No One Lives Twice (Lexi Carmichael Mystery, #1)

by Julie Moffett

[stacey_is_sassy]

An accidental spy...

Doing a wee bit of Audible Escape surfing, looking for something new and exciting led me to No One Lives Twice. The cover caught my eye, the storyline was interesting, and the reviews were mixed to a degree that didn't completely deter me. The narrator didn't get glowing reviews, but from my own experience, I know that it can sometimes be judged by the ear of the listener. So, I gave it a go.

I liked it!

While I did like it, I agree with some reviewers that it was weird that a techie didn't have a mobile phone or be 'up' with all the new-fandangled computer stuff. Lexi is just that little TOO nerdy girl quirky sometimes and she seemed to find herself in danger constantly. Again, I can't help thinking that if I found myself in the same kinds of situations, there is NO WAY I would jump in further. I'd be singing to the cops and hoping like hell they'd save the day.

I'm going to admit something here... I don't care one way or the other if there are intimate scenes in my audiobooks. I think the narrator is vital to whether I enjoy or cringe while listening to a sex scene. There is NOTHING worse than a narrator putting too much acting into the scene with moaning and groaning or sound effects that could turn your stomach. Also, if I'm out walking and listening, I find it a wee bit weird experiencing a bedroom scene out in the wild. No One Lives Twice is CLEAN, and it didn't make or break the story.

I think the reason why it didn't matter that there weren't sexy times in this story is that Lexi had a few love interests in this one and even by the end, there was a clear winner for the 'HERO' role. Sure, there were a few potential suitors, but none of them really ticked all my boxes. I guess I will have to go on in the series to see if any more boxes can be ticked by a few of the gentlemen I 'met'.

I struggled a little with the narrator's foreign accents. I swear her Italian accent sounded Indian and the rest all sounded Middle-Eastern. She did portray Lexi well, though, so I can't complain too much.

For anyone who has read or listened to Camilla Monk's, Spotless series, I did find a few similarities that made No One Lives Twice a win for me. I'm a sucker for extremely intelligent heroines who struggle a wee bit with social niceties. Clothes and makeup might not be their fortè but give them a cryptic message to decipher, and these heroines are definitely the one to go to. Their inexperience with the opposite sex gets these ladies into a whole lot of trouble and leaves them a wee bit red-faced. Also, there's a wee bit of bumbling their way through disasters that definitely leaves me smiling.

While not a 5 star read/listen, I was mostly satisfied with my introduction to Julie Moffett's, Lexi Carmichael Mystery series. I will definitely be going on with to No One to Trust, which is also available in the Audible Escape package.