Room for Doubt (A Carol Childs Mystery Book 4)

Author:  Nancy Cole Silverman
Genre:  Mystery/Suspense

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635112382; 9781635112351
278 Pages
Henery Press Publishing
$30.52; $15.95; $4.99 Amazon
July 18, 2017

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When radio reporter Carol Childs is called to a crime scene in the Hollywood Hills at five thirty in the morning, she's convinced it must be a publicity stunt to promote a new movie.  That is, until she sees the body hanging from the center of the Hollywood sign.  The police are quick to rule it a suicide, but something doesn't add up for Carol.  Particularly after a mysterious caller named Mustang Sally confesses to the murder on the air and threatens to kill again.  With the help of an incorrigible PI, her best friend, and a kooky psychic, Carol is drawn into the world of contract killers and women scorned.  As she races to find the real killer, she finds herself faced with a decision that will challenge everything she thought she knew.

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Carol Childs, radio reporter in Hollywood, has been called by her boss Tyler because a body is hanging from the Hollywood sign.  When she arrives, she speaks with a police detective who will only tell her that it was a suicide.  But he hasn't even seen the body up close, and she's not convinced.  Then she's contacted by a private detective named Gerhardt Chasen "Chase" who tells her he thinks it's the work of a serial killer.

But things begin to take a bizarre turn when Carol, on her new Sunday evening program, gets a call from a woman who will only identify herself as Mustang Sally.  She tells Carol that it wasn't a suicide, but the man was murdered by a 'tribunal' and that he's not the first one.

While she's trying to avoid Chase, he's meanwhile talking to Tyler, and convinces him that Carol's show should take a different turn.  And when Sally calls in again with information not given to the public, Carol begins - reluctantly - to take her more seriously.

But who is Sally, and is she telling the truth?  Carol's head is screaming at her to stay away from Chase and what she considers a nutcase, but her instincts are telling her something else.  When other information begins to come to light, Carol realizes that in order to find out the truth and close the lid on this case, she may have to step outside the bounds of the law and her own conscience...

What begins as a strange murder, then perhaps the work of a serial killer, begins to take a darker turn into the world of domestic violence and stalkers.  Anyone who's ever been a victim or known one knows that a stalker finds you, and once that happens, it's not so easy to walk away.  Not everyone has the strength, stamina, financial resources, etc.  Not everyone believes it's not their fault.  But everyone deserves the freedom from it.

Ms. Silverman has a rare quality of being able to begin one book and segue into another one entirely, and keep her audience engrossed in the story.  She draws her subjects not only from fiction, but also from subjects not discussed in every day life and makes you think about possibilities - and probabilities - in the process.  It is quite clever and done beautifully.

We also see a new chapter in Carol's life - she's moving on after a breakup and trying to focus on her professional life (which isn't easy, and you'll figure out why) and deal with her new housekeeper - Misty Dawn, psychic to the stars (retired).  While we don't see a lot of her personal life, the book is so filled with action that we don't miss it too much, either.

When we come to the end of the book it is quite satisfactory; saying any more would be giving too much away.  Although this is the fourth book in the series, following Without a Doubt, it can be read as a stand alone, but I recommend you read all books in order to be fully drawn into Carol's life thus far.  I look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Room-Doubt-Carol-Childs-Mystery/dp/1635112354/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2164975168

More on Nancy Cole Silverman's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/nancy-cole-silverman/

Without a Doubt (A Carol Childs Mystery Vol. 3)

Author:  Nancy Cole Silverman
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback, Ebook
ISBN #:  9781635110258
Henery Press
258 Pages
$15.95; $4.99 Amazon
May 24, 2016

Five Stars

As radio reporter Carol Childs investigates a series of Beverly Hills jewelry heists, she realizes her FBI boyfriend, Eric, is working the same case.  Even worse, she may have inadvertently helped the suspect escape.  The situation intensifies when the suspect calls the radio station during a live broadcast, baiting Carol deeper into the investigation.  In order for her to uncover the truth, Carol must choose between her job and her personal relationships.  What started out as a coincidence between Carol and Eric becomes a race for the facts - pitting them against one another - before the thieves can pull off a daring escape, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind, and taking the jewels with them.  

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Carol Childs is on the street with her microphone and her best friend Sherri, taste testing specialty chocolate shops for charity.  Just when they are ready to leave they look across the street and see Carol's FBI boyfriend Eric...with another woman, the socialite Carmen Montague, leaving a high end jewelry store.  She knows he's probably undercover, and resolves not to think any more about it, when, right as they're entering the limousine, a bomb goes off in the store.  Carol, her reporter's instinct kicking in, heads over to the store to see if she can find out the truth of what's going on.

After interviewing a couple of people and relaying the information to her station manager, Tyler Hunt, she heads back to her jeep, meeting an old woman with shopping bags heading in the same direction.  Carol offers to help her, and in return, the old woman presses a gift into her hand and disappears - a lovely, jeweled phoenix brooch.

When Carol returns to the station, she finds that Kari Rhodes, the entertainment reporter, is out ill with chicken pox and Carol will have to do Kari's job until she returns.  Which seems easy enough, but all is not what it seems...

Carol soon finds herself mixing with the celebrity crowd, and that means mixing with Carmen Montague and her escort, the now-she's-sure-he's-undercover Eric.  And he isn't pleased by the intrusion, even though she assures him that she had no choice in the matter.  It also isn't helping that the station owner's wife, Bunny Morganstern, has insinuated herself into the mix and decided she wants to take over for Kari instead.  But when Carmen unexpectedly dies at an awards after-party, with dozens of people around, has Carol wondering if she wasn't murdered, and if so, who would want her dead and why?  And then there's the little fact that there are high-end jewelry heists going on, and that the old woman may not have been an old woman after all, but a jewel thief - and Carol's suddenly smack-dab in the center of the action.

Carol, her reporter's instinct always on, is determined to find who murdered Carmen while trying to stay out of what is obviously an FBI investigation.  But she finds it's not so easy when the FBI knows the jewel thief has suddenly decided to make her the person they'd most like to speak with instead...

What we have is another lively book by Ms. Silverman that is filled with intrigue, action, and more than one person who isn't what they appear to be.  She has a true talent for filling the pages with engaging dialogue, interesting characters, and a plot that is taut, well-written, and draws you into the tale right from the beginning.  When we reach the climax, there is both completion and a promise of what is to come, leaving the reader with a feeling of bittersweet satisfaction and sanguine expectations.

I truly enjoyed this book and it kept me riveted from beginning to end.  This is the third book in the series, but can be read as a stand alone.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Without-Doubt-Nancy-Cole-Silverman/dp/1635110289/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1656629445

More on Nancy Cole Silverman's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/nancy-cole-silverman/