Review of "How to Succeed Without Dying" by Becky A. Bartness

I was lucky enough to review the previous book in this series (Book three, "How to Lose a Client"). You can find my review here.

Disclaimer: I, the reviewer, was sent this book in exchange for a review. I have not received any sort of monetary incentive for a positive review.

Type: Mystery, Lawyers, The Dead Guy Has No Head!, and Hospital stays.

From the back of the book: "  Kate, along with M.J., her fashion-challenged paralegal and Sam, her obsessive compulsive investigator, are off and running on another investigation with more twists and turns than a tilt-a-whirl. She is joined by an interesting cast of characters, many of whom have appeared in previous novels in the Kate Williams mystery series. After discovering a headless body in a Phoenix cemetary, Kate and her colleagues are shocked to discover that it's a well-respected county attorney. In How to Succeed Without Dying, Kate undertakes the representation of the alleged murderer of Mitchell Alvarez, deputy county attorney. Hints at Alvarez's involvement in the activities of a Mexican cartel bring Kate and her staff into contact with the dangerous world of drugs and violence. As usual, the action is fast moving and at times hysterical.  "

This must be my week for mysteries.. second mystery in a week! For those of you that have been following my blog, mysteries aren't something I read a lot. But I've definitely decided stepping out of my usual genre is not such a bad thing. Speaking of bad things, I think I'll start this review with my only issue. There were a few times when a relationship or even a name was said wrong, and it did pull me out of the story. For example, Arnie (the accused) is very close to his grandmother, and even lives with her. But at one point, his grandmother was accidentally called his mother, which confused me for a few moments. And similarly, a character, who was in the story for just a few pages, was called both Bernie and Bennie. It only happened once, but it was one of those "Oh wait..." moments. Not really that big of a deal, but every reader has their "Uhhh." issue.

I liken the Kate Williams  Mystery series to the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. That's certainly not a bad thing, Stephanie Plum has a huge fanbase. But for longtime readers of the Plum series, one has to notice how some of the plot has gotten sacrificed for character drama and senseless humor. For some people, that's okay. But for me, well, I enjoy some mystery in my mystery series. The Kate Williams series is perfect for that occasion. There's humor, definitely. In fact, there was several occasions I chuckled to myself, and even read a few lines to my mother. She looked at me strangely, so I guess context does matter when it comes to some of the amusing parts. But it's not just funny, and it's not just the main character drooling over the men (or in this case man) in her life. There is actual mystery, real drama, and it keeps the reader guessing until the end. Frankly, most mysteries I have read, you can guess the bad guy fairly early on.. it's just figuring out how it happened. But I can honestly say this book, and the previous book in the series, kept me guessing up until the end. And then when I thought I finally had it figured out.. BAM! Something new, and the evidence of the past was brought back into question.

I don't think I've ever read a book where the character spent this much time in a hospital. And the reader could definitely see her (what I like to call) "lawyerness" come out near the end of the book. She's mad about how she's being taken care of by the police officers and federal agents, as well as the lack of any staff around in the hospital. I was quite amused by her running tally of defendants and evidence going through her head as she wandered the halls.
I'm going to give "How to Succeed Without Dying" by Becky A. Bartness a FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). I did enjoy the book, and I'm going to recommend this series to anyone that enjoys a good mystery, and any fans of the Stephanie Plum series.

Read it? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Want to check it out? Find it at Amazon.com!



Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow

Review of "How to Lose a Client" by Becky A. Bartness

Well well, finally back with another review! Let's start with the disclaimer and get right into it. This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for a review. No money was given, but I did receive a book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

From the back cover: " Kate Williams, Esq., has just started her own criminal defense law firm in Phoenix, Arizona, when Katherine Paar aka Tangerine, a new client, walks in and proposes a lucrative deal to bring Kate on as her attorney. Things get complicated and events unfold quickly when the body of Tangerine's ex-lawyer is discovered and Tangerine disappears. Kate, aided by MJ, her tattooed, pierced, and fashion-challenged paralegal and Sam, her sometimes cross-dressing investigator, along with a cast of characters straight out of a John Waters movie, try to unravel the bizarre mystery and save Tangerine's life. The action is fast and fantastically funny, and Ms. Bartness proves once again that you can laugh at death. "

Now, first off, "How to Lose a Client" is actually third in a series, and I have not read the first two. However, while there are a few references to the earlier books, I had no trouble reading "How to Lose a Client" as a stand-alone. I always think that's a good sign, when you can pick up a later book in a series, and get through it with only a minor misstep or two. Any references to the previous books were explained enough that I had little trouble understanding how they might play into characterization, or the plot.

I found plenty of similarities between this book/series, and the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. But while the Stephanie Plum series is starting to get stale (or maybe I'm lying to myself and it's been stale for a while), the Kate Williams Mysteries still have a fresh feel to them. Kate is a smart woman, and despite not having skills that may help her when these occasions keep popping up (It was even suggested to her by another character to take some self defense lessons), she has enough common sense to figure out how to deal with the issues in the best way possible. She doesn't just rely on pure luck (Unlike some characters..), which makes her seem stronger.

And the side characters - I loved every one of them. They all had depth, and I honestly believed they all had known each other for years, had developed various relationships with each other, and they added just enough humor (as well as Kate's funny moments) to make this quite an enjoyable book. Off the top of my head, I'd have to say I loved Sam, Larry, Tuwanda, and Ralph (her dog) the best. Tuwanda and Larry were great sidekicks, and Larry was fascinating to read about.

And the ending was exceptional. After finding out the culprit, I like to sit down and think about what clues there were along the way that might have helped me come to the right conclusion. I don't read many mysteries, but when I do, I hate when the ending is too much of a shock, with little to no clues for the reader to follow along and make their own hypothesis as to who the bad guy might be. But "How to Lose a Client" had just the right about of mystery and humor to keep me coming back.

There wasn't much I didn't like about this book, as I'm sure you can tell, and the only issue I had with it was one scene near the end. Whether it was the wording, or a mix up of names, I had to read it three times, and even then I wasn't totally sure what was going on. While it did pull me out of the story, it was only for a brief moment. I cared far too much about Kate's life, and wanting to know where the story was headed than to be bothered about something that small for too long.

I really enjoyed "How to Lose a Client," I loved the characters, the plot, and even the pacing. After reading a fair amount of books in recent history with no pacing at all, this book was the comfort I needed. Hectic and/or scary moments were followed by just enough of a cool down to give me, as the reader, a little break before we jumped into the next section. I'm giving "How to Lose a Client" by Becky A. Bartness a FOUR POINT FIVE out of FIVE. I'd love a chance to check out the previous books in this series. And I'm really excited I got the chance to read and review this book.

Hope you all get a chance to check out "How to Lose a Client" by Becky A. Bartness. And Happy reading!
~!~ Morning Glow