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Double Trouble–Elvis and trouble on the loose
Double Trouble
by Gretchen Archer
There are plenty of laughs in Gretchen Archer’s Double Trouble set in the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Davis Way Cole, former police officer, mother of toddler twin girls, and part-time security for the Casino absolutely could not get into more trouble if she tried. Davis is left in charge of the casino while all of the upper level staff along with her husband, manager of the resort complex, are attending a convention. Her problem starts when five million dollars goes missing, and the week just goes downhill from there. As Davis and her sidekick Fantasy try to find the missing money, locate disappearing people, and in the process discover murders, the storyline becomes a written version of T.V. slapstick comedy a la Lucy and Ethel.
Both the dialogue and Davis’ inner tongue-in-cheek monologues move along the plot which includes her mother whose passions are cooking and feeding those she loves—all the time, an ex-ex mother-in-law who shouldn’t be there, and her daughters who are addicted to Frozen. To make the plot even more crazy, add in potted tomatoes enhanced with aromatic Black Kow organic fertilizer (yep, you know what that is!), a safe room with lots of wine, missing employees, an abandoned baby, very shady wire transfers, and a slick lawyer—just for starters. The whole city is inundated with people disguised as Elvis to participate in an Elvis convention sponsored by Bellissimo. That makes identifying any villain virtually impossible.
My favorite character is Birdy James, a confused ninety-five year old in charge of Lost and Found. No one wants to fire her, bless her heart. Unfortunately, she is the only one who can locate items in the Lost and Found room. As a retired librarian, she created her own Dewey Decimal System for storing lost articles, she makes notes in shorthand that only she can read, and she is the sole person with the keypad combination to the storage room. She plays hilariously into the story and is important in solving the mystery. I know you’ll enjoy this Southern gem.
I would like to extend my thanks to Edelweiss and Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #9 in the Davis Way Crime Caper Series. Prior knowledge of the characters is nice, but it could act as a standalone.
Publication: June 9, 2020—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
Birdy yelled, “Did someone say liverwurst?” Bexley asked, “What’s a worse sandwich?” She tugged at the hem of my t-shirt. “Do we like worse sandwiches, Mama? Worse than what?”
“Your stove isn’t worth taking out back and shooting, Davis.” My mother and I were so, so different. If I were going to shoot the stove, I’d shoot it where it stood.
“The plumbing and the wiring are the only fings that connect to anyfing elshe.” I tried to count the empty wine bottles, because for sure, I think I shlurred a word or thoo in there.
Double Agent–hurricane heists
Double Agent
by Gretchen Archer
If you like a cozy mystery with humor weaved throughout, you’ll love Double Agent by Gretchen Archer. Davis Way works in security at Bellissimo Casino in Mississippi. In addition, she acts as a double for the owner’s wife, the entitled and rather clueless Bianca, who also expects Davis to take care of her every need. Bianca always refers to Davis as “David,” and through good writing the use of that misnomer remains funny throughout the book. Davis’ husband Bradley manages the huge casino complex, and the couple lives on site with their twin two-year-old daughters. Another source of humor is the “rules” related by one of the girls to their grandmother who is caring for them during the hurricane emergency. Bex, the dominant twin, convinces Grammy that she only eats chicken nuggets and chocolate ice cream and that Quinn’s bedtime is two hours earlier than hers.
A casino is bound to have security issues because of the cash that flows through it. Double Agent ratchets the plot up several notches as the storyline is what happens in a casino with a hurricane on its way. There are protocols for this scenario, but they don’t account for the greed and mischief that happen when Hurricane Kevin rolls into the Gulf Coast. Throw in FEMA, law enforcement, helicopters, bodies on ice, and people on unlucky floor 13 who are not all what they purport to be, and you have a very complicated murder mystery with some huge surprises. With Gretchen Archer’s writing style, you will also have a smile on your face as you devour this cozy mystery.
I would like to extend my thanks to Edelweiss and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #8 in the Davis Way Crime Caper Series, but could be read as a standalone. I have read three books in the series and, although I plan on reading the others at some point, I don’t feel like I have missed anything that has reduced my enjoyment or understanding of the individual books.
Publication: March 26, 2019—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
And it wasn’t Danielle because she couldn’t organize the world’s smallest closet. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance she’d organized what we were in the middle of.
We had no way to restrain him except at gunpoint…And given the choice of Scotch tape or guns, I’d take the guns any day, but for all we knew, Jug was packing too. It was Alabama. Everyone was packing.
Hurricane Kevin, like all severe weather, gave everyone it touched the chance to show their true colors. The best and the worst of humanity rose to the surface when forced to survive an event over which they had no control.
Double Up–witty cozy
Double Up
by Gretchen Archer
Davis Way is a former security officer and investigator for Bellissimo Casino and is currently a stay-at-home mom for twin baby girls. Blitz, Inc. buys up land in the same town for a competing casino and Davis’ home and livelihood are in jeopardy. To make it worse, Davis is convinced that it is her fault that the Bellissimo Casino is about to go under.
There are many humorous aspects to this story–both in situations and in characters. As always with books from the Davis Way Crime Caper Series, this cozy mystery is very witty with Archer frequently popping dialogue with one liners that Davis thinks, contrasting them with what she actually says. The plot moves quickly especially during the second half as extreme action kicks in. Think: explosions, auto theft, murder, decaying seafood, and dumpster diving. Two really quirky characters emerge: Bea, Davis’ ex-ex-mother-in-law, who is lacking in basic hygiene and good taste and takes physical action in her determination to set things right and “the House” which responds to voice suggestions by controlling Davis’ huge suite in a very frustrating way. All of this (and more) adds up to a fun book worth reading.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Humor, Mystery
Notes: #6 in Davis Way Crime Caper Series, but works as a standalone
Publication: March 21, 2017–Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
[Bea to Davis] “That’s one thing I like about Don Juan.” She took me into her confidence like I was her best girlfriend. “No back talking. ‘Course I don’t speak Italyish, so he could be back talking my ears off and I wouldn’t know it.”
If I’d been doing my job, I could have stopped it. Or at least slowed it down. At the bare minimum, we could have been prepared. To say I felt responsible was to say there were stars in the sky, the desert was hot, and Bill Gates had a little money in the bank.
Our daughters, who’d never known anything other than computer-generated, gender-neutral, max-volume broadcasts interrupting our lives via seventy hidden speakers followed by their parents yelling back, didn’t think a thing of it. One day they’d realize they lived in the world’s only home that spontaneously shrieked and yelled and demanded an explanation, but for now, they mostly hollered along. (“Aaagaah!” and “Gaahaah!”)
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