Banter, bidding and beer.

When private eye Milo Rathkey had learned he was a beneficiary of the man on whose estate he grew up as a child, he expected some little keepsake, a book, perhaps. Instead, he found himself sharing Lake Song with the only son, fifty-fifty, and an instant millionaire. The two men liked each other, sharing the house and the benefits of a superb chef, amongst other things.
But he still enjoyed being a special consultant to the police so, when a woman is found dead, possibly murdered, Milo's help was requested. There had been a high school reunion and the dead woman had been hated by everyone attending, accused by some of causing the death of a much loved young girl years before. Meanwhile, Sutherland, the other half of the inheritance, had unearthed a mystery from his father's childhood, and Milo had been persuaded to allow a wedding to take place in the beautiful grounds. Not to mention tennis ...

D.B.Elrogg has created a superb slice of life rather than a straightforward murder mystery, with well developed characters living full lives throughout. And great characters, too, quirky, great conversation and quips, and real life activities, hopes and pleasures, everything intertwined to weave a rich, warm tapestry thread through with mystery and crime confusion and humour. Superb.
As, too, is the narration by Tom Lennon, whose pleasant tones follow the text, and voices the protagonists, with empathy and panache - never over played, just right. Together, author and narrator make this a book of sheer enjoyment so that it is hard to say goodbye.
Another soon, please.

Highly recommended

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1 person found this helpful

Fun reunion, well until the murder

I enjoyed this book. It did seem a long story, with a lot of stuff that wasn't relevant but it all comes together in the end. There was a number of side projects that added to the fun and gave the characters another dimension, I especially liked the teasing and banter between the main characters and the one upmanship that leads to an interesting tennis match and bike ride. The mystery was good with a number of suspects and I was wrong with my guess as to who the killer was, always a good sign.
Milo is a retired pi but he still consults for the police when needed. He retired when he came into an unexpected inheritance that made him a millionaire and gave him the run of Lake song. Sutherland is a workaholic and when he gets pushed out the door to take a much needed holiday by his secretary he had no idea he would be spending the week helping Milo investigate a murder. The pairs housekeeper is attending a school reunion that she isn't looking forward, mainly because a friend died and it was never cleared up if it was a murder. Then the suspect is found dead at the bottom of the stairs where the first death took place and everybody becomes a suspect because no body liked her and all had there own reason to kill her. Back at Lake song things are gearing up for a unexpected wedding, the granddaughter of a local mob boss needs a venue for her wedding at very short notice and Milo finds himself offering up Lake song, his house manger and cook. Will a mob boss let a little thing like a murder get in the way of the big day? Or the fact that he wasn't invited? With bike riding, magazine interviews, secret tunnels to investigate, and a tennis match can Milo figure out who killed Jessica. With alibi's changing and lies being told is it one of the guest from the reunion Or is there really a hit man in the area?
The narrator was okay but I did find it hard sometimes to work out which character was talking, as there wasn't really much change in voices and there was a lot of characters.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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