Friday, June 16, 2017

Double Up (A Davis Way Crime Caper Book #6)

Author:  Gretchen Archer
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Audio CD; Ebook; Audiobook
ISBN #:  9781635111842; 9781635111811; 9781541453968
Henery Press
$29.90; $15.95; $17.40; $6.99 Amazon
262 Pages
March 21, 2017

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Fasten your seatbelts for non-stop action as stiff competition blows into town and the resulting turbulence threatens to take down the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Super Secret Spy Davis Way Cole, who lives on the twenty-ninth floor of the hotel with her CEO husband and newborn twins, takes it hard.  If the casino goes belly up, she won't be a stay-at-home mom because she won't have a home.  Not to mention her husband won't have a job.  Davis can't find a way to stop the inevitable end of Bellissimo life she loves until her ex-ex-mother-in-law shows up, unexpected and definitely uninvited.  Davis makes the best of a bad Bea Crawford situation and recruits her for a little corporate espionage work, which would've been great, had Bea not turned out to be the world's worst spy.  Ever.  Seatbacks and tray tables in their upright positions as we prepare for a bumpy ride with babies, bankruptcies, besties, and shrimp.  (Shrimp?)  Enjoy your flight.

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Davis Way Cole is the ex-Secret Super Spy for the Bellissimo Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.  'Ex' because she's retired - now taking care of two eight-month-old baby girls, Bex and Quinn - while her husband Bradley is left to run what's left of the casino.  I say this because there's a new sheriff in town:  The Blitz, which has been built right across the river from the Bellissimo, and they've not only taken the Bell's staff, but most of their customers as well.  They've become practically a ghost town on their own, and the owner, Richard Sanders (and his wife Bianca) have decamped for the lights of Las Vegas and left Bradley to salvage what he can.

Davis blames herself, because if she hadn't been so busy being pregnant and then motherhood, she believes she would have known what the Blitz was up to all along and none of this would have happened; she would have been at the top of her game and realized they were building a mega-casino instead of what she originally thought - a football stadium.  Why a stadium?  Because the person who now runs the Blitz is the grandson of the owner, Elias Johnson, and an ex-football player.

Because of this, Davis has refused to leave her lavish penthouse, and has become as reclusive as Greta Garbo.  That is, until her ex-ex-mother-in-law Bea Crawford shows up and refuses to leave.  At first Davis is horrified, but when things start going even further south, she realizes she can use Bea in her own scheme to put things right again, and that's when she turns Bea into a spy herself (sort of).  But just when Davis thinks things are starting to look up, she hasn't got a clue as to how dark they can become...

As a great fan of the series I was really looking forward to this entry, and for the most part, wasn't disappointed.  While it started out slow - it's not that interesting to follow a storyline of someone who spends all their time in an apartment with their babies - but once the plot got going - and so did Davis, it really took off (see what I did there?).

There isn't a lot I can say about the plot without giving away the crux of the story, so let it suffice to say that Davis is tired of what is going on around her and decides she's the one who needs to save the company (and her home).  She learns from Bea what is going on over at the Blitz; decides she can do something even better at the Bellissimo, and sets forth on a plan to save the resort and her husband's job in the process.   What ensues is quite humorous at times, suspenseful at others, there was even one scene between Fantasy and Davis that had me downright chuckling; plus Davis' reaction when she realizes why she's spending time with Bea is worth reading the book alone; not to mention what happens when Bea begins to take herself seriously as a spy.

In the end, it was a fun journey with an unexpected ending, and while not technically a murder mystery (although there is a murder, have no fear), it still gives you plenty to devour while you enjoy the book and wait for the next in the series to arrive.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Davis-Way-Crime-Caper/dp/1635111811/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2031437398

More on Gretchen Archer's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/gretchen-archer/

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