Fame Is a Killer

Hope Hadley Cozy Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Meredith Potts

Narrated by: Rachel Carr

Hollywood actress Hope Hadley doesn't think that things can get any worse for her. In the last 24 hours, her boyfriend has broken up with her and her long-running police procedural TV show has been canceled.

When a homicide detective shows up at her door the next morning with news that her ex-boyfriend has been murdered, she realizes that her troubles are just beginning. She is shocked - not only to learn of her ex's death, but also to find out that the police consider her to be a suspect in the killing.

Hope soon realizes that the only way to clear her name is by finding the real killer herself.

©2016 Meredith Potts (P)2018 Meredith Potts

Enjoyable

Like the story line and the characters. Narration was great. Looking forward to more books in this series.

Not so cozy

Fame is a Killer - Cozy Mystery

Not as good as I was hoping for. I just couldn’t connect with the main character, finding her shallow and unlikeable. There is a lack of emotion in the story. It ended up being a mystery without the cozy.

The narration was okay, but there was no variety of voices for the different characters.

I received this audiobook free for an honest review from Audiobookworm.

Probably better in print than audio

I'm always on the hunt for new cozy mysteries and there seems to be plenty of wonderful choices in the audiobook world. The premise of this series caught my interest as I enjoy cozies with actresses, Hollywood, or celebrities. There are times I want something quick and short and the first book in this series, Fame is a Killer, fit the bill (pun intended) at a little over 2 hours long.

Holly Hadley is having the worst day of her life. First, the TV show Sassy Sleuth in which she played the lead character has cancelled, supposedly because she is considered "over the hill" in Hollywood at age 40. Then her loser actor boyfriend Trent Harper dumps Holly during the TV show's wrap party because he has a new girlfriend, a 19-year-old version of her former self. Worst comes to worst when Trent is found murdered.

Since Holly played a detective in her TV show for 7 years, she thinks she has acquired the skills to solve this murder herself, right? One caveat, she is the prime suspect. However, that doesn't stop Holly from trying to clear her name. It's hard to resist a book who has a character who is that optimistic.

As Holly teams up with her BFF Jenna to solve the mystery, it provided lots of entertainment and light-hearted amusement. Although the mystery seemed pretty well plotted out and not overly complicated, it did not provide any surprises. I do plan to continue with the next book in this series as I'd like to find out what is the sequel to Holly's life.

Rachel Carr is a new narrator to me. With straight narration and no dialogue, the narrator did a good job. She had a pleasant voice that was crisp and clear. She provided the right amount of perkiness to the main character, Holly. The pace was perfect. I normally adjust my narration speed between 1.2-1.5X as most narrators seem too slow for my ears. With this narrator, no adjustment was necessary and seemed just right at 1.0X speed.

I would like the narrator to explore more vocal ranges, tones and pace with each character. There was little to no distinction between the character narrations, male or female. The narrator monotonically used the same pitch, tone and pace with each character's dialogue. Holly sounded the same as Jenna, who sounded the same as Trent, who sounded the same as Amy, who sounded the same as Scott, and so on. This left me confused and dissatisfied. For this very reason since I enjoyed the mystery, the main character and the supporting characters very much, I plan to continue with the series; just very unlikely on audio.

Story: 4 stars
Narration: 2.5 stars


I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Nice cozy mystery

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. the characters were likable, and the author kept us guessing until the end. There were some twists, which made it more enjoyable. Though there were some less believable parts of the plot or circumstances, it was a pleasantly spent afternoon with this well narrated book.

I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Great cozy mystery

A great cozy mystery. Well narrated. Will definitely check out more books in this series.