Reviews

A Routine Infidelity by Elizabeth Coleman is a delightfully entertaining crime solving caper mixed with an equally enjoyable family drama.

Edwina “Ted” Bristol is a private investigator in Melbourne where much of her work is catching cheating spouses and serving summons to the unsuspecting. Along with her miniature schnauzer sidekick, Miss Maple, she’s keen to get her teeth into some serious crime solving so when she stumbles upon an embezzling plot during routine surveillance and discovers her beloved sister, Bob, might be the target of a catfishing scam, she dives headfirst into both cases. Also, thrown into the mix are the family relationships of the Bristol clan (Ted & Bob have 7 brothers!), a long-held secret, a psychic neighbour, a spunky friend with benefits and epic Swordcraft battles – it all makes for some entertaining escapism!

In my opinion, what sets this book apart is the beautiful underlying narrative of the Bristol family and that really connected and added depth for me. Ted is a great main character, flawed and frustrating but as a reader, I was also rooting for her the whole time. My favourite characters were her sister with a heart of gold, Bob, and the clever miniature schnauzer Miss Marple was a winner!

I’ve been lucking enough to get my hands on an early copy of the next book in the series, A Dance with Murder, which is out in January. I can’t wait to revisit these characters but think I will wait to Christmas holiday to escape into the fun of Ted’s world again – it will make the perfect beach read!

glynsto's review

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

amber_nic's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

confessions_of_a_bookaholic's review against another edition

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4.0

Edwina Bristol is growing her private eye business, working mostly to catch cheating spouses and missing pets, but is craving a chance to sink her teeth in to a real crime. When she overhears one of her cheating spouses talking to his lover about embezzling millions of dollers she is sure this is her chance, and puts her all into tracking down the evidence. Has Ted bitten off more than she can chew though? With her life in danger Ted doesn't know where to turn for help.

I grabbed this from Audible as a daily deal because the blurb caught my eye, and I've been particularly enjoying cosy crime recently. This one was fun and a slightly different take, with our heroine being a private investigator. It was a nice change.

The storyline in this one is a lot of fun. As mentioned in the synopsis Ted's cases tend to focus on cheating spouses and similar things. Her methods sound a bit madcap (such as knowing all of the bin routes so that she can check her clients rubbish) but she gets results. There's plenty of humour and light heartedness to be found in these cases, and even when we get into the nitty gritty of the embezlement case the book still doesn't become too serious or dark.

Ted herself is a bit of an enigma. She's close to her sister, but distanced from her father despite having regular family catch ups. She doesn't want to settle down, keeping her friend with benefits at arms length. It's obvious there is something holding her back from developing these relationships, but it takes time to realise what is going on. This is the part of the book that is taken a little more seriously, but Coleman still manages to do this without getting things too dark and heavy.

All up I thought this was a great lighthearted and fun read. I'll be grabbing the second book, but probably keep it up my sleeve for a while until I need a pick me up listen.