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Your Chariot Awaits Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Lorena McCourtney / Thomas Nelson Reviewed by Gail WelbornThis cozy mystery is too good to miss.Andi McConnell thought turning sixty was the worst thing that could happen that week, but she was wrong. She was fired from Friends and Neighbors Insurance Company because of a company merger. She'd break up with her boyfriend Jerry, inherit a stretch "lim-o-zeen" with bullet proof windows from rich and eccentric Uncle Ned, find the body of her ex-boyfriend in the trunk and become a murder suspect and be knocked unconscious. It was too much for a lifetime, let alone one week. When Joella, her new confidant and duplex tenant finds her unconscious beside the sleek, black limousine in her driveway, she calls 911. After the police arrive, Andi tries to answer the detective's questions, even though her head is bleeding and her memory is fuzzy. Her answers sound lame even to her own ears. Joella assures her afterward that God would work it out, but Andi isn't as confident. Fine for Joella to say, Andi, thinks. She, however, wasn't on speaking terms with God. When Andi refuses medical treatment the detective's suspicions about her alibi of an unknown assailant seem confirmed to the detective and Andi realizes she must find the killer before the police charge her with murder. An acquaintance, Keegan "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, a private investigator from a television series, learns of her predicament and knocks on her duplex door. He's eager to solve the case, but also wants to get to know sassy, Andi McConnell better. But, there's a big difference between a television series and real life. When Andi starts asking questions she learns she really didn't know her ex-boyfriend at all. And what she doesn't know just might kill her. Your Chariot Awaits, an exceptional find in the romantic comedy mystery genre, is the first book in the Andi McConnell series. It takes place in the small town of Vigland, which the author patterned after Shelton, Washington, and the San Juan Islands. Lorena McCourtney's rare comedic talent, quirky, lovable characters-from the nosy next-door-neighbor, to the wacky uncle who gives strange gifts upon his death-will make you laugh out loud and keep turning the pages. Choosing a humorous and loving, sixty-year-old protagonist with realistic concerns will only add to McCourtney's already strong fan base. This cozy mystery is too good to miss. It will keep you guessing until the end, and leave you looking forward to the sequel, tentatively titled, Here Comes the Ride. |
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About Gail Welborn |
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Your Chariot Awaits Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Lorena McCourtney / Thomas Nelson Reviewed by Karri ComptonMcCourtney weaves a tight tale, with humor to ease the tension of dilemma after dilemma.I'm one of McCourtney's biggest fans. I nearly had a stroke when she announced there would be no more Ivy Malone books. Thank God she has initiated another mystery series. Now I won't have to go through any more withdrawals from her stories about amateur sleuths. Andi McConnell is a soon-to-be sixty-year-old single lady who is canned from her insurance job. To make matters worse, her boyfriend Jerry, who has recently landed a promotion and relocation from the same company, breaks up with her. Just when things are at their bleakest, Andi's estranged but rich Uncle Ned dies and bequeaths her a limousine. Hardly the perfect gift for the unemployed, dumped, and depressed. Can Andi's young waitress friend Joelle cheer her up with her smile and her faith? Or perhaps Fritz, who owns a sailboat charter company, will put some spring in her step. They both encourage Andi to start a new business as a limousine driver. But that's not likely to happen any time soon since her new ride is now a crime scene. When someone ends up dead in the limousine's trunk, Andi has more trouble than she ever dreamed. Could the police accuse her of this heinous crime? Can she snoop around enough to find the real killer? McCourtney weaves a tight tale, with humor to ease the tension of dilemma after dilemma. She has a distinct knack for bringing feisty older women to life on the pages of her novels. I suspect there's a propensity for gumshoeing in McCourtney-might her characters mirror something of herself? We may never know, but one thing we can know is the enjoyment of a terrific mystery. Pick this one up soon. |
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About Karri Compton View this review and more at: www.kcreviews.blogspot.com |
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Your Chariot Awaits Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Lorena McCourtney / Thomas Nelson Reviewed by Susan SleemanIf you're looking for a well written cozy mystery, one that makes you laugh and smile, pick up McCourtney's Your Chariot Awaits. You won't be disappointed.Lorena McCourtney's latest character Andi McConnell bursts onto the fiction scene in Your Chariot Awaits. As the book opens, Andi turns sixty, loses her job at the local insurance company due to a merger, and breaks up with her boyfriend. Oh, and if that isn't enough to make any woman seek her bed with a box of bonbons and a chick flick, Andi inherits a shiny limousine from her uncle and before she can decide what to do with it, a dead body is found in the truck. Not just any body, but that of her recently estranged boyfriend, Jerry who she threatened with a shovel in front of her neighbors. Andi soon becomes a prime suspect in the murder and has no choice but to investigate to clear her name. She teams up with her new acquaintance and potential future love interest, Fitz. Though Fitz's more than willing to help Andi solve the murder, his only qualification for the job is the role of a detective that he played on an old television show. What follows is a bumbling search for the killer, leaving you laughing and smiling all the way through. Though Andi is older than many protagonists in today's fiction market, McCourtney writes Andi in a way that all generations of readers can relate to her. She's spunky, vulnerable, and shares the same fears we all deal with everyday. Even I, an avowed computer nerd, embraced the woman who doesn't own even one computer. Really. Not one. In addition to the fun read and enjoyable characters, McCourtney weaves in a strong spiritual message. She exposes the non-believer Andi to Christianity through a warm, pregnant twenty-something neighbor who encourages but never preaches. And, the unlikely friendship between the two women is believably written and natural despite the years difference in age. So if you're looking for a well written cozy mystery, one that makes you laugh and smile, pick up McCourtney's Your Chariot Awaits. You won't be disappointed. Susan Sleeman / The Christian Suspense Zone |
©2006-09
Susan Sleeman
Susan Sleeman
is the author of Nipped in the Bud, available May of 2009 from Heartsong Presents: Mysteries, an imprint of Barbour Publishing.
