, our MC is Dashell Dawson Dane, a struggling mystery writer who takes a position in a small Oregon town with a celebrity writer and finds himself framed for a murder. He is joined by a Scooby gang of misfits (aka – The Last Picks) in a, sometimes comical, attempt to clear his name and find the real killer. Although it is a little slow at times, and some of the characters were really annoying, once Deputy Bobby entered the story, I really enjoyed it.

The ”possible” relationship target is a local deputy, Deputy Bobby. I say possible because this is GA we are talking about, the king of the slow burn. With 13 books to play with, who knows what we are in for. But I’m on board for it. The ride GA takes us on to find the killer has tons of foreshadowing on other adventures. I think the adventures of Triple D and his merry band are going to be epic.

The narrator is new to me, Andrew Gibson. He puts in a A+ performance. He really made this story come to life. I look forward to this next installment.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review

(Millie voice) AMAZING START

Mysteries have always sat on a special throne in my bibliophile heart: the thrill of the chase and exacting justice; of pitting myself against an author’s writerly machinations of red herrings and misdirections - all from the distanced safety of fictional pages and my bed. Cozy mysteries, what I consider a (mostly) no-frills whodunit, is a subgenre thankfully resurging in an age when we need it most, and for GA to take up the cozy gauntlet himself, I couldn’t be happier.

A departure from the author’s usual fare, no cursing, violence, or sex on-page lends itself to a markedly lighter and fresh undertone in his writing that, while possibly taking a few chapters to get into the rhythm of, never fails to capture the quintessentially cheeky ethos we see in varying capacities across all his characters and dialogue. It has its own added charm-filled luster when cushioned by the whimsical offerings of small-town settings and amateur sleuthing. Case in point: I hope GA is still intact after all the creatively intense curse word dodging (think Neo in The Matrix) and fourth wall breakages (Hulk smashing through brick walls) - those had me chuckling.

Andrew Gibson is a fantastically talented addition to the Hazardverse. He interprets our pov character Dash’s voice with perfection. I’m already dancing in anticipation for the others!

Slow start, but has definite Ashe moments.

I will mostly likely update this review after a second listen, let it all sink in. A huge fan of Gregory Ashe, I was left a bit cold with the Iron on Iron series, stopping after the second book. As I regularly watch for new work - still hoping for more Holloway Holmes - I figured at just over 5 hours this title was an easy commitment.

Andrew Gibson is new to me. Pleasant enough, I think Deputy Bobby was my favorite characterization. There were times Gibson was a bit lackluster, but overall he handled the material well without any vocal antics, something that I am less willing to put up with.

The story itself felt like Ashe was trying on something else. At times it was very young adult, without so much as a kiss or a curse. Sure, Ashe is the prince of the slow burn, but it is typically filled with angst and bodily harm. Not here. With a lot of what ever the written equivalent of mugging for the camera happening; Dash speaks to the reader - yes I used all caps, or yes I used air quotes. The other nod to YA was - I used words you can’t print in the newspaper. Boundaries that at this point don’t exist.

The cadre of supporting characters seems set to be a fixture in the series. Similar to the school chums in the Holmes series, a little goes a long way, but we get significantly more than a little.

Ashe shows up most in the interactions between Dash and Bobby, the way Bobby’s smile is described is a delight.

Not sure how I feel about the shorter format, at times the story dragged a bit - something that shouldn’t happen in a 5 hour listen, and rarely happens in his longer books. I am guardedly optimistic that this series will be fun, like Murder She Wrote, where tiny Cabot Cove had a murder or two a week for years!

A very enjoyable listen

As I said in my review of the ebook version, I wish this were a bit longer/meatier. That said, I definitely enjoyed it and will eagerly await the next book in audio. I suspect I'm going to like this series more and more as it progresses and the characters become more fleshed out. Three cheers for a SFW version of Greg Ashe!

My thanks to the author for a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

New Mystery Series.

I loved the ebook and love the audio more, listening to it makes me smile!

Dash moves across the country to get a new start. When he finds his new employer dead and is framed for her murder, he decides to try to solve it himself. But then his new friends Millie, Fox, Indria and Keme try to help.

The narrator did a wonderful job, I enjoyed the mystery and getting to know the characters. Can’t wait for the next one.