Parricide in Pierre

Capital City Murders, Book 8

By: Troy Lambert, Stuart Gustafson

Narrated by: Joseph L. Stevenson

A birthday celebration ended in tragedy.

In Pierre, murder is as rare as a visit from a photographer like amateur sleuth Nick O’Flannigan. When both happen at the same time, Nick is welcomed as much for his coverage of the small town as for his photography skills. Local officials entice him to help them with some crime scene photography.

What at first seems to be a burglary gone wrong turns out to be something else, and a mysterious stranger may hold the key to the mystery. Can Nick get to him in time, and will the boy share his secrets?

With an editor on his back to stay out of the news, local authorities who don’t believe him, and a surprise twist, you won’t want to miss this continuation of the compelling Capital City Murders series. If you love the Spenser series, you will love Nick O’Flannigan. Check out this travel mystery today!

©2019, 2020, 2021 Troy Lambert (P)2021 Troy Lambert

Great story

I have been enjoying listening to Nick's adventures as he completes his freelance job. He tends to find himself involved in a mystery to be solved. Can he stay out of trouble with his employer. Listen to his stories. I received a copy for an honest review.

Baskerville Book Reviews

This story gets the award for the dumbest line I’ve ever read in a book. “Ghosts didn’t usually leave footprints.” Is that because they’re not real, or because even if they were, they lack a physical body? Stupid lines aside, this story is on par with the last few in the series. Shaggy’s friend, Velma makes an appearance for the first time in a while, though Daphne is only mentioned.

The mystery was pretty good, and it didn’t push Shaggy’s photography off to the side in the process. There was a plot point about a ticket shaggy received in a previous story that I’d forgotten about which was worked into the story nicely.

The narration was alright, as always. The narrator doesn’t know the difference between O and zero, which I find stupid and annoying. There are also some serious audio issues in chapter 9. It sounded as if multiple recordings were layered on top of each other.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

One and Done

One of my main indicators on the quality of a story is if I want more. If the book is part of a series, do I want to read the rest of the books in the series? In this case, the answer is no. The story itself was fine. It was mildly entertaining and has a twist at the end. But that's the problem—it's just fine. It is essentially a cozy mystery in that an amateur happens to stumble into the case and solves it for the police. The premise is good. A photographer traveling to every capitol in the country helps solve a crime in every new city. It's a 50-book series before it even gets started. The book is very short. The authors could easily have built up the characters and the mystery more to give the story more depth. But I guess when you have 50 books to write, you don't want to make them too long.

There was one thing I found off-putting. For some reason, the authors described the MC's every meal. In their defense, it's possible the restaurants are real places, and they are trying to do a little marketing for local businesses. But because the book is so short, the percentage of meal description to story is very unbalanced. We know people eat. We don't need a description of every meal.

WARNING SPOILERS: The entire premise of the crime is silly. There is no police department in the US where the estranged daughter of the murder victim is put in charge of the crime scene and liaison with the contract photographer. The authors brought up the conflict of interest once but dismissed it as something that can't be helped in a small town. That's just dumb. That's what state and federal agency assists are for. They even had the FBI involved early on in the story (which was the appropriate response) but that just kind of went away as the story went on. As a former LEO, I can let a lot of inaccuracies go for the sake of a good story, but not when it is the entire plot. In this case, the surprise ending ruined the book for me.

NARRATION: Chapter nine needs to be re-edited. There was another track of someone speaking on top of the book track. Editing mistakes happen, but in such a short book, that was a big one to miss. The narrator otherwise did a good job.

Capital City Murders

I own all Troy Lambert's books in this series in both Kindle and Audible. In general the plots are very good, following Nick to all the capitals is interesting. Troy adds history of the capital and when reading you will notice local landmarks. Parricide in Pierre is no different. The Narrator provides a nice performance of this book. This is a can't miss series.

Interesting Story Premise

I just finished the novella Parricide in Pierre: Capital City Murders Book #8. The premise for the series is intriguing and I look forward to each new book.

The protagonist Nick O'Flannigan is a freelance photographer and an amateur detective. Nick has a contract to take photos of the capitol buildings in each of the 50 US capital cities over a period of 50 weeks for Travel USA magazine. While in Pierre, SD, the local police enlist Nick’s photography skills at a crime scene which leads to his involvement in trying to solve the mysterious unsolved crime.

Another well-written story from a very good author

Parricide in Pierre: Capital City Murders Book #8, my tenth read from author Troy Lambert. After reading Silenced in Salt Lake: Capital City Murders Book #11, my first read from author Troy Lambert, I wanted to read more in the series and this one doesn't disappoint. I was given an Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. As always, Joseph L. Stevenson's narration adds to the book's enjoyment. I look forward to reading more in this series & from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).