Aloha Alibi by Jasmine Webb Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Series: Charlotte Gibson Mysteries #1
Published by Blueberry Books Press on January 31, 2023 (First published June 8, 2021)
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 13 mins
Pages: 272
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Most people flee to Hawaii for gorgeous weather, white-sand beaches, and cocktails at sunset. Charlotte Gibson, however, is fleeing for her life after a vengeful mobster leaves a severed finger on her doorstep as a warning. Message very much received.
That’s how Charlotte—Charlie to everyone except her mom— finds herself on Maui with six dollars to her name, living with a mother who can’t stop giving her advice on how to land herself a husband. But when a businessman is murdered and his company offers a reward to whoever finds the killer, Charlie sees an opportunity: with that kind of cash, she could afford her own place and start a new life here away from the people who want her dead. After all, how hard can hunting down a murderer be?
Teaming up with a couple of old ladies with more spunk than Betty White, Charlie is sure she’s on the right track to snag the reward money. However, the infuriating-but-smoldering-hot cop trying to keep her away from his case has other ideas. Throw in a day job at an ice cream shop, corrupt local politicians, and a best friend trying to act as the voice of reason, and Charlie has her work cut out for her.
Will she be able to find the killer, or is Charlie’s time in paradise going to go straight to hell in a handbasket?
I was surprised by how fun this one was. Charlie is in her late 20’s and doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. At the beginning of the books, she is working as a clerk at a jewelry store, but that job doesn’t end well. Now she’s back home in Maui, living with her mother and working at an ice cream shop. Her new plan is to collect the $100,000 reward for solving the murder of a high-powered developer, whose last stop before his death was Charlie’s ice cream shop.
Rosie and Dot are two senior citizens who are also looking for the murderer and when they end up chasing the same clues, they decide to team up. Jake, hot cop, is not happy when they seem to be one step ahead of him and his partner.
Charlie and her friends, including Dot and Rosie, are fun and also the type to attract trouble. The women are all intelligent, brave, and resourceful, but get themselves in ridiculous situations.
Maui Murder by Jasmine Webb Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Series: Charlotte Gibson Mysteries #2
Published by Blueberry Books Press on January 31, 2023 (First published June 7, 2021)
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 4 mins
Pages: 268
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Charlie finally feels like she’s got a bit of breathing room. She’s flush with cash, she and Zoe are moving into a snazzy new apartment, and she’s riding the wave of having solved a murder a few weeks earlier. But when a local woman is murdered and her family hires Charlie to find the killer, she finds herself embroiled in yet another investigation.
However, what Charlie initially thinks might be an easy solve quickly finds her mired in Maui’s seedy underworld, with a victim who led a double life. Finding herself dealing with a suspect list longer than a CVS receipt, Charlie enlists the help of Dot and Rosie to narrow down that list and get a lead on the real killer.
But between Jake trying to keep her out of the investigation, new neighbors who make Ozzy Osbourne look normal, and an attempted robbery at her day job, Charlie quickly finds she’s got her hands full once again. And to make matters worse, as Charlie gets closer to solving the crime, she realizes the killer has another target in mind: her.
Can Charlie bring another killer to justice before she’s turned into shark bait?
This time around, Charlie is hired by a tech billionaire when his daughter is murdered. She takes the job and, along with Rosie and Dot, starts digging around. Turns out the dead woman was not as clean cut and happy with her position in the company as her dad thought. Once again, Rosie and Dot are a hoot and more than able to take care of themselves. These books do a great job of being funny and legitimately tense mysteries. I listened to the audios and the narrator does a fabulous job maintaining the tone of the books and differentiating the various characters.
Beachside Bullet by Jasmine Webb Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Series: Charlotte Gibson Mysteries #3
Published by Blueberry Books Press on January 31, 2023 (first published November 30, 2021)
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 5 hrs 58 mins
Pages: 292
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Charlie is taking the plunge to become a private investigator, and her first official case is a doozy. When three of Zoe’s coworkers are shot in a brazen mid-day attack, Charlie is initially content to let the police deal with it. But when it becomes obvious the detective in charge has the IQ of a box of crayons, she decides to step in to ensure the killer is found.
What appears at first glance to be a random attack quickly becomes more than that, and before she knows it Charlie finds herself scouring the island for a murderer, with the help of Dot and Rosie, of course.
In case hunting down a shooter wasn’t enough, Charlie quickly nets herself another customer in the form of her eight-year-old neighbor. And of course, Charlie isn’t expecting Jake to take the news of her new career very well. Luckily, Charlie isn’t especially worried about his opinion, especially when she has so much on her plate.
Is Charlie about to make a splash in her new career, or will she quickly find herself drowning, instead?
A few of the scenes in Beachside Bullet are laugh out loud funny, even if the case itself is tragic. Charlie’s best friend/roommate, Zoe, is with co-workers at the beach when three of them are shot. Two die from their injuries. Charlie, of course, can’t help but look into the case, especially when she, unlike the polices, doesn’t believe it was a random shooting. We get to see more of Jake in this one and I like the interactions between him and Charlie.
About Jasmine Webb
Jasmine Webb is a thirty-something who lives in the mountains most of the year, dreaming of the beach. When she’s not writing stories you can find her chasing her old dog around or hiking up moderately-sized hills.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges: