A GREAT NEW REVIEW OF "THE BODY IN THE BED"

“The Body in the Bed” (Amazon Kindle, $0.99)----

Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite---5 Stars

Roger and Suzanne Bowman go to Uruguay to celebrate their friend’s promotion to police captain. The day does not end smoothly when the couple finds the dead body of an old acquaintance in their motel room. Their main suspects are from the police force. Roger and Suzanne have a murder to solve and corruption to expose. The Body in the Bed is part of the South American Mystery Series by Jerold Last.

I could never resist a novella as I like its comfortable length. Therefore, The Body in the Bed is no exception. I was quickly captivated from the very beginning. Even though the pacing is fast, the plot does not seem rushed at all. It is actually very compact and flawlessly written with its international conspiracy, which is very impressive. Together with a strong dialogue, author Jerold Last also presents readers with vivid portrayals of the Uruguayan culture through his adroit prose. It is not hard for me to gravitate toward the main protagonists, Roger and Suzanne. As a matter of fact, all the characters, main or secondary, are well-developed and believable. The story itself is quite riveting; I finished it in one sitting because I really wanted to know the outcome.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND SPECIAL-HALF-PRICE SALE

For the Holidays, my two short novels in the Roger and Suzanne mystery series are available from Amazon KDP for $0.99 (normal price $1.99), and for £0.65 in the UK.  This is less than half their normal price, so is a very good deal.  Click on the links indicated or on the book covers to the right to go directly to the Amazon home page for either Kindle book.

 

 "The Body in the Parking Structure" is a hard-boiled mystery that features characters from the author's popular South American mystery novel series working on a murder case at home in Los Angeles. The clues are all there: Can you figure out whodunit before Roger does? 4 Stars based upon 9 reviews.
     US LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Parking-Structure-ebook/dp/B008PDV9WC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343432381&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+in+the+parking+structure
    UK LINK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Body-Parking-Structure-ebook/dp/B008PDV9WC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343488846&sr=1-1

"The Body in the Bed", a suspenseful 4.4-star whodunit novella (7 reviews), brings Roger and Suzanne back to Montevideo, Uruguay where another bloody murder needs to be solved. 

     US: http://www.amazon.com/South-American-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00A1PZZ86/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352084384&sr=1-6&keywords=the+body+in+the+bed

     UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/South-American-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00A1PZZ86/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352084384&sr=1-6&keywords=the+body+in+the+bed

MURDER AT A DOG SHOW

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My current WIP novel “The Deadly Dog Show” is just about ready for publication.  The penultimate version is being proofread, edited, and tweaked before being sent next week to a short list of would-be reviewers to critique on Amazon and/or Goodreads.   Please add a comment here after this post or e-mail me directly if you’d like to request a review copy (PDF format) before publication of the book on Amazon KDP.   Reviews improve the author's writing and sell his or her books, so are an essential component of the overall publishing process.   I’ll do one more round of edits and tweaks while that’s occurring and the book should be on Amazon and available for readers to enjoy.  

The new novel features Roger doing an undercover investigation of alleged improprieties at several California dog shows, ably assisted by Robert’s nanny Bruce and by Suzanne.  Bruce is a nanny of many talents, including his abilities as a dog trainer and handler in the show ring.  Vincent Romero, the former CIA agent from Chile who we first met in “The Surreal Killer”, rounds out Roger’s investigative team in this entry in the popular series.  In between finding bodies at dog shows and discovering the identity of Suzanne’s mysterious stalker, Roger and Bruce have time to pick up a purebred Champion hunting dog named Juliet to lend credibility to their undercover identities as an owner/sponsor and a professional handler at several shows and for Bruce to train in tracking and scent work just in time to find a key clue as to who killed the murder victims.

THE BODY IN THE PARKING STRUCTURE

The 11,600-word novelette, "The Body in the Parking Structure", was my first book written in a shorter format than the traditional novel.  This very fast-paced mystery story features characters from the author's popular South American mystery series working on a murder case at home in Los Angeles.  The book can be purchased from Amazon for $1.99, and is free to borrow by Prime members.  Just click on the appropriate link below or the book cover image on the right.  Can you figure out whodunit before Roger does?  

  

 Amazon Book page

Amazon UK Book Page

Here’s an excerpt (950 words—8% of the story) from the beginning of the book to get you hooked:        

                                                Chapter 1. Suzanne finds the body

            For the first time since we had met, Suzanne discovered a dead body without me being there.  She was collecting her car at twilight from the UCLA parking structure after a quick trip to the laboratory to change the samples on a DNA sequencer.  The structure seemed to be deserted except for her and a large lump lying lifeless between her car and the garage wall.  She called 911 to report the body then called me. 

RECENT BOOK REVIEWS---NOVELLA AND NOVELETTE

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I’ve published two shorter books, a novella and a novelette.  They are faster paced and shorter (duh!) than the novels, but as intricately plotted and with the same featured characters.  Try one or both of the books; I think you’ll enjoy them.  Both are well rated by the readers who have submitted reviews to Amazon.

This review was very nice!  From the most recent (5-stars) review of “The Body in the bed” on Amazon. “Although "The Body in the Bed" is the first of Mr. Last's "Roger and Suzanne Bowman" mysteries I've read, now I'll have to go pick up all the earlier stories in the series. Roger and Suzanne, now a married couple living in Beverly Hills, remind me in a gentle way of Nick & Nora Charles, the fictional (and film) married detectives of the 1930's, who in their socially upscale and light-hearted way, solved crimes. Roger is a former homicide detective in L.A., turned private investigator; Suzanne is a remarkably intelligent, highly educated, woman, now mother of a one-year-old son. Much of their focus revolves around the city of Montevideo in Uruguay; that is how they met, and it seems that on every trip to that city of which they are so fond, they encounter yet another corpse. This trip, it's in bed in their hotel room. By the time the story is finished, Roger & Suzanne have of course solved the crime, rooted out corruption in high places, and made their friends involved with the case happy, or at least satisfied with results, and the reader has enjoyed a delightful story line.” 

http://archiestandwoodsreviewsandwritings.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-body-in-bed-roger-suzanne-mysteries.html