Angel Food and Devil Dogs by Liz Bradbury

Ex police officer Maggie Gale has started up her own Private detective business. She is currently investigating a case on behalf of her sister Sara, a lawyer. Childlike Mickey Murphy, has been accused of murder. A murder both Sara and her law partner Emma are sure he didn’t commit.

When Maggie receives a phone call from the President of Irwin College, Max Bouchet, she finds herself with two cases to solve. Max needs Maggie to investigate the apparent suicide of blind music professor, Carl Rasmus.

Once Maggie begins her investigation, a spree of murder, attempted murder and injuries begins to mount up. Maggie has no idea in the beginning if a murder has been committed and if it has, who the murderer is likely to be. It soon becomes apparent though that Carl was murdered. There are several likely suspects.

It’s during the course of her investigation that Maggie meets Doctor Kathryn Anthony, known to her students as the Ice Queen. Maggie is fascinated and greatly attracted to Kathryn. It’s just as well that Kathryn is not a suspect and has a cast iron alibi for the time of Carl’s murder and other nasty happenings.

Maggie and Kathryn soon become lovers. Together they begin to unravel the mystery surrounding Carl’s death and other events. But Maggie has been totally looking at the wrong person as a suspect. Could Maggie become the next victim? Will Maggie discover the blunder she’s made in time to save her life or that of others?

This is Maggie Gale’s first outing as a private detective and what an outing it is. This book is superb and wonderfully well written. Full of mystery, intrigue and a real page turner right the way through. I simply couldn’t put this book down once I’d started it. So, be warned, allow a whole day of leisure to read it.

I love the characters, Maggie and Kathryn. They are backed up by a strong cast of characters each playing their parts to perfection to progress the story forward to it’s climatic conclusion. The book is full of twists and turns along the way. Just when I thought I knew who the perpetrator was, so I found that I was wrong. I’m usually quite good at guessing, but I didn’t see the ending at all until right at the last minute.

Although there are lots of different characters in this book, I didn’t find it hard to keep up with them or get confused. Liz Bradbury has a great way of writing the dialogue so that I knew at all times what was happening and who was speaking. From the descriptive dialogue, it was easy to fall right in to the story and visualize myself amongst the characters as the story unfolded.

The book mainly focuses on the murder of Carl Rasmus, but along the way, Maggie does find time to solve the case against Mickey Murphy.

Even though this book is a mystery, there is a nice slow burning romance amid all the grim occurrences. This lightens up the tone of the book, plus adds a nice touch of humor throughout too. As the passion heats up, the book almost ignites. So, yes, it’s hot too. An added bonus.

I’m very much looking forward to reading the next in this series. Fortunately, I already have the book, so no waiting.