Title: Bird of Prey and The Plot Thickens
Author: Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Who killed the infamous Johanna Cartier? Sémya Slotin is thrown back in the business of solving mysteries when she found her body. With the help of her best friend Polliannah Koch, DCI Ally Gibbons and the mysterious but extremely sexy Josh Heinz, she vows to see this through.
This was supposed to be an easy case…
Sémya Slotin had spent the last three years living in London with her best friend Polliannah Koch staying away from solving cases. After Hawaii, she was taking a break from puzzles, cases and mysteries that could potentially get her killed. Instead, she had been doing her second and third favorite things, drinking and selling expensive vintage wines and having earth-shattering sex with the mysterious, sexy, beautiful but ever so secretive Josh Heinz. Life in London was good….until her funds ran out. Too much wine drinking, not enough wine selling!
When fashion designer and adoptive mother, Annika Slotin, summoned her back to Paris to hire her for what Sémya considered being the easiest case of her amateur sleuth career, all she could think of and see was money signs and a well-deserved Cuban holiday once it was solved.
What Sémya didn’t see was her stumbling on the fresh corpse of supermodel Johanna Cartier. She didn’t think that male model turned fashion designer Julian Marais-Caldwin, who also happened to be Sémya’s ex, would be suspected of brutally murdering her. Johanna was his girlfriend, his muse and he loved her. Sémya didn’t see the dead bodies piling up or the conspiracy theories.
Sémya was a little rusty. But then again, it was supposed to be an easy case and she was going to solve it. One vintage wine at a time… Sémya Slotin was officially back in business!
In Bird of Prey, Sémya Slotin has to make end meets after living like a king for the last few years, selling expensive wines with her best friend Polliannah – or Polli, if you like to keep it short. With the two of them almost running out of money, Sémya accepts a job from her mother, even though she wants nothing to do with the woman. The job involves corporate espionage: Sémya has to check out some design sketches by a competitor’s fashion house owned by Julian, Sémyas ex-boyfriend. But when Sémya runs into Julian’s new girlfriend, Johanna Cartier, she knows the woman is hiding something.
A few days later, Sémya stumbles upon Johanna’s corpse. The cops point to Julian, but Sémya is convinced he didn’t do it. Desperate to prove his innocence, she starts investigating the case herself, but for every stone she turns, she uncovers one more secrets. Some people weren’t who she thought they were at all, and this case may have sounded easy at first, but it’s anything but.
Sémya was an okay character. She was a bit arrogant at times, but apart from that, she sounded like a fun person to be around. I liked how she put everything on the line to save her friend (and ex-boyfriend, Julian), while at the same time she did everything she could to stay close to her current boyfriend, Josh. Her life definitely wasn’t easy. My second favorite character was Polli. She was fun, laid back, and relaxed, but also quite brave.
The writing was good. It didn’t venture off into endless descriptions, but instead told the reader the story in an easy, laid back way. It kept things simple whereas the mystery was anything but simple. The plot was pretty good, and it took me about as long as it took Sémya to crack the mystery.
In The Plot Thickens, a novella that is set during the story of Bird of Prey, the main character is Polli. The novella focuses on Polli’s relationship with John Allen, who she believes is her very own Prince Charming. Unfortunately reality is no fairytale, and John may not be who he seems after all. He has his own agenda, which is quite dark – I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s quite a bit darker than what we saw in Bird of Prey – and to accomplish his goal, he needs to get close to Polli. Little does he know that by trying to get her to fall for him, he might fall for her as well.
I actually enjoyed The Plot Thickens more than the first book. It was overall a bit darker, and I don’t mind my mysteries dark and suspenseful. Bird of Prey was a tad lighter. Even though a murder mystery, it still took place in the world of fashion and drama. Both books were solid reads though, and when read together, they make a great start to a new mystery series.
Thank you for the lovely reviews 🙂