The Bright Falls Mystery Saga

By: C. T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus

Narrated by: Arielle DeLisle

Length: 28 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Now available in a single volume, the complete Bright Falls Mysteries saga:

I Was a Teeenage Weredeer

Jane Doe is a weredeer, the least-threatening shape-changer species in the world. Blessed with the ability to turn furry at will, and psychically read objects, Jane has done her best to live a normal life, working as a waitress at the Deerlightful Diner. She has big dreams of escaping life in the supernatural-filled town of Bright Falls, Michigan, and her 18th birthday promises the beginning of her teenage dreams coming true.

Unfortunately, her birthday is ruined by the sudden murder of her best friend's sister, in an apparent occult killing. Oh, and her brother is the primary suspect. Allying with an eccentric FBI agent, the local crime lord, and a snarky werecrow, Jane has her work cut out for her, while turning her big day around.

Thankfully, she's game.

An American Weredeer in Michigan

Life is not easy for the world's first weredeer detective. A simple hike turns into a media circus when Jane Doe, her best friend Emma, and a pair of monster hunters find a mass grave. Determined to find the parties responsible, Jane soon discovers a sinister cult leader has decided to make Bright Falls, Michigan the home of his corrupt religion.

As if this wasn't complicating her life enough, Jane also has to decide whether or not she wants to begin a relationship with FBI Special Agent Alex Timmons, or local crime lord Lucien Lyons. Both men are determined to get to the bottom of the crime she's investigating, but may be distracted by their own agendas, as well as their love for Jane.

A Nightmare on Elk Street

Jane Doe has settled into her new role as the Shaman of Bright Falls - but that doesn't pay the bills. With her boyfriend off chasing his evil father, Jane has decided to take up a job in security, on the set of horror movies being filmed in her hometown. Unfortunately, the crew have been threatened by an ominous force that quickly sets its sights on Jane herself.

Complicating matters further are Jane's past sins coming back to haunt her, with her vengeful cousins still blaming her for the death of their sister. Her complicated relationships with Alex and Lucien are also about to come to a head.

Enjoy the final installment of the Bright Falls Mysteries! It's deerlightful!

Set in the same universe as Straight Outta Fangton, The Morgan Detective Agency, Red Room Trilogy, and Psycho Killers in Love.

©2020 Charles Phipps (P)2022 David N. Wilson

Awesome!

This is an omnibus of three fantastic stories about Jane Weredeer and her friends in Bright Falls. Jane wants to be an author but as is the case, life has something else in mind for her. Becoming the world’s first weredeer detective sets Jane on a course that not only helps her escape the mundane world but presents her with unique opportunities. One of those rare and unique opportunities is seen in the third book of this highly captivating series.

The authors, C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus are word craftsmen. I say this because they come up with some intriguing puns for Jane, and pop culture references that are entertaining and fit the situation. The dialog between characters flows smoothly and is genuine. Each character is well developed and intricate to the storyline and the world being crafted. The story is action-packed and keeps you on the edge of your chair.

The narrator, Arielle DeLisle performs the audiobooks impressively. Her delivery is smooth and clear. Her tone reflects the situations that which the characters find themselves. The voice she uses for Jane is perfect; just how I hear her in my head.

This omnibus is fantastic as it is entertaining, witty, and unique. This omnibus comes highly recommended. Especially if you can recline in a hammock or lounge chair, sip tea, and enjoy the peace and quiet – well, until Jane or one of her friends gets into trouble … then watch out for the action and trouble! After all, how often do three delightful and intriguing stories come together in one place?

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook, it was well done.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

An en-deering story and an awesome 3 for 1 deal

The Bright Falls Mysteries Saga is an omnibus of Books 1 through 3 of the Bright Falls Mysteries Series and includes I Was a Teenage Weredeer, An American Weredeer in Michigan, and A Nightmare on Elk Street. This is a combined review for all three books in the omnibus. Like many of C. T. Phipps’ books, the series is set in the United States of Monsters urban fantasy universe (which you can read more about on the author’s blog).

All the Bright Falls Mysteries books have been fun, full of comedy (and deer puns), and have had surprisingly entertaining and well-written characters and plots. But it took me so long to start on the series and I kept passing it by every time I looked for a new book. I kept seeing I Was a Teenage Weredeer and then thinking to myself, “A weredeer? That’s just dumb, I don’t think I could ever get into that book.” Yet, here I am declaring Jane Doe the weredeer one of my favorite protagonists. So if you are reading this review and are still on the fence about the series, it’s time to go ahead and take the plunge.

The introduction to the series, I Was a Teenage Weredeer, is written as a murder mystery. Jane (that’s Jane Doe ... the weredeer) finds herself playing amateur detective as she tries to track down a serial killer. Hijinks ensue. The plot is well thought out and engaging, the dialog is fun and entertaining, and I thoroughly enjoyed Jane’s inner monologues. As the first book in the series, you also get to meet all Jane’s friends, allies, and antagonists of the series.

In An American Weredeer in Michigan, Jane (the weredeer) and Emma (Jane’s now out-of-the-closet lesbian, werewolf best friend) continue to stumble into messy situations. While out for a hike, the two stumble on a murder pit full of infant’s bones and feel obligated to seek out whoever is responsible for the mass grave and bring them to justice. While on the trial of the apparent baby murder, Jane faces off against an evil cult leader, tries to sort out her relationships with Alex and Lucien, and continues to dish out non-stop deer puns.

Phipps pays homage to the classic slasher film genre in A Nightmare on Elk Street. Another supernatural killer is rampaging through Bright Falls and Lucien Lyons convinces Jane to work security on the set of his money-laundering scheme … I mean B-movie horror film. While trying to protect the crew, Jane attempts to track down the killer only to discover that the murderer’s next target is her. Though it is still essentially a comedy, A Nightmare on Elk Street is also well-written with a great plot. The plot is a bit thicker in this book than in previous novels as this final installment reveals a hidden narrative arc that’s been building throughout the series. A perfect ending and wrap-up for the trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Bright Falls Mysteries books and Jane’s snark and puns are entertaining enough to make buying any of these books worth it. But for the saga edition, you get three books for one price! It's especially worth it for the audio omnibus edition, as you can get the entire trilogy for a single credit. You can’t beat that!

In the audiobook version, Arielle DeLisle is deer-lightful in her performance as Jane and creates a full cast of characters with unique personalities and voices. It’s hard to find many faults with any of her narration throughout the series – she was a joy to listen to. I’ve listened to DeLisle narrate a few other series and she is definitely a go-to to give voice to quirky, spunky heroines.

Special thanks to C.T. Phipps, who provided me with this book at my request.

SUCH A Funny & Enjoyable Series

SUCH A Funny & Enjoyable Series

This series is easily one of my favorites. The comedic value alone makes it worth the cost of admission. Add in the amount of deer-related puns and you’ve got a funny and interesting story. I had the pleasure of reading these stories when they were originally released and I wrote full reviews for each one. But, if you’re curious if this is worth a credit? 100% yes. A good urban fantasy with shifters, comedy, and so much more. Phipps and Suttkus nail each story and DeLisle is the PERFECT Jane Doe.

I love the world that Phipps and Suttkus credited and worked in with the Bright Falls Saga and these stories might be my favorite in their entire metaverse.

Here are my reviews of each story inside of this saga.

Book One: I Was a Teenage Weredeer
Nearly Perfect and a Blast of a Book
4.75 out of 5 stars

In my head when I’m writing this description I can hear the slow (and just flute version of) Morning Mood by Edvard Grieg (Youtube) because that’s what I hear when I’m thinking of a place called Bright Falls where people aren’t just people anymore. They are shifters that make up different classes and animals. There are Werebears and Werewolves and then you meet Jane Doe (aptly named) the main character who is a Weredere. She just turned 18 and is trying to work her way into enough money to get out of Bright Falls when her best friend’s sister turns up dead in an apparent murder. Recruited to find the murderer by her friend Jane Doe’s life will never be the same.

There are some authors that you realize that you like anything they write even when it’s not in a ‘typical’ genre. C.T. Phipps is that author for me. This is at least the third unique genre I’ve read that he’s written and I’ve liked them all. I Was a Teenage Weredeer (though the name and cover art did catch my attention) wouldn’t normally be a book that I thought “Yup! I have to read that” but… now I’m mad at myself for not thinking that. I Was A Teenage Weredeer was a blast from beginning to end.

Phipps and Suttkus kept cracking me up – all of the deer puns and the interaction between the different shifter species were great. Along with the hallowed history of Bright Falls and the mysterious “aura” and feeling that surrounded the town. I also didn’t know going into it (I don’t always read the entire synopsis for fear of spoiling the book) that this was going to be set in the same world as Straight Outta Fangton.

I Was a Teenage Weredeer while being a mouthful to say was one of those books that just got my sense of humor. As I mentioned above – the puns were great (and the notion that one of the stereotypes about weredeer were these bad deer-related puns). The premise of the book (a town is cursed and they must find a murderer) sounds typical but what Phipps and Suttkus do with it is far from that.

While not a perfect book it’s darn close. I ended up finishing this in less than two days because I couldn’t put it down. It should come with a warning telling you that you might lose sleep until you finish it.

I Was A Teenage Weredeer is a book for those who don’t take everything too seriously. A fantasy book that will make you laugh and a story about friendship, magic, and finding out who you really are all wrapped up into one.

The narration for this was done by Arielle DeLisle, who I thought did a fantastic job of bringing Jane to life. It was one of those voices that were so good that it’s hard to pull Arielle from Jane in my mind now.

Book Two: An American Weredeer in Michigan
An EnDEERing Story Full of Awesome Characters
5 out of 5 stars

See what I did there? If you don’t like that, then this book isn’t for you. Though An American Weredeer in Michigan has a lot fewer puns than the original book in the series – they were still there and made me laugh just as hard. I can imagine Phipps and Suttkus chatting with each other trying to come up with the ultimate deer-related pun. I’m also curious which one they each liked the most.

An American Weredeer in Michigan (man, that’s a mouthful – that’s what she said… sorry) is one of those stories that you just enjoy. It was pure enjoyment from beginning to end – Phipps and Suttkus really know how to write characters that you want to follow. Jane is endearing (yes, I spelled it right this time) and a little doe-eyed at times, but she’s also funny and relentless. I just love everything about her. If she were a real person I could definitely see being friends with her.

American Weredeer and the entire Bright Falls Mysteries series was one that I jumped into not fully sure what to expect, but I came out a completely changed man. Phipps and Suttkus have this way of writing that drew me in and won’t let me go. They’re all so enjoyable and fun from beginning to end.

There was more teenage drama in this one, but what do you expect when you have a 19-year-old main character. There’s going to be drama – it’s inevitable. And I thought that it was well thought out and appropriate for the amount of drama and stress that Jane and co have had to go through.

One of my particularly favorite scenes (there shouldn’t be any spoilers here) was when Jane pets and nuzzles the Werewolf version of her best friend – to which she replies “you know you’re the only one I let do this?” I don’t know why I just found that perfect and hilarious. I think partially because of the character building and dynamic between the two of them, but it was great.

I thought that Arielle DeLisle was perfect once again for the role of Jane and the overall narrator of the book. She has a young-sounding voice that lends itself well to the character that was written. She has an easy to listen to voice that made the story fly by.

Overall, I think this might have been even better than the first book – and it intrigues me to see what else can happen in Bright Falls. Phipps and Suttkus – you have me hooked!

Book Three: A Nightmare on Elk Street
Phipps & Suttkus Do It Again (Buck Yes)
5 out of 5 stars

A Nightmare on Elk Street, based on the title alone is awesome. But digging into the soul of the book – shows that Phipps and Suttkus not only know how to create magnificent worlds – but know how to keep them alive and thriving. I say this with a little bit of irony because in these worlds things seem to always be going wrong, but how is that any different than our world today? Nightmare is the third book in the Bright Falls Mysteries Series and the… probably tenth (a guess) book in the overall world that Phipps created (especially with the mention of an alternate reality that Jane visited (Supervillainy Saga), New Detroit is mentioned (Straight Outta Fangton), along with many others of the same world.

As with every book in, honestly every series I’ve read from Phipps – there are lots of pop culture references. In Nightmare, there was a particular focus on horror movies, especially B-Horror movies. Jane knows most, if not all of them from her time working at a video store. As someone who worked at a video store, I can definitely confirm that’s exactly what we did, especially during slow hours. We’d throw on movies we loved or movies we wanted to see and have them playing while we were at work. So getting an encyclopedic knowledge of movies (especially certain genres) is 100% a fact.

This story was interesting because it seemed to focus on the creation of this movie (or movies) but it’s obviously so much more than that. Some of the stories focus is on Jane and just her becoming more of a woman. I say that not physically, but just in the choices she makes and has to make for herself and those around her. They aren’t kids’ decisions anymore and I thought Phipps and Suttkus did a great job in allowing her to grow as she gets older. I especially liked the scene later in the story when she’s talking with someone about how they hurt her and made her feel. That type of scene (not mentioning more because of spoilers) is really mature for Jane and I really enjoyed it.

Overall, as with all other books that I’ve LOVED from Phipps – this one is up there too. The pop culture and nerd references, mixed with the number of puns that Jane and company throw out there really make these books amazingly fun to read. But the stories back them up and they’re not just fun “fluff” novels either. Phipps and Suttkus are able to really write big wide-open worlds and throw these characters into almost anything. It’s a blast to read and I can’t wait to read more.

Given certain things that happened near the end – I’m not sure if there will be more Bright Falls Mysteries books, but I’m sure that we’ll see/hear from Jane in the other books set in this universe in the near future.

Fun Mystery Series

Books 1-3 of series is a great bang for buck (pun intended) of an enjoyable world of today turned slightly on its side. Par for the course with this author :).

The pace is good and keeps story moving. Even expository dialogue is part of the action. And the humor had me in stitches.

If you know author you will find cross references which are great if familiar with the villainous Gary and friends.

Narrator Arielle Delisle gives each character such wonderful personality making them distinctive and come alive. (Wish we could follow narrators like we do authors)

Fun but the last book was just to silly

Overall the books are lighthearted and fun. However the last book was just not all together. It’s like the author wrote it in a weekend. I have to say by the end of the series I really didn’t like the main character.

Normalizing lesbianism for teenagers

The book does its hardest to convince teens its okay to be lesbians . The authors puch this thru the whole narative. The book is an attempt to convert you daughters into lesbianism since lesbians don't have kids.