Murder by Perfection

A Thorny Rose Mystery, Book 3

De: Lauren Carr

Narrado por: Mike Alger

Perfection can be a fatal endeavor.

Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica Faraday expected for her date night was to take a couple’s gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford--the model of perfection in looks, home, and business.

When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford’s life to discover that the pursuit of perfection can be deadly.

©Lifetime Terri Lynn Zaleski (P)2018 Terri Lynn Zaleski

Carr is a master at writing mysteries!

MURDER BY PERFECTION is the third book in the Thorny Rose Mysteries, but it’s my first book in the series. The book does stand alone, but I suspect I would have been able to better keep up if I had read any of the prior books. But who am I kidding? Author Lauren Carr is a master at writing multiple story lines, including a giant cast of characters, and so much murder and mayhem that it’s nearly impossible to solve the mysteries. I tried! I failed! Ha!

Speaking of the characters -- with so many characters, I had to take notes to keep track of them -- not ideal when listening to an audio book, and I found that I had to frequently re-play sections when I wasn’t paying close attention. I might have fared better if I’d have been reading with my eyes instead of my ears; however, the characters are richly described and most have some aspect to their personality to make each memorable. And OH! There are characters to love and loathe and everything in between, and some of them have juicy secrets. There’s some seriously great drama going on.

I fear that jumping into the series with MURDER BY PERFECTION may mean some spoilers when (not if) I go back and start with book one. Even so, that’s a risk I am willing to take because I like these characters and the intricate webs Carr weaves within the story. MURDER BY PERFECTION kept teasing me along and guessing with who did what, to whom, and why!

ABOUT THE NARRATION: I first heard Mike Alger when he narrated one of Lauren Carr’s other books, Ice, and I thought his narration was perfect. In MURDER BY PERFECTION, I am not as big a fan. Though some of the male characters were excellent, some were not. And females – particularly when emotional – sounded silly, bordering on laughable. Alger’s pacing and delivery were great, but then around three hours in, he slowed down, so I had to speed-up the audio to 1.25x. I didn’t like the echo-effect that was used for scenes when a character was thinking. It felt cheesy, and then there were some timing issues where the narrator talked-over an echo sequence and words were clipped. I know how good Alger can perform, so seeing his name as narrator won’t deter me from giving him another try.

Thank you to iRead Book Tours and the author for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

That first fight!

Life is busy for newlyweds Murphy and Jessica and they have their first fight…then he goes missing! Jess calls in the cavalry…aka her FIL and Murohy’s twin. The case involves a stalker, a kleptomaniac, organ harvesters…so much more…you’ll really need to pay attention to keep up! Another great mystery.

This book contains several mysterious/ suspenseful situations in one exciting story!

Jessica’s and Murphy’s marital bliss is challenged with their separate life styles. After one heated argument, Murphy gets away from Jessica and the house on his motorcycle to “ follow a lead”. When Tristen goes with Jessica looking for Murphy a few hours later, what they discover is alarming.., Murphy’s father, Joshua is called

Awoke from sleep with a n all too real dream, Murphy’s identical twin brother does his farm chores, arranges for Poppy to take over until he returns. He then waits for his father to come. He knows Murphy is in trouble.

The Thornton’s, Jessica and Tristen along with the Phantoms all work together in solving the chain of mysteries to discover what happened to Murphy.

This gripping, fast paced novel contains the usual intrigue, humor, romance and adventure, which this author instills into her stories, including a deep intensity .

Narrator, Mike Alger, does an impressive job in his delivery of “ voices” and emphasis in key phrases and in stirring up one’s emotions in the various events.

Reader/Listener beware, contains some crude language and sexual references. Also, mentions graphically violent situations.

Great story and narrator

I have listened to a bunch of audio books from this author. This author has a really good narrator who does great audio work. Therefore, I really like "listening" to books from this author versus "reading" them myself. This is my favorite series from Lauren Carr. It features couple Murphy and Jessica. They keep things entertaining but at the same time, they are very relatable. Murphy may be high ranking in the NCIS but when it comes to Jessica; he will fight "rush hour" traffic to get pizza for dinner.

Murphy runs into Commander Ross Caldwell. He has not seen him in a while. Caldwell says that he has some very important information. Murphy stumbles upon Caldwell's dead body the next day. He was murdered. What is Natalie Stepford's connection to Caldwell? Before Murphy and Jessica can figure it out; Natalie is murdered. Things are really heating up in the kitchen.

I enjoyed this book. It had a really good storyline with some twists. There were many characters introduced in the story but I had no troubles keeping them straight. One person that put a smile on my face is Boris. Boris is Murphy's boss. He had a tough exterior but he would say things out of the blue at times that had me smiling and laughing a few times. Murphy and Jessica #togetherforever.

Awesome Story, Awesome Narration!

I read the book before I listened to it, and both are excellent, but I loved the audio more. Mike Alger brings to life the various characters, and conveys the emotions so well. I loved the twists in this book, and never saw some of them coming! Lauren Carr definitely weaves an awesome mystery. I like how the path is not obvious, nor are all characters what they seem. The disappearance of Murphy was very unexpected and pivotal. Jessica did an amazing job of holding it together. I love how the author is able to add some great humor into the book as well. I think this is my favorite of the Thorny Rose Mystery books to date. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. This book is a standalone listen and a continuation of the series.