Susan M. Boyer introduces a fun new series with a charming new detective in Hadley Cooper PI! Spoiler alert: I loved it!
Hadley Cooper is a PI who takes on what she thinks will be a fairly routine job for a new friend, Eugenia. Eugenia believes her husband is cheating on her and wants Hadley to get proof so the cad cannot get her family money in the divorce. When Eugenia is murdered, Hadley is sure the cheating husband is behind it. The problem is, Hadley had tailed him to Greenville, four hours away, and she is his alibi.
I am a big fan of Susan M. Boyer. I was introduced to her Liz Talbot mysteries on a trip to Charleston, and they are well-written mysteries full of Low Country charm. Happy to say Boyer has done it again! Her new detective series has memorable characters, sass and humor, secrets and betrayals, a few twists, and plenty of family drama! Hadley is a relatable FMC and a resourceful investigator, and I enjoyed her internal dialogue and found myself really rooting for her. I connected with Hadley and her backstory so much that a few scenes even made me tear up toward the end.
The book is layered and solidly plotted, and I was impressed with how much world-building intertwined with the mystery without overpowering it. However, it is beautifully depicted and makes Charleston and Sullivan's Island come alive. Seeing how all the threads wove together and the investigation played out was fun. Add in some vivid, quirky characters and a foul-mouthed bird, and I have to say I look forward to returning to this world again very soon—highly recommended!
Courtney Patterson narrates the audiobook and does a great job! She brings the variations in each character and their specific voices and personalities to life. I also thought she injected a lot of humor into the funny Southern phrases the author employs.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review this ALC.
My steep was Peach Tea from Oliver Pluff Teas, a Charleston-based tea company. Hadley mentions loving peach tea in the book, and it so happened that I was told about Boyer's books by a lady I met in a shop selling Oliver Pluff tea in Charleston. She and I talked about books and tea, and I came home with a few faves I continue to buy, including this peach tea, which is so good iced! www.oliverpluff.com
SYNOPSIS:
From the author of the bestselling Liz Talbot Mystery Series comes a novel about family and secrets, and the lengths we'll go to in order to protect both. Can this charming do-gooder carry the day? Charleston, SC. Hadley Cooper has a big heart. So when the easygoing private investigator gets a request from a new friend to stake out her husband's extramarital activities, she immediately begins surveillance. And when her client is discovered dead on her kitchen floor, the Southern spitfire is certain the cheater is the culprit … even though he has the perfect alibi: Hadley herself. Flustered since she observed the cad four hours away in Greenville at the time of the murder, the determined PI desperately searches for clues to tie him to the crime. But when her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be the lead detective on the case, arrests a handy suspect, Hadley fears a guilty man is about to walk free. Can this Palmetto State sleuth make an impossible connection to prevent a miscarriage of justice? With dry wit and delightful dialogue, Susan M. Boyer delivers an eccentric, vegan gumshoe sure to appeal to any fan of Southern women's fiction. With her merry band of sassy friends, Hadley Cooper is a Lowcountry detective you won't soon forget. Big Trouble on Sullivan's Island is the engaging first book in the Carolina Tales series.
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