Buried Leads

by LynDee Walker
Book 2 of A Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller

 

 

This second book in the Nichelle Clarke series was maybe a little bit more disappointing than I had hoped.  Sure, it was still written well, and I still like Nichelle.  But I think I would like her better if she didn't blatantly ignore warnings of danger just to trudge forward without a care.  As much as I hated the scene with the stuffed Pomeranian toy, I'm glad that it kind of gave her a wake-up call... even if she still didn't really see the danger in the story she was pursuing.  At least she was taking some action to keep her puppy safe, even if she wasn't taking steps to keep herself safe.

The story pacing and the writing is still winning, though.  As I stated, I still like Nichelle.  I like that she's smart, resourceful, and has a way with puzzles.  I didn't really care for her trying to edge into another co-worker's area though, because it left me feeling like she was trying to steal someone else's job.  She'd been spending time complaining about Shelby trying to steal her job since book one, so it felt a little contradictory.  At the very least, she DOES finally admit that she's not trying to steal Trudy's political beat, and goes to Trudy with questions as well as offers the scoop to her co-worker.

It's a little too convenient, however, that Trudy dismisses Nichelle's insights, thus giving Nichelle a green light for continuing her investigation, conscience-free.

I AM glad for the fact that Nichelle covers more than just the "mystery of the week."  In fact, there are more mysteries going on in this book than I'd expected, and enough to keep readers guessing for hours.  Simply the mystery of the missing white chocolate syrup was lingering in the background.

But to be totally honest, the ending wasn't really all that surprising to me, even if I didn't see it coming.  And I felt like it was kind of abrupt.  All the other incidents that Nichelle covered in this book felt like they should have been separate incidents, but everything tied together in the end, though.  I'm not sure if I like that everything ties together in the end, or if I would have preferred to see Nichelle working an article on an incident that had nothing to do with the "mystery of the week," just to show us that there's more going on in this world than the one big convoluted scandal that serves as the main conflict in this book.

Meanwhile, I'm not a big fan of love triangles, but I could smell this one coming a mile away.  I don't know how to feel about it at the moment, because not a whole lot of character is given to either male love interest--at least not enough for me to like one over the other.  And since I don't like triangles, I'm really hoping that this one doesn't keep up for too long and Nichelle either chooses one guy... or chooses no one.  At this point, you can kind of see her leaning more towards Mr. "Call Me Joey," though it could have just been because of the fact that she and ATF Agent Kyle have a history she's reluctant to get into.

At this point, I am kind of glad that Nichelle's world doesn't revolve around her love interests.  They're really just afterthoughts for her at the moment, even if she finds both of them attractive and alluring.

I'm still not digging the color commentary about Shelby's bedroom habits--nor am I feeling the necessity of Shelby's "Mean Girl" act.  I don't feel like it brings much to the table--Nichelle's urgent deadlines still stand whether or not there's someone actively vying for her position.  The fact that she's got a friendly rivalry going on with Charlie from News Channel Four also serves to keeps her on her toes as is.

Otherwise, this second book of the series wasn't bad.  It wasn't incredible, nor was it as exciting or entertaining as the first, but it was still enjoyable, and fast-paced enough that I finished it in a breeze.

 

---

---

 

Halloween Bingo 2018 (any murder mystery)

Other possible squares:  Cozy Mystery; Amateur Sleuth; Terrifying Women

 

 

The picture on the cover of this book was enough to get my interest.  I happen to love shoes.  The story inside lived up to the fun of the cover.  It kept my interest from the very beginning.

Nichelle Clark is a reporter in Richmond VA on the crime and courthouse beats.  She will do anything for a story and would like to move up to covering politics for the Washington Post.  She's smart and funny and clever.  She is one of the more likeable heroines I've met in a while.  She hears about a dead body found in the woods over her police scanner late one night and goes to investigate.  The stiff turns out to be a lawyer and lobbyist for the tobacco industry.  As she doggedly pursues this case, it keeps getting deeper and deeper.  She soon finds herself being warned off and that's enough to get any reporter's juices going.

The mystery in this story is a complex one and I enjoyed it.  No simple solutions here.  It's a pleasure to follow Nichelle's investigation as she sifts through the evidence using her own investigative skills and her arsenal of law enforcement contacts.  I love watching a good detective at work.  Her law enforcement contacts feel professional and competent. I love that she doesn't seem condescending toward the people around her.  I really don't enjoy female detective that seem to think they are above normal life.  Nichelle feels like someone you would be friends with. 

This is more of a traditional mystery to me than a cozy though it has elements of a cozy.  It's not set in a small town and the heroine doesn't have some weird hobby or shop that plays into the mystery like so many cozies.    Nichelle actually has a legitimate reason to be pursuing this case and does it as a professional, it just happens to be a professional journalist rather than a professional detective.  It's a quick read, it's not graphic with violence or sex and it's fun but it's not quite as soft as a cozy generally is.

There is a love triangle but for some reason it isn't as obnoxious as I usually find them though I do need it to resolve soon.  Like most readers, writing love triangles is one of the most annoying things that writers do.  They never feel realistic to me because so few men would put up with them.

It felt to me that there was one small continuity error when she was warned away from investigating one of her suspects.  I didn't think that she had even mentioned to anyone else yet that she was following that path so I'm not sure why she would be warned away from it but that was minor.  Maybe I had just missed something.

I can recommend this book for lovers of traditional or cozy mysteries. It should have great appeal to lovers of either genre and you don't have to have read the first in the series to enjoy this one. This is the first one I have read. 

This book was provided by Netgalley and I appreciated the opportunity to read and review it.

I've never much paid attention to who publishes the books I read, but since I've first started reading books by Henery Press, I've been so impressed with the quality of the writing and editing that I've started looking for new releases and authors coming out of their "Hen House".

 

I classify this series as a cozy - but it isn't.  I don't quite know how to classify it any other way.  What makes it cozy:  an amateur sleuth, a lack of graphic sex and/or violence.  What makes it not-a-cozy: this is a very urban setting and feel, profanity is used well and in context, and there's a depth to the crimes that surpass almost all cozy mysteries.  These plots are intricate and complex, as are the motivations of all the characters involved.   There are layers - like an onion, only not smelly and without that annoying papery layer in-between the layers. 

 

Buried Leads is the second book featuring Nichelle, a journalist in Richmond, VA whose beat is cops and courtrooms.  She dreams of working for the Washington Post, on their political beat, and with ambition and a healthy work ethic, believes the way to get there is by writing the best cops and courtroom stories on a nationwide level.

 

I like Nichelle.  She has a thing for shoes I don't understand, but it's more subtle in this book than the first one, and I like her anyway.  She's very smart, capable, independent and on-the-ball.  Generally speaking, I have zero interest in anything journalism related and I resisted reading this series initially because of the journalist angle.  But Nichelle makes the profession sound interesting and rewarding even to me.

 

Nichelle isn't in a relationship, but there are two men in her life.  Kyle - her long ago ex, now an ATF agent just recently assigned to the Richmond office.  He's interested in reconciliation and she sort of is and sort of isn't.  She really likes who she is when she isn't someone's girlfriend.  Then there's Joey.  He's the dark and dangerous man with secrets - literally.  He's mafia, and he appears in Nichelle's life in both the most appropriate and inappropriate times.  

 

Both men sound hotter than sin (of course!  who wants a dull-sounding love interest?) and normally I'd be screaming "NO!  Not another love triangle!" and running away so fast I'd leave pages flapping in the breeze.  But two things stand out as different for me:  First, both of these guys were introduced at the same time.  I think this makes a big difference; I didn't get attached to one only to have the other come in to disrupt the apple cart.  Second, Joey is written to be unobtainable; he brings a lot of heat and a level of rule-breaking to the story without actually ever being a serious contender for HEA.  I reserve the right to change my mind with future books, but so far, this character dynamic is working for me.

 

There's a nemesis, because I suppose that nowadays every cozy series Must Have One!  Her name is Shelby and she makes no secret of wanting Nichelle's job or her willingness to sleep her way towards getting it.  Fortunately, we don't see much of her and there's only one or two scenes where we get to experience her true nastiness.  (I'm not a fan of the whole nemesis thing - is it obvious?)

 

The plot, as I mentioned above, is layered and more intricate that your bog-standard cozy.  Nichelle is following up on a man's body found out in the woods and discovers that he's a lawyer for a lobbying firm with ties to tobacco.  Intrigued at the political possibilities, she starts digging into the story and starts stumbling into all sorts of secrets.  I'll not say more than that, because I don't want to give away the story or the twists and turns it takes.  I'll just say that I had a great time reading this plot as more and more information and discoveries unfolded.  I never saw the ending coming and the killer was never on my radar.

 

A word about the killer:  if your enjoyment in reading a mystery is at all dependent on all of the suspects being obvious 'players' in the drama/plot, then this book probably isn't for you.  This isn't one of those stories the author designs so you have a better than equal chance of figuring out 'whodunnit'.

(spoiler show)

 

I had a great time reading this book and I was sorry when it ended.  I'm looking forward to her third book, due out in the spring of '14, and Nichelle's next big story.

She did it again. I started reading and just couldn’t stop. The rest of the world just fell away as I chased down the clues with Nichelle.

She is juggling at least 4 headlines for the Richmond Telegraph while trying to keep a co-worker who is sleeping with the managing editor from stealing her job and still scoop a television reporter. Her ex has shown up in town as the area’s newest ATF agent and wants them to give their relationship another chance. But her new “friend” Joey has plans of his own romantically speaking and his contacts in the criminal world have him doing everything he can to keep her safe. Nichelle’s police contacts are telling her nothing. Then her investigation shows a couple of her stories seem to be connected, it is time for her inner Lois Lane to shine as she plans to scoop everyone unless someone scoops her up first.

This is fast paced with fantastic characters, the supporting ones are really growing too! There is political corruption, murder, mayhem, bullets flying, romantic tension, and a tough heroine in high heels. Hang on tight! Lyndee Walker takes us on us a wild ride with a few surprises and even a couple laugh out loud moments. She is definitely an author to keeps our eyes on! She has DATELINE MEMPHIS (novella after BURIED LEADS in Heartache Motel) on sale Dec 2013 and SMALL TOWN SPIN (#3) on sale Spring 2014. I have already both to my wish list!!

She did it again. I started reading and just couldn’t stop. The rest of the world just fell away as I chased down the clues with Nichelle.

She is juggling at least 4 headlines for the Richmond Telegraph while trying to keep a co-worker who is sleeping with the managing editor from stealing her job and still scoop a television reporter. Her ex has shown up in town as the area’s newest ATF agent and wants them to give their relationship another chance. But her new “friend” Joey has plans of his own romantically speaking and his contacts in the criminal world have him doing everything he can to keep her safe. Nichelle’s police contacts are telling her nothing. Then her investigation shows a couple of her stories seem to be connected, it is time for her inner Lois Lane to shine as she plans to scoop everyone unless someone scoops her up first.

This is fast paced with fantastic characters, the supporting ones are really growing too! There is political corruption, murder, mayhem, bullets flying, romantic tension, and a tough heroine in high heels. Hang on tight! Lyndee Walker takes us on us a wild ride with a few surprises and even a couple laugh out loud moments. She is definitely an author to keeps our eyes on! She has DATELINE MEMPHIS (novella after BURIED LEADS in Heartache Motel) on sale Dec 2013 and SMALL TOWN SPIN (#3) on sale Spring 2014. I have already both to my wish list!!