{"id":401,"date":"2021-08-18T08:25:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T13:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/?p=401"},"modified":"2021-08-18T08:25:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T13:25:47","slug":"review-the-charlatan-murders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/?p=401","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Charlatan Murders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/charlatan-murders.jpg?resize=230%2C346&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-402\" width=\"230\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/charlatan-murders.jpg?w=230&amp;ssl=1 230w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/charlatan-murders.jpg?resize=199%2C300&amp;ssl=1 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">by Jennifer Berg &#8211; Elliott Bay Mysteries: Book 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Book Blurb:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seattle 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">When a wealthy matriarch dies under questionable circumstances, Inspector Michael Riggs is assigned to the high-profile case. Riggs is determined to prove himself, but the dead woman\u2019s family closes ranks, and Riggs soon learns that even his police chief expects him to fail. Refusing to let the case go cold, Riggs follows the clues to the dead woman\u2019s estranged daughter-in-law, Victoria. Victoria is an unlikely society wife who evokes strong emotions within the family. Riggs needs more time, but when a second body is found in an upscale penthouse, the chief decides to pull Riggs from the case. Racing against the clock, Riggs teams up with Victoria\u2014a gamble that could solve the case\u2014unless Victoria is the killer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>My Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This novel and this author were a great find. <em>The Charlatan Murders<\/em> is the first book in the Elliott Bay Mysteries and introduces Inspector Michael Riggs, a determined but cautious protagonist. Riggs, along with Junior Inspector Fisher, a rookie, more interested in \u201cdames\u201d that duty, run to ground the suspects in the murder of Mrs. Abbott. And then there is the family. I loved these characters with their secrets. Berg does a masterful job of unfolding the clues. The pacing worked for me, as did the intrigue. I\u2019ll be looking for the next book in this series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Buy a copy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B09BW4DJFZ?\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B09BW4DJFZ?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Charlatan Murders<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Meet Jennifer Berg:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jennifer Berg is an American mystery writer whose novels are set in the 20th Century. Her Elliott Bay Mystery series is being published by Level Best Books. This series is set in 1950s Seattle and currently features:&nbsp;<em>The Charlatan Murders, The Blue Pearl Murders,&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>The Hatbox Murders<\/em>. Jennifer is also the author of The Jazz Club Mysteries \u2013 set in San Diego during the 1940s, as well as other short stories and stand alone projects. She attends multiple author and book events each year and her first short story,&nbsp;<em>Schemes in the Dark<\/em>, was published in&nbsp;<em>California Schemin\u2019 \u2014 Bouchercon Anthology 2020<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized is-style-default\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jennifer-berg-01202047.jpg?resize=316%2C316&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-403\" width=\"316\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jennifer-berg-01202047.jpg?w=365&amp;ssl=1 365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jennifer-berg-01202047.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/terryiswriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jennifer-berg-01202047.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 316px) 100vw, 316px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jennifer is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Crime Writers Association, and a former board member of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jennifer graduated from the University of Washington and spent much of the last twenty years in Southern California. She currently lives in Bavaria, Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Visit Jennifer&#8217;s website:<a href=\"https:\/\/jenniferberg.me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> https:\/\/jenniferberg.me\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Jennifer Berg &#8211; Elliott Bay Mysteries: Book 1 Book Blurb: Seattle 1955. When a wealthy matriarch dies under questionable circumstances, Inspector Michael Riggs is assigned to the high-profile case. Riggs is determined to prove himself, but the dead woman\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/?p=401\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Review: The Charlatan Murders<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","tag-jenniferberg-levelbestbooks-netgalley-thecharlatanmurders","excerpt"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":405,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terryiswriting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}