Like A Sister by Kellye Garrett

 

Having enjoyed  Hollywood Homicide immensely, I was looking forward to the day it was my turn to check out Like A Sister from my library. Now this book is considered a thriller, not a cozy mystery, which is fine because I enjoy both genres.

Thrillers are usually tense, and this book does have tension--but there isn't the ticking clock countdown most thrillers have, and this book has more humourous lines than a thriller usually has, Like a Sister contains elements found in cozy mysteries in a thriller situation. 

One example of the descriptive humor in this book:

"Ms. Scott, you beat us." Green was behind me, joined by a standard-issue young white guy. The type who looked like he made daily use of his Planet Fitness membership but never whipped the machine down after. "My partner, Detective Zizza." 

This book was a fast read, I really don't like putting down thrillers if I can help it. I have heard that the audio version of this book is fantastic. As I said above, I borrowed the book from my library after having to wait a month on the holds list. The first option my library had was the physical copy of the book, so I grabbed it. 

This book is good it is entertaining and I rate it a 4.

I will say I have a couple of questions about the how of the murder and the why. I could have really used an additional paragraph or two from the killer explaining how they did it and why they felt they needed to--I think they could have resolved the issue easily without killing anyone. Two of the other suspects could have committed the murder more easily and with good very good motives.

I wonder if Kellye Garrett wrote any drafts with one of the other suspects as the killer but then decided to go with who is ultimately the murderer. This book could really have at least three different very plausible endings. I kind of wish this was a choose your own adventure book with several endings!

In any case, I look forward to what Kellye Garrett writes next! 

Since LIke A Sister is Coming out in March...Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett

 Here is how this cozy is described on Goodreads:

"Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash.

But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she wants more than just reward money. She’s determined to find the poor woman’s killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree, Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes and movie premieres. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her."

*****

I had so much fun reading this book.  Kellye Garrett nails the struggles of mid-twenties life, trying to figure out what one wants to do now that they are grown up, how to support yourself as well as family members who are struggling, as well trying to have self-esteem when surrounded by the photoshopped and airbrushed beauty ideals. This is all wrapped in a funny cozy mystery. Dayna is a self-deprecating and most importantly very relatable amateur sleuth.  Her old friend and potential love interest (if she gets out of her own way) says she is a quitter, but we see a Dayna who is tenacious in pursuit of her goal to help her parents. 

The book takes place in Hollywood, a departure from the small town setting most cozy mysteries use, and this is a nice change of pace.  Sometimes in the first book in a series, the author introduces so many characters that it can be difficult to keep everyone straight as the story unfolds.  Hollywood Homicide avoids that pitfall. 

Kellye Garrett was able to lead me around and I completely discounted the actual killer in this book.  For me this book was a 5 star read, and I hope she will be able to write more in this series soon. There is only one more book after this one so far! Eek!  I need more Dayna!