Book Review - Death by Misadventure - E. E. Smith

This is definitely a worthwhile read-and a fast one I might add! A murder mystery perfect for when you have an hour or so to cuddle up and enjoy a good story. The time frame is just after WWII when women were not supposed to be much more then nurses, teachers etc. Our heroine, Alexie, is a private investigator who is not doing too well mainly because she is a female. Then in walks an old classmate from high school who wants her to find the missing husband, Frank and "Daisy" who is assumed to be a child. Of course the fact that this "old friend" wants this husband killed does not sit too well--but heck--she needs the money and figures maybe she can warn Frank and stop the death from occurring. And she is worried about the child who has been abducted by her father. So off to England she goes (Frank's last known whereabouts). Of course you know Scotland Yard is going to get involved along with one of their detectives who is fast falling for our PI and is determined to keep her safe. As in any good old fashioned story based in England there is the resident ghost----------Not all turns out the way you might think it will and there is just enough comic relief to make me give this a 5 star rating! This is the first in a series.

About the Book: (from Amazon)

The sign on her office door reads “ALEXIS J. SMITH - Discreet Inquiries,” but a new client of her fledgling detective agency seems to think it means Murder Incorporated. The client, one Kate Faraday, is a former schoolmate (Sacramento High, class of ‘41) who wants to hire Lexie to find her husband, Frank. During their initial interview it becomes clear that she doesn't want him back “dead or alive,” she wants him dead!
If it were anyone else, the intrepid young private investigator would never have taken the job, but there is a problem. Lexie herself has been in love with Frank ever since they were all together in high school. She makes a desperate decision to find him and warn him of his wife’s mad intentions.
She travels to England and finds Frank staying at a quaint country inn called The Old Vicarage, next to a little Norman church still haunted by a 12th Century ghost. What she discovers reveals a woman bent on vengeance, not only on her husband, but on Lexie, as well. Are they both marked for murder? How all this plays out, and culminates in a shoot-out at The Old Vicarage, is the climax of the story—but not the end.

Read a preview of the book on Amazon here

Purchase this book at Amazon


About the Author: (from Psychology Today)

Playwright E. E. Smith has written numerous plays including Playtime in London; Boardinghouse Stew; Wartime Recipes; The Temperate Zone (based on Edith Wharton's short story); Ghost Writers (based on two stories by Wharton and Henry James), among many others. Her plays have been performed throughout the country. A New Edition of her first novel, Boardinghouse Stew, along with the sequel, Times LikeThese, was published in the fall of 2011 by Phoenix International, Inc. A memoir, In Love and War, followed in 2012. A new series of murder mysteries debuted in 2013. The first is titled Death by Misadventure.

Authors Blog
Facebook
Her website

I received an e-book version of this book for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own honest opinions. For more information please check my Disclosure Statement. Our giveaways are in no way sponsored or promoted by Facebook.