My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis

My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis
Narrator: Matt Godfrey
Series: Jarrod Jarvis Mystery #1
Published by Tantor Audio on May 27, 2025
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hrs 11 mins
Pages: 288
Format: Audiobook
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With a wryly witty and assured voice and a vastly entertaining cast of characters, Lee Hollis puts a modern slant on the classic murder mystery as a father-daughter sleuthing duo are drawn into a case close to home . . .

You never forget your first corpse. For former child star Jarrod Jarvis, that discovery was twenty-plus years ago, and a lot has happened since he solved a string of real-life Hollywood murders. Now Jarrod lives in Palm Springs where he writes and directs local theatre, while quietly grieving the loss of his partner, police detective Charlie.

Jarrod hasn’t disclosed much about his sleuthing past to his daughter, Liv, who just earned a degree in criminal justice. There’s been distance between them since Charlie’s death, and Jarrod’s unsure how to bridge the gap. Liv, meanwhile, has put her career on hold in order to help her filmmaker boyfriend, Zel. His new documentary idea is to track down the surrogate who gave birth to Liv. Skeptical and annoyed by Zel’s pressure tactics, Liv goes to confront him at his apartment. But there’s no need to break things off—because someone has bludgeoned Zel to death.

Jarrod rushes to Liv’s aid, surprising his daughter with his ease around a crime scene, firing off questions like a modern-day Columbo with better hair and wardrobe. Another shock is quite how many people had motive to finish Zel off—including a Russian film professor, a former First Lady, and a sexy Secret Service agent. Together, Liv and Jarrod comb for clues across the sun-drenched Coachella valley, growing close again. But while there’s nothing like murder to bring a family together, this father-daughter reunion may be short-lived as long as a killer is on the loose . . .

Apparently this book is a spin off of Rick Copp’s Actor’s Guide mysteries from 20-ish years ago, which I never read. Then, Jarrod was a former child actor trying to make a comeback, living with his LAPD cop boyfriend, Charlie, and solving murders. Now, he’s given up on acting and writes and directs plays. He’s still grieving over Charlie, who died ten years ago, and has an adult daughter, Liv, who has just found her boyfriend’s dead body in his film studio.

I listened to the audiobook and I don’t know if it was the writing or the narrator or just how much set up there was before the murder, but it took me a while to get into the story. It felt awkward, there was something annoying that I just couldn’t put my finger on. But once the story got moving, it held my attention well.

Jarrod and Liv have plenty of suspects, including a pair of half-siblings Liv met thanks to the, now dead, boyfriend’s idea of doing a film based on her surrogate mother. I like their interactions and they felt real. There has been a bit of a gulf between them that’s developed since Charlie’s death and this case is helping them work their ways back to each other. I loved the addition of Brody, Liv’s uncle/Charlie’s brother, a former professional wrestler who is living in Jarrod’s casita while between jobs. He’s Jarrod and Liv’s muscle, but truly cares about both of them and adds a bit of levity. I also like Jarrod’s slightly eccentric friends, an older gay couple and a former first lady – they seem very stereotypical Palm Springs in a good way. And he has a cat, so it fills all the cozy mystery boxes.

This is a fun mystery. There are a couple of twists and turns and unfounded suspicions, but the characters work a bit better than the solution does.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 52 Books in 52 Weeks 2025
• Audiobook Challenge 2025
• Cloak and Dagger 2025