Audiobook Review: Truth Kills

Author: Nanci Rathbun

Narrator: Kieren Calland Metts

Series: Angelina Bonaparte Mysteries, Book 1

Publisher: Dark Chocolate Press LLC

Released: Nov. 17, 2017

Length: 9 hours 17 minutes

Genre: Modern Detective; Mystery

A murdered mistress. An accused mob boss. Can two detectives put their differences aside to find the real killer?

Angelina Bonaparte is starting from square one. After a messy divorce, the middle-aged librarian put down her books and picked up a new gig as a private investigator. When a mob boss heads to jail for his mistress’ murder, she has no issue with the womanizing scumbag rotting in prison. But when the suspect’s pregnant wife swears his innocence, Angelina can’t find it in her heart to refuse the case.

Already reluctant to get involved, her frustration grows when she’s forced to work alongside Ted Wukowski, a homicide detective who thinks a crime scene is no place for a woman. In the search for clues along the mistress’ long record of broken hearts and promises, Angelina’s natural charm is the perfect complement to her temporary partner’s take-no-prisoners interrogation style. And before long, she and Ted can feel their grudging respect transform into an undeniable attraction.

To solve the case and catch the murderer, the PI and the cop must learn to trust each other completely before an innocent man goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit…

Truth Kills is the first book in the suspenseful Angelina Bonaparte Mysteries series. If you like fierce female detectives, unlikely partners, and nail-biting whodunits, then you’ll love Nanci Rathbun’s gripping crime thriller.

Buy Truth Kills today, and ride along with a hard-hitting detective who’s not afraid to reinvent herself!

Nanci Rathbun is a lifelong reader of mysteries – historical, contemporary, futuristic, paranormal, hard-boiled, cozy … you can find them all on her bookshelves. She brings logic and planning to her writing from a background as an IT project manager, and attention to characters and dialog from her second career as a Congregationalist minister.
Nanci grew up an Army brat, living in Germany, France and Korea, as well as several states in the U.S. After her dad retired from the service, the family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, Nanci raised her daughter and son, while working at AT&T. She never expected to move, but when her second grandchild was on the way, she wanted to be closer. One of her greatest joys is hearing her three granddaughters shout ‘Nana’ when she comes in their front door in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Nanci’s Maltipoo, Teeny, and she now live in Wellington, Colorado. No matter where she makes her home, she will always be a Green Bay Packers fan.

Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads

Kieren Calland Metts is addicted to audiobooks. She has almost 1,000 in her Audible.com library and has listened to most of them! She tends toward mysteries of all kinds, especially cozies, and YA dystopia.

She grew up a diplomat brat, traveling to tours in Baghdad, Iraq; and Kabul, Afghanistan. After several more moves in the U.S., the family settled in Ohio.

Kieren has a background in copy editing, book & newspaper design, and web production; adores arts and crafts; and has a weakness for fluffy orange kitties.

Almost everybody reads thrillers and mystery books during fall, but I am among the few sticking to what they know best. In my case, that’s Romance. However, this series has raised my interest and I loved the first book.

I know the cover looks a little scary, with all the red coming down like… something else, but the story is not that bloody at all. Our main character is a little over 50 female detective, whose father may or may not be involved with the Mafia (ok, he totally is), investigating the death of another mafia leader’s mistress. The plot is interesting, the killer is not that easy to identify and the story flows easily and keeps you captivated.

The writing is beautiful and very solid at the same time. I would have liked to have this in a physical or electronic copy so I can mark down some lines. There are a lot of things to be quoted from our main character. The author has managed to create the proper atmosphere, the proper environment for all the action happening here. No arguments on that!

Now, Angie is amazing! She is cool – yes, that’s the word. She is so cool and so open-minded. Yes, she has been though a lot in her personal life and because of that she has trust issues, but she is not immune to the opposite sex’s charm. At some point, Angie has to decide between two guys (“decide” is a strong word, but I’m keeping it) and her life experience is visible. I like how she interacts with her family and I like that she creates this grey zone – where mob and police meet. She helps the mob, but does it legally, no funny business. I wish she could have been tougher, but it’s explainable since she is not experienced to deal with murder. This vulnerable point is well illustrated in her conversations with the very good looking detective Ted Wukowski. They both have issues to overcome and working together proves to be effective in that respect.

Narration was ok. I loved the different accents Kieren Calland Metts uses and I loved how she played with different emotions in her voice acting. I would have liked to hear her changing voices more often, but when it comes to accents, she is amazing.

All in all, I give this fist book 4 stars, with a potential to so much more. I would have wanted to feel more of that thrill you get when you read a mystery book, I would have wanted to feel more engrossed in the story. But other than that, no other issues. I am sure you will love it and remember – perfect time to check it out!

Oh, please follow the schedule below to be up to date to what other fellow bloggers think about the story and also to know when the reviews for the next books in the series will be posted. In the meantime, Happy Reading to all !

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Nanci Rathbun. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.