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    Guaranteed to Bleed
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    Guaranteed to Bleed
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    Guaranteed to Bleed
    Ebook345 pages5 hours

    Guaranteed to Bleed

    By Julie Mulhern

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    With his dying breath, Bobby Lowell begs Ellison Russell, "Tell her I love her." Unable to refuse, Ellison struggles to find the girl the murdered boy loved.

    Too bad an epically bad blind date, a vindictive graffiti artist, and multiple trips to the emergency room keep getting in the way.

    Worse, a killer has Ellison in his sights, her newly rebellious daughter is missing, and there's yet another body in her hostas. Mother won't be pleased.

    Now Ellison must track down not one but two runaway teenagers, keep her promise to Bobby, and elude the killer—all before her next charity gala committee meeting.

    - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    GUARANTEED TO BLEED by Julie Mulhern - A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHenery Press
    Release dateOct 13, 2015
    ISBN9781943390069

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    Reviews for Guaranteed to Bleed

    4/5

    29 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I just read an amazing book, y'all — Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern. Let me tell you a little about this cozy mystery.

      Guaranteed to Bleed is the second book in Author Julie Mulhern's The Country Club Murders mystery series, starring Ellison Russell. Book one in the series, The Deep End, takes place in June, 1974, in Kansas City, Missouri. Towards the end of The Deep End, Ellison, a widow, and Grace, her teenage daughter, are making plans to "spend the rest of the summer in Europe, far away from vicious chatter" and gossip about them, concerning the events in The Deep End. When Guaranteed to Bleed opens, school is back in session for Fall 1974. Ellison and Grace have been home for about two weeks, after their "summer of wandering through Europe."

      Author Julie Mulhern has done her homework regarding 1974, and it shows. She's quite a name-dropper for early 1970s fads, fashions, politics, music, TV shows, TV commercials, fragrances, and decor. All the references are spot-on, making the world-building for Guaranteed to Bleed first rate.

      The supporting cast of characters from The Deep End have returned, and are still depicted as realistic, distinctive, and likable. Ellison has continued her personal growth that started in The Deep End. In the words of Virginia Slims® cigarettes, "You've come a long way, baby." Ellison's mother, Frances Walford, is one of the pillars of Kansas City upper-class Society, and is notorious for getting things done, right away and, of course, properly. Ellison used to cringe inside when her mother threw her weight around. Now, Ellison has reluctantly begun to follow her mother's example by, for instance, invoking her mother's name and reputation to get some information from an uncooperative receptionist at the hospital.

      The plot of Guaranteed to Bleed is well-crafted, interesting, and fast-paced. There are fewer murders this time, so Author Julie Mulhern includes other kinds of despicable crimes instead. Because this book addresses some serious social/personal issues, it's not-quite-cozy. Even with the serious subject matter, Julie still lets her sense of humor show, through the voice of Ellison.

      Ellison's sleuthing is done for the best of intentions. First of all, Ellison has to find out who the "she" is, in Bobby's dying declaration, so she can pass along his message. She has to do some digging before she gets to the truth. Secondly, she gets this request from the detective in charge: "No one is talking," Anarchy said. "The kids cross their arms and slouch and roll their eyes and wait for their fathers' lawyers to show up. Their parents aren't talking either. I need your help, Ellison."

      Speaking of Bobby's message, Ellison is asked at least seven times, by different people, some variation of "Did he say anything?". Author Julie Mulhern is serving up some red herrings — just to keep her readers on their toes. She also includes clues to the actual evil-doers. I really like the way Ellison's murder investigations are resolved. Can you figure out the mysteries?

      In summation, Guaranteed to Bleed is great — a fantastic book! I can't wait to read the next book in The Country Club Murders series, Clouds in my Coffee. Author Julie Mulhern is still writing it, though, so I'll have to be patient somehow, until Book #3 is released in May 2016.

      I recommend Guaranteed to Bleed to all fans of cozy mysteries. I think my fellow Baby Boomers, especially, will enjoy the setting. Younger readers who are into all things retro, and/or who enjoyed That '70s Show on TV, will also especially like it.

      I love Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern, and grant it our highest rating of Five Stars!


      Note: I received a complimentary copy of Guaranteed to Bleed in exchange for my honest review. All opinions shared are 100% my own.

      Originally published at Jane Reads
    • 3/5
      Given that this book is part of the Country Club Murder series, I should probably not be surprised that so many of the characters were completely insufferable. Ellison, the main character, is pathetic. She has no backbone. Ellison is constantly bossed around by her mother, who is mostly concerned with keeping up appearances. Ellison acts like a pill towards the lawyer her mother wants her to date (who actually seems like a decent guy). I think I was meant to dislike Ellison's mother, but I thought she was great. Ellison's mom gets stuff done. Ellison is unable to accomplish anything; at least her mother isn't all wishy-washy. This book was set in the 1970s, and I'm not really sure why. The seventies setting didn't seem to be essential or really add anything to the plot. So, I'm not really sure why.
    • 4/5
      At a high school football game, Ellison drops her French lipstick through the bleachers and discovers a young man shot beneath the crowd and no one heard a thing. Tasked by the young boy to "tell her I loved her" Ellison undertakes the challenge to find his girlfriend but it proves harder than she expected since no one knows who she is.Set in the 70's with no modern technology, I still enjoy the mystery and characters. Technology is not missed at all.When I read the second in a series shortly after the first, the writer definitely got me. I'm anxious for #3 which comes out in a few months.
    • 5/5
      Finding a body under the bleachers during a boisterous, Friday night lights worthy high school football game isn’t what Ellison would hope for after returning home from a summer abroad. Her sixteen year old daughter Grace grew up with Bobby, so finding out which girl his final message is for becomes a quest. Mulhern taps into the 1970’s vibe again very well and this amateur detective mystery veers into a deeper storyline, much like the first book. Even as Ellison professes to abhor the Club and her mother’s insistence on social niceties, she can still dish out country club worthy retribution when necessary. The descriptions of her self-realization while channeling her mother were spot on. This has it all--great characters, a good mother/daughter storyline (times two) and a mystery that’s not too easy to figure out.
    • 5/5
      This is the second installment of the Country Club Murders and Ellison Russell is back solving another murder. These books take place in the 1970s so it is nice that there are no cellphones, ipads etc. to have instant communication. It gives another dimension to the stories.The story opens with Ellison at a highschool football game to watch her daughter cheer. When she drops her pricey lipstick she bought in Paris, she heads down under the stands to get it back. Instead of finding her lipstick, she stumbles onto the body of a young man who has been stabbed and is dying. His last words to her are “Tell her I love her.” Ellison decides that she will do whatever she can to find this young woman and give her the message. After going in the ambulance with the young man, who turns out to be the son of one of her friends, she arrives home to a group of girls. Grace, her daughter, is having an impromptu sleepover with her friends. Ellison knows them all except one, Donna, the new girl in town. The girls mourn the loss of their friend and classmate, Bobby Lowell. Ellison's focus is to find the girl Bobby loved, but she uncovers possible suspects along the way. There is the overly infatuated girl, Alice Standish who loves Bobby and thinks he feels the same to the point that she looks obsessed. Then there is her father who hangs out at a bar for cross dressers. There's also the grieving best friend Jack McCreary and his father John who becomes rude to Ellison whenever she asked about Jack's friendship with Bobby. While all this is going on, Grace's new friend Donna, has problems and secrets of her own. Dirty little secrets that involved her stepfather. When Grace and Donna run away, Ellison does not know what to do. The situation with Donna and her stepfather is handled very well and with extreme discretion. The sexual tension between Ellison and Detective Anarchy Jones, as well as Ellison and lawyer, Hunter Taft creates a dilemma for her and reading her mother's responses to their moments together is a hoot. Ellison seems to stumble into situations and dead bodies in extremely interesting ways and is able to solve these crimes in a realistic way. I was not able to figure out the murderer until almost the end of the book, which always makes the story more interesting to me. A great read for cozy mystery readers. I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchane for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      In the second of the Country Club Murders, we learn even more about the lives of the country club set in the mid-1970s. Ellison finds herself once again involved in a murder. She’s still struggling with her feelings for top cop Detective Jones, while battling her mother’s incessant nagging about finding another husband. Finding herself in danger and her teen age daughter missing, Ellison takes matters into her own hands. There are some humorous parts in this book that will have you laughing so hard the tears will roll. This light-hearted mystery is every bit as entertaining as The Deep End, the first in the series, and once again Mulhern leaves you eager to learn what book 3 in the series will bring. ~ Linda Thompson, Host of TheAuthorsShow.com
    • 3/5
      I just finished reading Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern. It is the second book The Country Club Murders series and is set in 1974. Ellison Russell is a widow and an artist with a daughter to raise. Ellison lives in Kansas City, Missouri and her daughter, Grace goes to Suncrest Country Day School. Ellison is at the school watching her daughter cheer. She drops her lipstick and it falls under the stands. Ellison goes under the stands to retrieve it (she got it in Paris). Someone runs into her while she is under the bleachers and then she trips over something. That something turns out to be Bobby Lowell. Bobby, a friend of her daughter since they were little kids, is dead. Detective Anarchy Jones is assigned the case (Ellison and Anarchy know each other). When Ellison arrives back home, she is greeted by a drunk babysitter (for a sixteen year old) and a gaggle of girls (her daughter needed the comfort of friends). Donna is a new girl to the group. Her mother, India and her new husband, Jonathan Hess, just moved to town (India used to live in Kansas City). Grace and her friends have decided to include Donna in their group. Ellison cannot help but look into Bobby’s murder (since she did find the body). Who would want to kill a teenage boy? While solving the crime, Ellison will have to deal with her mother (very intimidating) and her matchmaking. She wants to make sure that Ellison makes the right match this time (the first husband was not a gem).I give Guaranteed to Bleed 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay). Ellison had just come back from traveling in Europe and there are constant references to new clothes, shoes, and make-up that she purchased and did not like (then why did she buy them). The mystery was extremely easy to solve and the characters were very superficial (they lacked depth). I also did not like Ellison’s friends. When Ellison would ask for assistance from a friend or even her mother, they would only do it in exchange for a favor in return (like politicians in Washington, D.C.). How is that friendship? I found Guaranteed to Bleed just to be a little bit too silly and over-the-top (for my liking). The book is nicely written, but Guaranteed to Bleed was just not for me. I received a complimentary copy of Guaranteed to Bleed from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      Lesson learned—when making major life changes, don’t start with red lipstick.I enjoyed the first book of this series so I was eager to read more about Ellison. To me Ellison is a likeable and relatable character (I especially enjoy her sense of humor) and it was just as interesting reading about her in this book as the first in the series. Ellison is back in this book from a European vacation with Grace and she finds herself back to finding dead bodies. Well to be fair she finds Bobby Lowell who is dying, so technically not dead, and he leaves her with a message to pass on to a mystery girl. Ellison makes it her mission to track down whoever that girl may be and let her know what Bobby said. This will once again lead her in the middle of a murder investigation.I could read this series purely for Ellison's sense of humor and getting to read about her scary yet fierce mother. I am sad to say that in this book Ellison's daughter, Grace, was extremely annoying, almost to the point of ruining the book for me. I liked Grace in the first book but I could only take her whole whiny teenage girl routine for so long. There were times when I felt Ellison needed to slap some sense into her. I couldn't her enough of Hunter and Anarchy and really wish that Ellison would stop trying to avoid their attention.The plot progressed nicely throughout the book pretty much until the end of the book. The ending felt like the book kind of just fizzled out. Something happens at the end that pretty much had nothing to do with the mystery and then the story wraps up a bit weakly. In regards to the mystery itself I suppose it wouldn't be all that hard to figure it out but I think the real mystery is why everything happened. This was overall a solid sequel to the first in the series. I am really looking forward to reading more of this series. Thanks to Netgalley and Henery Press for the galley.