Angela AbderhaldenBesprekingen

Melissa Addison following the deaths of her husband and son in an auto accident returns to her hometown of Quincy, Illinois, to heal and get on with her life. She helps out her brother, Rich at Security Investigations, a private detective agency as a receptionist when she becomes involved in the mystery of four deaths. Mel is constantly throwing a huge pity-party, going on and on ad infinitum, on how she is so hurt by the deaths of her husband and son. I was exhausted by the number of times a character would tell her she had to grieve and let it out. This made it difficult to want to continue reading and complete the story. There was much I didn’t like about the story, but the mystery did continue to develop and maintain momentum enough that it kept me going. I am going to read the next book in this series, hopefully the pity-party will be over or at least toned down.

From Amazon: Melissa Mel Addison, an amateur detective, investigates the unthinkable crime, the murder of a mother by her son. When the police are convinced he is guilty, her brothers demand she drop the case. But when she discovers the dead woman's dog is missing, Mel delves into the dark secrets of the woman's past. Forced to uncover the truth alone, Mel searches for the dead woman's small dog in the hope of solving the crime, and to prove her son not guilty. Is the dog alive? As Mel follows the missing dogs trail, she discovers that the elderly woman is not what she seemed. Will the dog lead her to reveal the real murderer or just prove Mel wrong about the son?

Mel is not so much an amateur investigator, but rather a trainee in her brothers private investigation firm. She is a family member of law enforcement as her father and brothers are either prior police officers or current police officers. What she has instead is a need to snoop when details don't fit. This is the 2nd book of this series and it was a solid read.

It was okay, the plot is interesting, the characters are well-developed, the writing flows BUT I am tired of Mel's constant pity party after all this is book 3 of the series. If this is being done for background setup purposes so book can be read as standalone I would think there was newer material to use.

Questionable Ethics is a light mystery, offset by the darker undercurrent of loss and mourning.

I enjoyed the setting, with Mel back in her hometown. The family interaction was believable, adding elements of both drama and humor. The plot kept my interest, though at times I felt Mel was a bit too much of a superhero. She was able to work the case better than the experienced PIs and the cops. But she's a fun character and I didn't mind stretching credibility a bit to follow her along.

My major issues with this book could easily be solved with a good editor. The characters did an absurd amount of smiling and winking. Right behind that was the constant hand and shoulder patting. I had visions of people walking around doing nothing more than smiling, winking, smirking, grinning, and patting each other's hands. This took away from the emotions, rather than adding to them. Characters began feeling more like caricatures than people. By midway, I was ready to give up on the book. I'm glad I stuck with it because there is much to like here, providing you can get past all those gleaming teeth.

TThis was an adventure packed, intriguing novel. The author did her research and it was well-written.
A Special Forces ex-military man decides to become a mercenary for a year because of the incredible pay.
As a top-notch company which took tremendous risks. it required only top-notch people
to serve as member.
The special forces book hero, Jake McCrew, displays, humor, strength, integrity and loyalty.
The "Chief" is strong, strict, demanding and appears somewhat cold yet at times displays sense of
caring and humor. The co-pilot, Cowboy, is dedicated, devoted and loyal to the "Chief".
Other personalities are personified in a way that draws the reader in.
It is a tribute to many men and women who sacrifice so much to have our country free and help
other countries as well through its;' strength.
I would only like to see these strengths portrayed with more principles and values.
It contains quite a bit of profanity and a couple of brief sexually explicit occasions.

The Title depicted the story well, and although the book cover was complimentary to the storyline, it is too dark to attract "Browsers" attention.

The characters seemed real and the supporting scenes were well described and easily visualized.

My overall review rating of this book is Four Stars.