phyllish
Written on May 9, 2020
My rating is 4.5 stars
Full of quirky characters and mystery, The Art of Eavesdropping was a whole lot of fun!
Elliot, having grown up in the jungles of Yerba (don’t worry, you won’t have heard of it – it’s an imaginary country in the Amazon jungle), lacked context for Americanisms and was quite out of her element. This brainy woman had a propensity of creating rhymes when stressed. She had an uncanny ability to notice and catalog details many people would miss.
Velma, the receptionist at the detective agency, was a riot! She worked out at the local sporting goods store so she didn’t have to pay for a gym membership. And Elliot had been warned about accepting any food from Velma – ever. The reason behind that was … at least slightly disturbing. Yet despite her extreme frugality, she didn’t have a problem spending her boss’s money when tasked to…
I found myself snickering throughout the story at the situations Elliot was in and at her thoughts! I also laughed at the details of Yerba that author Christy Barritt created. The national Festival of the Chicken was so fun! And the way the Chicken Dance came back to haunt Elliot at the most inconvenient time!
Thrust into the world of undercover sleuthing and setting out to prove the innocence of a world-renowned golfer, Elliot found herself in peril of her life. Again and again!
There is a light faith element to the story, with Elliot praying for wisdom and help. It is her way of life and is simply a part of who she is.
This light-hearted mystery is the first in a new series which promises to be an enjoyable one. Despite murders and threats of danger, it is not overly suspenseful or gory. While the murder was solved, in the end, the stalker’s identity and purpose are still unknown, a serial killer remains at large, and she is still discovering the secrets her father left behind. To coin a genre, I would consider it MurCom. Or should that be MysCom? Hmmm
Read my full review at Among the Reads