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Deadly Deadline

Last Word and Testament

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About this listen

Gracie Michaels owns a publishing company in Hollywood. She specializes in publishing the manuscripts of recently deceased authors. Sometimes getting their projects to the finish line can be murder.

Annie Forsberg met her soulmate online. When he’s killed in a plane crash, she inherits his unfinished book. But what Scott wrote will put her own life - and Gracie’s - in jeopardy.

Murder in Profile is the first book in Kay Hartford's Last Word and Testament series.

©2018 Kay Hartford (P)2018 Kay Hartford Cosy Detective Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction Crime Murder Suspense
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Murder in Profile is the first in a new series and, as such, ably introduced the main characters as well as telling a good story. Claire is a very small time publisher who specialises in books whose authors who have died before their writings have made it into the world. She is assisted by her close friend and former husband, Ed, anyone edits, tidies and often rewrites parts of the selected volumes. She also has other people to call on for help including a lawyer and an investigator to help ease the legal difficulties which frequently arrise in the process. One manuscript Claire is keen to publish when copyright can be sorted comes from a young, rather naive woman named Annie. The book, in the form of a journal, had belonged to Scott, a man she met on Facebook. Their relationship was steadily strengthening until she was told of his unexpected death in a plane crash and the police forwarded his belongings, including the journal, to her as next of kin. On reading it, she had found that Scott was not the person she had believed him to be...

The book is written in the first person, told by Claire, the publisher. It is offer a mistake for an author to read their own work but this is not so for author Kay Hartford, whose slightly husky voice perfectly conjures up the persona of the hard working, dedicated publisher, who has to balance firmness with tact. With a steady delivery and good intonation, Ms.Hartford tells her story directly to the reader without attempting to replicate other character voices, in the same way that someone would do in real life. It works well.

Nicely written with good characterisation and story, including three very minor sub plots with other potential clients, there is a glimpse into the workings behind a small publishing company and even of the film world which feels authentic. The story also carries an inherent warning about the dangers of social media. My thanks to the rights holder of Murder in Profile who, at my request, freely gifted me a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. It was an enjoyable, involving read and I very much look forward to book two.

Gotta love a happy ending

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