A little to busy

I have always loved this authors work but this book had too much going on for me with multiple story lines. I had a hard time staying focused. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Awesome Story

Lauren Carr has outdone herself with Crimes Past. I love the characters of Mac Faraday and Gnarly. I read this book before I listened to it, and found both versions to be wonderful. Mike Alger did a great performance with this book. He has distinguished voices for the various characters, and delivers the humor in a wonderful manner. This book fits its title with bringing to light a cold case from 16 years ago. I loved how the author brought suspects to light and then eliminated them. I had not guessed who the real killer was! This book is both a standalone listen and part of a series. Besides the cold case in this story, there are several other stories going on that entwine to make this one full book. Having characters from other series by this author also is a huge plus, as they are all related to law enforcement and have endearing characteristics. I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily written this review. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator.

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Loved it

Crimes Past (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 13) by Lauren Carr was a great audio book. I recently took a car trip and I listened to this audiobook during the entire drive! The narration was top notch and the story was even better than the last one in the series! I really liked that the cold case Mac dived into for this one came from the family of one of his former homicide squad members. It was cool getting to read about Mac's former squadmates and I love the dynamics that came with it!

Great Book!

Lauren Carr is a great mystery writer. Her characters are interesting. She brings the characters to life with complicated storylines. This book brings together familiar and new characters with several plots entwined into a wonderful mystery. I have read all the books in the Mac Faraday series, and each one is better than the last. Unfortunately, I can not say I agree with other reviews about the narrator. Mike Alger does well with most of the males voices, but he has trouble with female voices. All the women sound like they are old ladies, no matter their age. I buy Ms Carr’s audible books because I love her stories, but this narrator makes me cringe every time I hear a supposedly female voice.

great mystery series

So here's the deal. I do not understand why Lauren Carr isn't among the most successful and famous mystery writers. If you think that is too big of a statement, let me explain. Crimes Past has everything you could want in a crime mystery that still left me feeling good. I read a lot of mystery books, especially James Patterson. After reading more than four books by Lauren Carr, I can offically say that I like her better. The reason is simple: her books entertain me while giving me good feelings.

In this installment, we meet up with Mac Faraday and his wife Archie, and let's not forget the true star of this series, Gnarly. Could this dog be any cuter? Beyond being an amazing canine with remarkable skills, he provides the perfect amount of comic relief. He also happens to instigate a lot of the drama. If there was a Gnarly fab club, I would be his president.

I think what I like best about Lauren Carr's books are the levels. Each book has plots and subplots. Mysteries layered upon mysteries to the point that you aren't sure if the clue you just got is for one story or the other. So, you have to stay on your toes for the entire book. Which is perfectly fine, because you are so interested and invested in the characters that you can't put the book down anyway.

If you read this book, I promise you will like all of the plots and the characters. While reading this book, I found myself feeling like I was surprised but also not. Everything made perfect sense while also being unpredictable. Crimes Past is just an all around awesome reading experience.

Another Great Addition to the Mac Faraday Series

Mac Faraday has invited all of his old police buddies to come to the Spencer Manor for the wedding of the daughter of a late colleague. But there is more to this story than just Mac opening his wallet for the wedding. The brides own mother was murdered on the day of her wedding too. It is a sixteen year old cold case that Mac wants to close and what better way to bring all the suspects back together.

This story has a lot happening as Mac tries to uncover who really killed the original bride. Then the suspects start being murdered too. He has to be quick or he is going to be the next one dead as secrets are coming to light. The suspects seem to keep going around in the same circle of who could have done it punctuated by the death of suspects.

Of course the wedding is not the only excitement. David learns that an old flame is back in town. She wants to get back together with him but she has one heck of a surprise to throw at David. I loved this twist. It’s not what David expected but he took to it well.

I loved Mayor Gnarly in this story, although I need to catch up on the book in which he got elected. I missed that one. I love the whole drama with his book. I couldn’t help but laugh each time it was brought up.

Now I do have to say that I didn’t get into this story as much as others. There was so much happening that I got a little confused with the story. It didn’t help that a couple people had names that sounded the same which confused me. I’m sure reading the book would have cleared this up but I was listening to the audiobook.

I really enjoyed this book and still recommend checking out the Mac Faraday series on audiobook. Mike Alger does an amazing job narrating this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

Another Hit for Lauren Carr!

It’s always such a treat when Mac Faraday returns in his series. Along with Archie, David, and Gnarly of course.

This time around the wedding of a young woman may result in solving the murder of her mother and her new husband many years before. Mac had promised the young girl he would solve the murder back then, but it remains unsolved. With many of the same guests in attendance for this one, will new clues turn up?

The mystery is complex (as always), the characters charming (like good friends), and the humor (keeps you smiling) included make for a wonderful way to spend some time. Mike Alger’s narration adds to the listen. Since I didn’t want to stop ‘reading’ it was a plus to have the audio version. Love to continue with the story even while I have other things to do.

If you haven’t read Lauren Carr, start here. You will so enjoy the creative mysteries!

Harkens back to the classics

Note: While this is #13 in the Mac Faraday series, it works fine as a stand alone novel.

Mac Faraday is back in excellent style! This story captures all the thing I like about this series. Faraday has an old case that has haunted him, but also has new dead bodies to investigate. There’s a lot of great characters, and some humor too. Plus there’s Gnarly, my favorite doggie sleuth.

The plot itself was fun. An old case of two dead cops continues to bother Faraday to present day. A wedding (Gina is the daughter of one of the cold case dead cops) is just days away and all the people who were present for the old case will be on scene to wish the bride and groom a happy marriage. Amidst all the last minute preparations, Faraday starts hunting around for new and lost clues on the old case. Alas, he soon has to switch his attentions to the new case involving a dead friend. The plot made me think of those Agatha Christie books where the crime solver gets all the suspects into 1 room at the end of the story to do the big reveal. Lots of tension, lots of motives, more than one crime going on.

Gnarly himself has his own mystery to solve, with the help of his humans of course. There’s a pesky neighbor who has it in for, well, anyone. She’s a hateful person. But perhaps there’s more than a little dog hate going on in that house and Gnarly is determined to bring the truth to light. Quite frankly, she reminds me of a neighbor we once had here in real life and it was a little vicarious of me to take so much delight in this character’s downfall.

Speaking of characters, the extended Faraday clan has a new and unexpected member. I wonder what Carr will do with this person (Gabriel) in the future. I know it’s turned one parent’s life on their ear, giving them some new perspective. Then there’s David’s new dog, Storm, who doesn’t act very dog like in general (which gave me a laugh).

The pool of suspects had all sorts of characters. Some of them were quite angry and rather dislikeable but others were sweet as pie. Yet all had something to hide or feel at least a little guilty over. The ending had a few little twists I wasn’t expecting. The story kept me engaged the entire time. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Mike Alger gives a great performance as Mac Faraday. It’s like visiting an old friend when I listen to his narration of this series. I like his voices for David, and this teen age boy, and one of Mac’s old friends (Louis Gannon). His female voices are feminine but he has a limited number of female voices, so they are quickly recycled in a book such as this that has many ladies. His pacing is perfect & there are no technical issues with the recording. 4.5/5 stars.

This will keep you guessing

Crimes Past
Mac Faraday Mystery #13
By Lauren Carr
Read by Mike Alger

For 16 years Mac Faraday has been haunted by a case that hit close to home - two officers were brutally slain just hours after their marriage. And the wedding reception that was waiting for them was full of police officers.

Mac made a promise to Gina, the daughter of the bride to solve the murder that took her mother from her. But time has passed and the case has grown cold but it has never been far from Mac's mind. With Gina now getting married Mac is determined to solve the case and has set the stage for all the suspects to gather together at the Spencer Inn for all the wedding festivities.

But this is Spenser and nothing is ever simple and in addition to working the cold case, Mac also has to worry about the threats that Spenser's newest dog hater has made against the mayor. Yes, Gnarly is still mayor and he is celebrating a book release, in addition to the stealth attacks made by the cat-loving fiend next door.

And then there is Mac's half-brother David who is Spenser's chief of police who has his own personal issues going on. And as usual, they are matters of the heart with David once again dealing with the past and the choices he has made.

Rest and relaxation - not too likely at Spenser Mountain.

This is another well put together mystery from Lauren Carr. And Gnarly is again in his element and always a favorite! If you like a who-dun-it that you are literally kept guessing as to who is the guilty party this one will do it for you. One gets an idea but then something happens and you're again left wondering - just like Mac. And if you've read the Chris Matheson series he makes an appearance in this one.

I went the audio route with this book and the narration is well-done. Each character is presented with a different tone/pitch/accent so that it is easy to follow both the story and the dialogue.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I offer my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.

Another Terrific Lauren Carr Book!

When Mac Faraday hosts a former colleague’s daughter’s wedding at the Spencer Inn, it’s not just because he’s being nice to Gina. For sixteen years, he’s been frustrated with his inability to solve the murder of Gina’s mother and her new husband on their wedding day, back when Mac was a homicide detective. Now, many of the same cops are gathered again and Mac hopes to ferret out the killer, most certainly one of his former colleagues.

Meanwhile, Mac’s German shepherd, Gnarly (who happens to be the mayor of Spencer) has apparently murdered one of the feral cats who lives next door and Mac has asked his brother, police chief David O’Callaghan, to get rid of the body before the crazy cat lady carries out her threats against Gnarly. It seems the woman hates Gnarly with a passion but David’s desk sergeant, Tonya, is on the case and soon sees what she believes is a murder…and the cat’s body is missing.

David’s long lost love, Hope, who happens to be in the military, has shown up with her fifteen-year-old son, the irrepressible Gabriel, in tow. Gabriel is quite sure not having a license shouldn’t stand in the way of driving a flashy Porsche and he’s surprisingly comfortable around all these former and current detectives, not so comfortable getting dressed up for a wedding.

So, there’s a lot going on in this story and, with her usual panache, Lauren Carr blends the grittiness of murder(s) with a good deal of humor, the latter revolving largely around Gnarly and David’s Belgian shepherd, Storm, who would much rather be couch potato-ing than anything involving exertion. Tonya also brings a certain levity to her determination to out a murdering fiend and Gabriel is a hoot. Still, the murders from the past are serious business and there may very well be more during this special occasion; every time I thought I had pegged the killer, Ms. Carr threw me off track and I would head off in another direction.

I’ve skipped around quite a bit in this series but that’s never kept me from loving each book I’ve read. I think it’s time I catch up on a few of the previous books and I’ll be doing audiobooks again because Mike Alger is absolutely perfect in his narration with a plethora of voices and great pacing.