Liv SpectorBesprekingen

This was the first book I have read by this author and I was not disappointed at all. The characters and scenes were well developed and complex, my favorite kind. The speed of the book was perfect, slow at times and speeding up at just the right times to the climax. The author is excellent at written prose and I found myself at the end, wanting so much more after going on an emotional roller coaster with the characters and in my opinion, that is the best kind of book to read. I will be reading every book by this author I can get my hands on!

After 10 years, Detective Lila Day still refuses to believe that her sister is a cold-blooded killer. To clear Callie’s name and solve this long-cold case, Lila asks her friend Teddy Hawkins to do what he has done before—send her back to time, to solve the crime before it takes place. (adapted from Amazon description)

While the premise is intriguing, this story failed to capture my interest. The characters were one-dimensional and I really didn't like any of them that much - including the heroine.

And so she goes back to 2008, with only a month to prove her sister’s innocence and bring Warren’s real killer to justice.

This was quite a fun read, with suspects abounding. Although the descriptions were largely pedestrian and cliched, I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading about Lila Day and her time-traveling adventure to solve an old case and clear her sister's name.

I was drawn into this book right away, who wouldn't be: wealth, time travel. I'm not always a fan of books of this ilk, too much fluff not enough believable plot. This book however was neither of those. I'd recommend this book for someone who likes believable mystery, but isn't afraid of a little plot either!½

I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.

This book was as enjoyable as the first one. Lots of rich people spending ridiculous amounts of money. Like the first one, it keeps you guessing until the end.

Book Review & Giveaway: Last year I was approached about reading and potentially reviewing a contemporary detective novel that involved time travel. I like both kinds of novels but this one didn’t sound like a fantasy genre novel, aside from that pesky time travel thingy. The end of this little tale is that I loved Liv Spector’s novel, The Rich And The Dead, so when I learned Book #2, The Beautiful And The Wicked, was coming out, I could hardly wait.

This Miami-based series features a former police detective who uses a tech wunderkind’s machine to travel back to try to solve cold cases by getting right into the thick of things as they’re about to go down. Sound too simple? It’s not. Sound like fun? Yes, it is! And Book #2 can easily be read as a stand-alone novel so, if you like what you read in the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7946 be sure to enter our giveaway!

(Early Reviewer book)

I was really excited to get an Early Reviewer copy of this book, as I had also gotten an Early Reviewer copy of the first book in this series, and really enjoyed it. While The Beautiful and the Wicked wasn't quite as good as the first book, it was still a good read. The premise of the series is that Lila Day, the protagonist, is a former homicide detective who know goes back in time to solve cold cases. It seems like it could be silly, but its surprisingly not, and the mysteries are filled with great twists (especially towards the very ends), while the characters are well-differentiated and interesting.

First of all, I don't usually read books that involve time travel. It usually doesn't work well. So I was a little hesitant to read this story, which I got free from LibraryThing. I am happy to say the time traveling was kept to a minimum, and handled very well. Beyond that, this is a very smart mystery. Can't say much about it because I don't want to spoil it for you. I can say that things are not what they seem. I was satisfied with the resolution of the mystery and with the way time travel was handled.

I received this mystery as an early reviewer. I have not read Spector's first book, "The Rich and the Dead," which got good reviews. This one is entertaining.The plot is interesting and the conclusion unexpected.

My copy is an uncorrected proof, so I'm confident "The Beautiful and the Dead" will undergo further editing before release. I'm sure typos and grammatical inconsistencies will be corrected, as well as noticeable multiple repetition of some words ("grabbed" and "sweet," for example, and, while someone's "mane" is used, I think, only twice, the instances are separated only by a couple of paragraphs).

I also hope author and editor will go through the book one last time to herd back into the fold occasional wandering points of view and to trim excess exposition. The latter in particular is problematic; the narrator a number of times draws back from what should be suspenseful action to talk about what the protagonist feels and why. Most of the time the extra is unnecessary—the dialogue and actions express it already. The extra description intrudes on the scene, protracts it, and to some degree derails the suspense.

Perhaps more is made of the character's use of time travel in the first of the series. Almost nothing was made of it here. No explanation of how it is possible, how the man who developed it was able to do so, and very little concern expressed about any problems or dangers in its use. Once in a while Lila thinks about not altering history, but there are few, if any, technical guidelines for her actions. The time machine is just accepted, hardly more startling or exciting than a helicopter.

Another problem was that I kept forgetting that Lila was a detective. Probably her background is developed a great deal more in the first book, but it did seem that, during the years since her sister had disappeared from the yacht, blamed for the murder of its owner, Lila would have researched the yacht and its layout as well as the duties of the staff. That she didn't know where the galley was, for instance, seemed unlikely. She might not have had actual experience on a boat—that she might be seasick at first was easy to accept—but surely her massive research over the years, and maybe more once she decided to go back in time to investigate, would have resulted in her knowing quite a bit, even if theoretical.

"The Beautiful and the Wicked" has a lot going for it, and hopefully Ms. Spector's editor will support one more revision before release to make it the exciting and unusual mystery it should be.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book. What would you do if you could go back in time and try to figure out what happened. You can't interfere and try to change anyone's fate, but how could you not end up trying to do just that. I enjoyed the time travel back to this time and I was surprised by the ending. I'm hoping there will be more from this author and hopefully in this series.

The Rich and The Dead is a near-future murder mystery by Liv Spector with a very interesting twist - time travel. What if you could go back a few years to learn who was responsible for a murder? If you were the officer in charge of that case and it had bugged the hell out of you, wouldn't you be tempted to do just that so you could bring the murderer to justice? The concept certainly got my attention, and it definitely made for a fun, if nail-biting, read!

I received a copy of this book thru the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. I loved it! I truly was guessing until the end, and I was very impressed with the technology in the book. It's a great mystery novel, and I recommend it to readers who love such books. 4 stars!

I picked this book up on a whim and was immediately drawn in by the cover and the title. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and I love both the simplicity and use of colors. The title is perfect for this novel and really catchy in my opinion. I’ve never heard of Liv Spector and for her debut novel it was very well done.

The writing is perfect mystery novel writing. It sucks you in and gives you the perfect mix of detail, dialogue and intrigue. It was so easy to just wrap yourself up in the mystery and go on this adventure with our protagonist – Lila Day; also known as Camilla Dayton. I loved seeing how she had to adjust, not only to having time traveled and being over three years in the past, but also to change her entire persona to adjust to the lives of the 1%.

The mystery was also very intriguing. I liked the idea of this secret society of philanthropists who donated money to charities every year. I was really curious to find out not only who killed the twelve victims but mostly what their motive was. I’m glad to say that I had no idea about the motive until the last 20 pages. I accidentally guessed the person as a ‘it would be funny if ___ turned out to be the killer’ kind of incident. I really liked how Spector made it that (despite this random guess) I still didn’t really think it was said person until the end. The idea had just flitted through my mind and then I was back to wondering who could do it and why.

Even though you have to wait until the very bitter end to find out everything, and it may seem like the mystery was dragging on, it never felt that way. I was swept up with each new lead and each new possibility, all the while wondering and wanting to know. The story just flew by and before I knew it the big reveal was happening and I couldn’t read fast enough.

Liv Spector’s debut novel has met all my expectations. The description made me want to read this book immediately and I’m so glad I got a copy. I absolutely loved it and loved Spector’s writing. It seems on goodreads that there might be another novel with our lovely Lila Day and I really hope that’s true. Regardless I do plan to read anything else Spector publishes.

This is a great start to a new series. The main protagonist, is a very believable character, and the crime she is to solve will have you stumped until the end. Enjoy!

(Early Reviewer copy)

This book was everything I hoped it would be from the description. A former detective is given the opportunity to go back in time to solve the Star Island Massacre, the unsolved crime she was obsessed with enough to derail her career. The catch is that she cannot actually stop anyone from being killed, only figure out who the killer is. Along the way, she grows closer to some of the soon-to-be victims, and finds herself emotionally tangled into the past, as she learns secrets, lies, and motives first hand. The ending was a complete stunner, but made total sense looking back, and I really hope this book does well and becomes a series as promised.

I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.

This was a great book. It was a fun read and it kept me guessing until the very end. I loved the concept of going back in time to solve a murder, but not being able to save anyone from being killed.

A fast-paced, intriguing thriller set apart by an inventive time-travel plot device . . . this is the tightly-woven story of Miami ex-detective Lila Day’s attempt to find the answers to the Star Island murder case that ruined her career with the police department. Traveling back to several months before the massacre that has remained unsolved in her own time, she seeks not to stop the murders, but to determine the identity of the killer.
Drawing the reader in from the very beginning, this story takes a few surprising twists on its way to a resolution that turns out to be something no one expected.
Lila is a truly likeable character, strong and determined and yet vulnerable and self-effacing. A detracting element of the story, however, is the author’s predilection for constantly needing to put a drink in her hand. As the story progressed, Lila seemed to be incapable of investigating, socializing, or managing anything without searching out that drink or pouring herself two fingers of Wild Turkey. Hopefully, the author will allow Lila to grow beyond this needless practice before her next adventure takes place.
Recommended.

I am trying to figure out why I didn't click with this book -- had a hard time getting into it and harder time finishing it.
After I bought the preposterous premise -- a woman who investigated a horrible massacre several years before (when she was a cop) but was never able to find the killer, is sent back in time to discover who did it -- I still could not get involved with the main character or her mission. The book is trying to be a little bit of everything -- chick lit (with loving descriptions of outrageously expensive clothes and shoes and cars and houses and handsome rich men) -- and a thriller with ominously bad guys, an impossible to solve murder, and, oh yeah, the time travel bit -- and maybe that's why it failed for me. Or maybe it was because the characters were as thin as the pages of the book. Or maybe it was the poor quality of the writing -- for example, the author felt the constant need to use adverbs to strengthen her verbs.
It amazes me that, in this difficult time in the publishing industry, this book made it to publication.