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    Deadly Charm
    Deadly Charm
    Deadly Charm
    Audiobook13 hours

    Deadly Charm

    Written by Claudia Mair Burney

    Narrated by Sharon Washington

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Claudia Mair Burney's mysteries starring forensic psychologist Amanda Bell Brown have garnered high praise for their wit, style, and their sassy heroine. Ezekiel Thunder, a disgraced preacher, moves his family into town in an attempt to resurrect his career. But after his infant son drowns, Amanda suspects it wasn't an accident. Now Amanda is on the case and she's determined to find the truth.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 26, 2009
    ISBN9781440723117
    Deadly Charm
    Author

    Claudia Mair Burney

    Claudia Mair Burney is the author of the Amanda Bell Brown Mystery series. The first in the series, Murder, Mayhem, and a Fine Man was released in 2006. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, five of their seven children, and a hamster.

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    Reviews for Deadly Charm

    3/5

    45 ratings17 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 2/5
      I didn't like this book very much, and couldn't even finish it. It isn't a bad book, it just wasn't the type of book I thought it was. I just couldn't get into the story line.
    • 3/5
      I received this book as an Early Reviewer copy and finally had time to read it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got. I didn't expect the story to be so...religious. It's definitely not something I would typically read. The lead character, Amanda, sure had a lot of drama in her life. It would have been nice to get a little bit of background information, or something like those "previously on [name of show]" recaps that you get with tv shows, so that we could understand what was happening in her life (for those of us who hadn't read the previous books in the series). Like other reviewers had mentioned the mystery is ok, but the book is just not my cup of tea.
    • 4/5
      The mystery is good, but the religious overtones may be off-putting for some. As it is third in a series, more effort to give some background and context would be good for any new readers that wish to jump into the third book (and perhaps give added interest for going back into the earlier books as well).
    • 3/5
      I got this book as an Early Reviewer copy and did not notice that it was the third book in the series. So I came into a bit disoriented. I also missed that it was inspirational fiction, not something I normally read. So with that said, the characters were OK and the story had some interesting points. I think if a person likes inspirational fiction they could enjoy this series if they start at the beginning. I found it a bit hard to get through but for the two reasons i mentioned above, I think it is only fair to give 3 stars since it was not a terrible read, just not my thing.
    • 3/5
      A child dies in a bathroom accident ...but was it an accident or is there something more sinister leading to his untimely death?The murder mystery itself unravels neatly but what's really at the forefront of this book is the insecurity children of alcoholic parents live with even as they reach the biological age of adulthood. They don't feel they deserve to be loved and yet they crave love and acceptance. The fortunate will find friends who can offer them safe haven when they are in need. They may not recognize kindred needy souls when they meet them because they are unable to admit to their own needy self. Our sleuthing heroine, Amanda Bell Brown, is also devoutly religious and speaks with God on a regular basis, and at times, He's nice enough to speak with her in a small voice. She's convinced that the child's death was no accidental and starts to investigate. She's partnered with her husband, a suspended homicide detective, who has succumbed to alcoholism, and this book is as much about their relationship, the hurt, the anger, the mistrust, faith and the love, as it is about murder.Lots of prayer and Bible references abound in this book, which made me feel a little guilty when I didn't recognize some of the stories quoted, reminding me that I haven't been to church in quite a while.This book was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster and challenged what I thought I knew of adult children. I'm glad I read it and despite my feeling rather emotionally wrung out towards the end, I did enjoy it.
    • 3/5
      I wasn't really expecting to read an African-American inspirational mystery, but that is what this is. The book is pretty steeped in the pentacostal faith, so if that is what you are looking for I think you will be happy with this book. It was certainly interesting to read something so different that what I normally read, but I found the Christian aspect very distracting from the mystery. The plot took awhile to get going especially since this is the third in a series and so the author really spent a lot of time giving background for those new to the series (like me). When it did get going, the mystery was pretty fast-paced and fairly interesting. However, the resolution was too neat and tidy for my liking. I found it somewhat ridiculous and so I'm not sure I can recommend this to mystery fans. There is better stuff out there in that genre.
    • 1/5
      The back of this book bills it as a zany, thrilling mystery wherein our heroine, the quirky Dr. Amanda Bell Brown must find the cause for the death of a disgraced playboy evangelist's baby. I received a copy by request through the LibraryThing Early Readers Program (where it was not disclosed that it was Christian fiction) and I requested it because fiction with minority leads is something I'm actively trying to include more of here at BookLove.Unfortunately, I simply could not get into this book.The story opens with a long, lamenting conversation between Bell and her BFF/kinda of love interest (except she's married) which covers a lot of what happened in the first two books in the series and what happened between books. As a first time reader I was left with absolutely no clue what was going on, other than Bell, in an effort to make up with Rocky (the BFF who apparently put her marriage in danger before abandoning her, and who repeatedly teases her and calls her “babe” constantly) agrees to go visit a disgraced evangelist trying to make a comeback.The second chapter opens with Bell and Rocky arriving at the location where the evangelist is filming his sermon. Bell is promptly assaulted by an old religious woman who calls Bell a hussy for being there with her pastor, and forcibly exorcises her, claiming a demon of interracial adultery is dwelling inside of her. Rocky, the charming BFF that he is, sits in his VIP seat and is amused by the antics, doing nothing at all to help. After the sermon Rocky gets Bell backstage to meet the evangelist, Ezekiel Thunder. It's there that Bell meets Little Zeke Thunder, Big Thunder's 2 year old son. Bell is smitten, but launches into heartache over her own inability to have children, save for the fact that she's been nauseated a lot lately. But she can't have kids, she reassures herself, because she had a period since her husband left her and she has endometriosis, not to mention she has a tumor. With the subtly of a brick to the face, this “I can't be pregnant despite obvious weight gain, morning sickness and soreness” becomes a repetitive source of angst. When Bell finally moves past the topic secondary characters constantly bring it up, accusing her of being pregnant, kicking off the whole response again.In chapters three and four Bell insists she isn't pregnant, then is threatened by the same person who assaulted her in the previous chapter, blatantly and maliciously manipulated by Thunder, again while her BFF Rocky just stands to the side, or defends Thunder.It is never really explained why Rocky wants her to meet this clearly malicious, manipulative preacher. There's eventually something about Rocky wanting her to find God again, but that should never excuse the sort of behavior Bell has been subjected to.In chapter five Bell finally does something that made me like her, she self soothes with a peppy new haircut. But when she returns to work she discovers her parking lot filled with the vehicles of all her closest, except her husband. Despite being forewarned Bell walks into the intervention. What is traditionally a last ditch effort to get a person with substance abuse to realize the extent of their actions is bastardized in this chapter as Bell's nearest and dearest claim the intervention is because she's fat, because her husband (who left her) is heart broken without her and she should go back to him, and because she is clearly pregnant and too old to be so (Bell is 35). The conversation is excessively scattered and even deviates into one of Bell's friends claiming it's not always all about Bell, except one would assume that an intervention IS about the person being confronted.I stopped when I read the following interaction:“If Jazz (Bell's husband) is the one who left me, and he's the one who is drinking excessively, why didn't you do the intervention with him?”“Because all of this is your fault,” my mother said.If I hadn't been at a doctor's appointment I would have flung the book across the room. I did try to skip ahead in the book to see if it picked up, only to land on a scene where a doctor tells Bell and her husband, Jazz that Bell has a grapefruit-sized tumor, several grape=sized tumors and is also pregnant with twins.The artificial drama is staggering in this book and completely distracts from the mystery Deadly Charm is advertised as containing. There is no time or build up to allow for readers to grow attached to Bell and having every character treating her like utter crap doesn't make her sympathetic. Furthermore the pregnancy side plot is a huge problem. The medical problems (pregnant, with tumors) reads as more unbelievable, and unneeded drama, there's never a question in the reader's mind whether Bell is pregnant or not, and the utter insensitivity that everyone else in the book shows for Bell's reproductive problems is pretty insulting.It's a bad combination of writing flaws, so Deadly Charm ends up in the DNF pile.
    • 2/5
      This was not an easy book for me to read, and I had a hard time keeping focus. The reasons being the story line was rather weak, it is the third book in a series, that I have not read, and it is apparently heavy on religious focus, not quite my cup of tea. At times it had some real humor, and the relationships were hard to understand, but that too, must be because it is not the first book in this series.
    • 2/5
      Although this book is called a mystery, the mystery story line is a little weak. The ending and the usual suspect is somewhat predictable. The characters and their actions were a little unbelievable at times. The Christian thread was present throughout the book and actually made things more believable. I liked the writing style and the book was an easy read. After receiving the book, I realized it was part of a series of three and this was #3. I would recommend reading the other two first as it would explain the relationships between the main characters and some of their actions.
    • 3/5
      This is the third book in a series and appears very dependent upon the previous two books, which I have not read. Characters didn't seem to make sense at times, but maybe would have if I had read the other books. The Christian theme is much more evident than the mystery, which wraps up quickly at the end. The characters were sometimes funny. I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you've read the previous books in the series.
    • 2/5
      I struggled to finish this book. Maybe if I would have read the first two books in the series I would have known the characters and the back story better. I didn't like the author's writing style and didn't think that the characters were believable. The religious aspect didn't bother me but it seemed like it was a crutch. Instead of the characters learning and growing through their religion they used it as an excuse for their behaviors. I didn't like Bell praying for a baby and when she finally got pregnant, she thanked God and then did everything in her power to compromise the pregnancy. I wouldn't recommend this book and will probably not try this author again.
    • 3/5
      First, I should say I have not read the previous books in this series. I highly recommend that the first books be read first, since I strongly suspect the book would have been more enjoyable with a little more background. The story flowed along well with likable characters and an interesting heroine. I am primarily a reader of Science Fiction, but I do, on occasion, enjoy mysteries. Unfortunately, the mystery part of this series was the weakest link. The villain was not particularly interesting, more like a speed bump for the romance part of the story. I strongly suspect fans of the Romance genre would find a lot to like in this book.
    • 3/5
      Deadly Charm was a book I truly enjoyed reading. However, since I had not read the first two books in the series I found it a little difficult to follow at some points. Ms Burney's writing style is easy to read and flows smoothly. I only wish I had read the first book in the series before reading this one. I will be looking for other books in this series.
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly I ended up liking this book! When I first started it I was surprised to find it was Christian fiction, and I was ready for sappy and preachy. Which I didn't get. The characters were funny, and human - you actually cared about them. I actually think I may find the other two books in the series by this author, because now I am curious as to why Bell ended up where she has.... and hopefully she will write a fourth book so we can find out how things evolve!
    • 4/5
      Like one of the other reviewers, I was not expecting a Christian based novel. I was expecting a mystery. However, the bulk of this book was focused on psychologist/would be Columbo Amanda Bell Brown and her dysfunctional relationship with a husband of six weeks. It was also heavy on religion, prayer and faith. There was actually a mystery buried in all that though. In spite of it not being what I had expected, it turned out to be a decent and enjoyable book. I would not buy these books and probably will not read another in the series, but I expect the author and Amanda Bell Brown will have a loyal group of followers for a long time to come.
    • 4/5
      I really have not read much "Christian" fiction and did not know this was a Christian oriented book. From the description it sounded like a regular mystery. Since I got it as a member giveaway I felt compelled to read it though it is not a genre I usually would seek out, and was not really looking forward to the experience. I was actually surprised what a good read it was and how non-irritating the Christianity was. In fact it was very funny. The various different characters and their relationship with Pentacostalism (? is this a word?) were very entertaining, and the leaders / role models were decidedly clay-footed and human. I would read another book by this author, and probably will check other books in this series out from the library if I can find them. I recommend them for people who like mysteries with a liberal amount of humor, or people who like the Stephanie Plum books and wonder what Stephanie Plum would be like were she an African American born-again Christian from Detroit!
    • 4/5
      Coming into this series on the third novel was a little hard being that the author does talk about past events quite a bit throughout the entire novel there does get to be a point where you start to catch some things.I loved the characters of this novel Amanda Bell is a strong and funny woman who leads a very daring life with everything that she has going on you would except her to slow down a bit but she doesn't she just keeps coming back for more. I would have to say I liked this book enough to go back and read the other two and hope that a fourth joins this book.