Nosy Parker Mysteries, Mary’s Story
Five of five stars
When a favourite author writes a new book, even if it’s not part of the two series you’re already following, you read it! Gena Webb is one of those authors for me. The kind where you preorder sight unseen because she never disappoints. The kind where you put everything on hold when the book drops, because you HAVE to read it. And then you HAVE to finish it!
The Executed Executive is part of a collection of works, each by a different author, with the same theme. In this case, Nosy Parker Mysteries focuses on a group of girls who grew up “investigating” local small crime – complete with detecting notebooks, clues and rules to follow. This is them years later, off in different parts of the world some of them. But still sleuthing.
Meet Mary. Secretary to the on-his-way-out Chairman of the company. Except that his way out wasn’t supposed to happen so soon. And with such finality. Now, amid worries about her own job security – after all, her boss is dead – Mary starts to see all kinds of suspicious activity, and a police department that’s a bit too happy to hang their hat on the “easy” solution.
You’ll also meet some questionable characters. And a delicious private investigator. Is romance a part of Mary’s future as well as having found a surrogate mom for herself? Webb’s forte is pairing characters with a few eccentricities together with plot lines that can meander, tossing up red herrings for the armchair detectives in all of us. The Executed Executive has all of that.
I had figured out that someone wasn’t what he seemed to be. But the twist that the final outcome took was one I hadn’t seen coming. But it’s good when you’re actually glad that the baddie wasn’t the REAL baddie.
I’m hoping we’ll see more of Mary in some future Webb work, but for now, The Executed Executive in no way disappointed. A great fun read, a bit of quirk, a lot of humour and some exasperation – you can’t love all the characters all the time, right? But a book you will keep turning pages on till the last page is done.
Highly recommend!
[I was offered a copy of this book pre-publication and invited to Beta read for the author. I was not in any way expected to give a review. I am doing so freely and all of the opinions expressed herein are my own.]
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