Slaying in Salem

Capital City Murders, Book 2

By: Troy Lambert, Stuart Gustafson

Narrated by: Joseph L. Stevenson

A former site of horror and death is the scene of a new murder.

Nick O’Flannigan, freelance photographer and amateur sleuth, arrives in Salem, only to discover another crime. The police have a man in custody, but one small clue tells Nick what no one else wants to acknowledge: They’ve got the wrong guy.

With the help of a local reporter who’s also his buddy from college, Nick investigates. Will his clues lead him too close to the murderer and put both his life and his assignment in danger? Against disinterested police and an editor who wants him to stay focused on his assignment, will Nick beat the odds and solve the case?

If you love Jake Longly, you’ll love Nick O’Flannigan. Catch up with Nick in this second novella in the compelling Capital City Murders series!

©2019 Troy Lambert (P)2020 Troy Lambert

Interesting Story Premise

I just finished the novella Slaying in Salem: Capital City Murders Series Book #2. The premise for the series is intriguing and I look forward to each new book.

The main character Nick O'Flannigan is a freelance photographer and an amateur detective. Nick has a contract to take photos in each of the 50 US capital cities over a period of 50 weeks. While in Salem, OR, Nick and a college friend assist the police in identifying and apprehending a murderer.

The Artistic Knife

Note: While this is book 2, it works fine as a stand alone novella.

Nick is continuing on with his task of photographing state capitals for a big coffee table book. He’s traveling from Olympia to Salem… and for some reason it is taking him all day. Like he started early and he doesn’t get to Salem until evening. But I know this area, driven it many times. It’s like a 3-4 hour drive. But the story takes plenty of time to tell us how many times Nick had to pull over to pee, because, for him, it was a really long drive. lol Dude, if you think that’s a long drive, you need to adjust your expectations as you travel the country visiting state capitals.

Anyhoo, the plot is that this doctor was found dead and it relates to an old scandal concerning the old state hospital. It came out that patients were being abused and this now dead doc was involved in uncovering this past injustice. Nick gets there shortly after the murdered man is discovered. Of course he’s interested, but having recently been chastised by his publisher for acting the amateur sleuth in Olympia, he reins it in and just focuses on the capitol building.

The plot is a little slow at first. We get lots of info about Nick’s preferred camera, lenses, etc. I’m not into photography, so all that was a bit of a snooze for me. I wanted to get back to the murder victim and Nick soon does. Though I did find it a little unlikely that the cops/coroner wouldn’t know that the victim was stabbed by a left-handed person. Yet Nick is the one to see this clearly on the cadaver photos. He gains access to these photos through his old school friend Ron, who now works for a local newspaper.

The tale moseys along at a slow pace until the last tidbit of the book, where the now angry police engage Nick in the final trick and catch. The whole things wrapped up super quick and it was very dramatic. On one hand, I got satisfaction in the drama and justice. On the other hand, it all seemed totally unlikely. And then we have this bit tagged on at the end. I was a bit lost. Is this like a small intro into book 3? Is this what Nick will step into in the next book when he moves onto California? I’m not sure, but it sounds exciting. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Joseph L. Stevenson does a decent job as Nick. He doesn’t have a wide range of voices so sometimes Nick and Ron sound like each other when in a discussion. Stevenson did have some believable female voices for those minor characters. The pacing was good and there were no tech issues with the recording. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Troy Lambert. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Adventure, mystery and history combine for a quick read

Book #2 in a series about a young freelance photographer who stumbles upon a newspaper article about a recent murder. Nick seems to appear in town at just the right moment for a photography assignment when a murder occurs. He uses his amateur detective skills to help the police find their assailant. The book combines a brief overview of an actual incident and a bit of history. Can’t wait to read book #3.

Baskerville Book Reviews

Bok 2 is a noticeable improvement over book 1. It focuses on totally interesting protagonist’s job, but the mystery feels more front and center. The whole thing is a bit abrupt and I’m wondering if the cops will ever start to take notice of the guy who seems to show up at every single capital as a murder is going down.

I couldn’t stop laughing at totally interesting protagonist’s 500 MB SSD. That was my flavorite part of the story. At one point, the characters kept talking about how the killer must have been left-handed, due to how the kill was done. It didn’t seem to ever cross the writer’s mind that people might be ambidextrous. I am for example. It would be all too easy to do something with one hand, then claim to be dominant with the other hand.

The narrator was alright. He did a truly lousy job of actually doing voices for characters. It doesn’t sound like 2 people having a conversation, it sounds like 1 person having a two-sided conversation. Otherwise, it was enjoyable.

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.

Short but good

This is a very short story, just about an hour long when listening to audiobooks. It does leave you in suspense of what all happened and wanting more from the story.

A great follow up

Another great short story. This story was a quick read with a good amount of info on the state capital. It also gave good information on the building that the murder happened in. Looking for the next in line.

Can Nick figure out who the killer is

On his way to Salem, on an assignment nick hears about a murder. He decides to email his friend Rob to catch up. While he’s taking pictures of the mental institution he notices a painter and takes pictures of him from afar. Ron meets him there and they start talking about the case. Nick tells Ron that he thinks they have the wrong suspect as the suspect is right handed and the murder was committed by a left handed person.

Can Nick figure out who the real killer is?

Enjoyable

I enjoy listening to this book. With it being a short story, it was a good story .

Short and sweet

This is the second in the Capital City Murders. Nick is working his way across the country visiting the capital of each state to take photos for a magazine series. He arrives in Salem, OR just after a doctor has been murdered at the Oregon State Hospital. Since the capital building is closed for 2 days for cleaning Nick decides to poke around. An old college buddy works for the local paper and Nick gets information on the case. Police have a suspect but Nick sees something that leads him to believe the police have it wrong. Of course this lands Nick in trouble with the police, the paper, and the magazine editor but Nick just can't help himself. Each book in this series is really short but I enjoy the satisfying mystery and the facts on the state capital. Looking forward to moving to Sacramento with Nick. I listened to the audiobook. It is well done. The narrator doesn't put a lot of excitement into his narration but his voice is well modulated and easy to understand.

Nice, short mystery

This is the second book in the Capitol City Murders. The series follows freelance photographer Nick O'Flannigan as he travels around the country to each capital state taking pictures for a tourism book. Salem is his second stop and his amateur detective instincts kick in as he becomes distracted by a gruesome murder that takes place below the Oregon State Hospital. No matter how much he tries, he can't help but get involved, even though he knows his focus should be the pictures he needs to take for the book, as his editor keeps diligently reminding him. An interesting and engaging story - I look forward to reading/listening to more of Nick's adventures in the books that follow.


I received a free Audible copy via StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving me review.