Review of Murder Can Be Fatal

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Bertha Jackson
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Review of Murder Can Be Fatal

Post by Bertha Jackson »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Murder Can Be Fatal" by Kevin Scott Allen.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Murder Can Be Fatal: An Igg Downs Mystery by Kevin Scott Allen is a crime thriller that focuses on the activities of Private Investigator Ignacio Pius Downs (Igg) Downs. Igg is a down-and-out detective who has hit rock bottom. His cases revolved around finding lost pets, spying on spouses, and finding items children had stolen from their wealthy parents to support their drug habits. Jake is a homicide detective who has a vendetta against Igg because he slept with his wife, who had left him because of his abuse. Sixteen-year-old Frankie goes to Igg to get help to locate her Uncle Carlos, who had come to the United States to pick her up and take her back to Mexico to get her away from the gang life. Igg and Frankie find her uncle in the King Hotel, dead with his wrists sliced. Igg and Frankie do not believe it was suicide. Was it a suicide? Or was Carlos murdered?

Kevin Scott Allen has done a fantastic job with the plot's development and incorporating humor throughout the book with sentences like "If it quacks like a duck then bring on the orange sauce." There is also humor within the development of characters, with the author giving them names like Officer Watanabe and Irma, the Weiner lady. These types of humor took away from the tension I felt while reading about police corruption, abuse, drug trafficking, sexual harassment, police brutality, racism, and murder. The excellent character development made it easy for me to visualize the different characters because the author provided detailed information about them. The author has also included many life lessons within the narrative. One of my favorites was that we need to know our limitations and fight only the battles we know we can win.

The only negative aspect I encountered in this book is the lack of professional editing. This book has a plethora of errors, including missing, wrong, and extra words, to name a few. These mistakes did not distract from my reading pleasure.

Due to the lack of professional editing, I have no choice but to give this book 3 out of 4 stars. If a professional editor had edited the book, I would have given it four stars. It is an excellent book with a fast pace and short chapters that keep the plot flowing smoothly.

Mature adults who enjoy crime thrillers are the targeted audience I would recommend this book to. I do not recommend it to teenage readers due to the book's gory content and non-borderline profanity. If these types of content offend you, you may want to avoid this book because they are abundant.

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Murder Can Be Fatal
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Shelby Ayres
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Post by Shelby Ayres »

I love crime thrillers though the lack of professional editing is slightly off-putting. I do hope that the errors get fixed. Great review!
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Amy Luman
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Post by Amy Luman »

This one sounds so good. Using humor in these kinds of situations usually proves too difficult. I'm glad Mr. Allen could pull it off.
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Eze Michael
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Post by Eze Michael »

The plot of this book doesn't seem to be a simple one. Jack has an issue with Igg, and I'm suspecting him for the murder of Carlos, but I cannot say for sure. I'd love to read this book. Thanks for your honest review.
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Post by NetMassimo »

This seems like an engaging crime thriller that addresses some serious issues, so I hope the author does proper proofreading to make it excellent. Thank you for your great review!
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Massimo
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