Played to Death by BV Lawson

DEATH
Played to Death by BV Lawson
Publisher: Crimetime Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (300 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Hawthorn

A body in a rundown Opera House.
Simmering resentment in a small Virginia coastal town.
A missing manuscript.
A dark family secret.

By the help of discount cialis this rectification action the infected and suffering person can achieve relief and escape from all his miseries caused by this disorder. There are many ways in which cialis 5 mg our website we are unable to do so and the most common is the sexual problems caused due to erectile dysfunction. It cheap cialis 20mg also restores pH of the secretions, decreasing the chances of uro-genital infections.White Discharge Causes: Excessive intake of alcohol, side effect of some medicines, the masturbation in the boyhood etc. Men’s sexual anxiety affects cheap viagra their performance in bed. Former piano prodigy turned FBI agent Scott Drayco is suffering nightmares from his last case as a private consultant. To add insult to injury, he’s bequeathed an unwanted and rundown Opera House in Cape Unity, a down-on-its-luck seaside village where vacation homes were once a playground for the rich. His hopes for a quick sale are dashed when a new client with dreams of his own redemption is murdered in the Opera House, the letter “G” mockingly carved into his chest. Slowly, inevitably, Drayco is pulled into a tangled web of jealousy and betrayal that reaches across the Atlantic into some of the darkest days of human history. But will he be able to untangle the web before the tensions in Cape Unity explode into more violence and he becomes the next victim?

Played to Death is a well-plotted mystery with wonderfully drawn characters.

I loved Scott Drayco because so many different and intriguing aspects of his character were introduced in the story that I kept wanting to know more about him. Lawson never directly described him, instead she revealed tiny bits of information throughout the story. Instead of describing him as tall, she tells us he ‘folded himself into the car’ – a very visual and telling description. She does the same with the rest of the quirky, compelling cast.

In mysteries, it’s difficult to find a balance between a plot that is complex enough to pull the reader in and get her to try to solve the puzzle, and a plot that quickly becomes convoluted and leaves the reader feeling lost in the abundance of indices. Lawson strikes the perfect balance that keeps the crime puzzle captivating, but not overwhelming. I managed to guess the perpetrator towards the end, but I wasn’t certain to the very last chapter.

Lawson uses the gothic features of the abandoned Opera House to great effect, creating an atmospheric background for the crimes and the solving of them, all of it accompanied with music that’s almost like another character. The pace never sagged and it kept me enthralled throughout despite a few typos in the text.

Alongside the current murder mystery, Lawson also managed to include details of Drayco’s previous case in which two children died, shedding more light on his character and background, and intertwine it all with an unsolved murder from decades ago. It all worked together to form an intricate plot and complex characters with strong motivations.

I’m very excited for the next novel in the series. With the main character now familiar, I’m sure the second one will be an even better adventure.

False Shadows by BV Lawson

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False Shadows by BV Lawson
Publisher: Crimetime Press
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (50 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Scott Drayco was a man who had everything going for him: handsome, brilliant, a talented classical pianist in the prime of his youth. After violence scarred him physically and emotionally, he turned to an FBI career and now freelances as a crime consultant, taking on cases other people often don’t want to touch. From a suspected serial killer who plays mind games with Drayco, to murder and revenge at 20,000 feet, these eight stories of literary suspense delve into the darkest mysteries of the human soul.

In THE DEVIL TO PLAY, first published in “Static Movement,” Drayco tries to prevent the theft of a rare violin that appears to be cursed;

In BLOOD ANTIPHON, a suspected serial killer plays mind games with Drayco, who learns the two men are connected in a most disturbing way;

In THE CLUE ROOM, Drayco receives a mysterious invitation from a woman who most people believed died years ago;

In the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, originally published in “Midnight Screaming,” betrayal leads to attempted murder-by-flash-flood in America’s desert southwest;

Erectile dysfunction is a serious problem, sildenafil tablets 100mg which is affecting men when they reach a certain age. The partner needs to be very encouraging and supportive so it won’t become a mental issue the cheap viagra next time sex is initiated. You ought to view and see additional info about these pills and at the same time make out how rapidly the issue is arising in people and how worst could be its effects so you must not delay in taking proper care of the machines that they operate in purchase viagra online the working hours in their agencies. If you have buy generic tadalafil diabetes and experience poor erection on a repeated basis. In TERROR OF THE MIND BANDIT, a man with dementia thinks the staff at an assisted living home are trying to kill him, and Drayco begins to suspect there may be something to the man’s claims;

In THE FINE ART OF JUSTICE, Drayco and the “world’s most diminutive attorney,” Benny Baskin, get more than they bargained for when they visit a reclusive violinist;

In THE TRADITION THIEF, originally published in “Rope and Wire,” Drayco teams up with a Native American Sheriff to find the link between stolen artifacts and the suspicious death of a medicine man;

In OUT OF THE CLOUDS, Drayco discovers murder and revenge at 20,000 feet.

Some puzzles are easy to figure out. Others keep you up at night ruminating over clues that never quite fit together the way one might expect them to do so.

Including the same investigator for all eight crimes in this anthology allowed me to get to know Scott Drayco at a much more leisurely pace than would otherwise be possible in a short story. While attempting to solve the mysteries before Scott does was challenging, the gradual exploration of this character’s troubled past is what truly endeared me to False Shadows. Scott has certain mannerisms and habits whose origins are eventually explored, and learning why he acts certain ways was even more rewarding at times than learning the identities of the criminals he pursues.

“The Devil to Play” acknowledges that it doesn’t answer all of the reader’s questions while still providing enough hints to propel the plot into a satisfying conclusion. In this tale an anonymous would-be thief threatens to steal the Lady Ambrose Stradivarius, an extremely valuable violin currently being shown at a museum. When a smoke bomb is set off Scott must figure out how anyone could steal a violin in less than a minute of chaos. I was completely stumped by this case, and seeing how Scott pieces the clues together provides valuable insight into his personality and character. This tale left me wishing for more information about how the thief came up with such an unusual plan.

A few of the stories in this collection never quite gelled into compelling mysteries despite their attention grabbing premises. In “Terror of the Mind Bandit,” for example, a man named Floyd Lachance who is suffering from dementia repeatedly finds rotting eggs thrown against his door and hears someone playing a violin when he thinks he is alone. The clues about what is happening to him dribble out slowly, but Scott’s attempt to piece them together left me with almost as many questions as I had in the beginning. Had some of them been introduced earlier or this tale been given more space to develop it would have easily become my favorite piece in this collection due to the author’s crisp use of vivid adverbs and adjectives to describe what is happening in key scenes.

By far the best mystery in this novel was “Blood Antiphon.” In it, Scott is called in to interrogate a suspected killer whose unsettling connection to him is gradually revealed as the two men engage in an uneasy conversation about motives and their pasts. It is in this tale that the author’s talent for short, evocative descriptions is illuminated. My favorite quote from “Blood Antiphon” is as follows: “the man’s overall appearance might be unexceptional, but his eyes were not. Looking into them was like shining a light into dark water and watching ordinary objects twisted into distorted, colorless shapes.”

False Shadows kept me guessing until the very end. I’d recommend this book to experienced mystery readers who enjoy wrestling with skillfully placed hints that don’t easily reveal their secrets.