Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

If you’re like me, you read the title Death and the Redheaded Woman and immediately thought “death”, as in dying. Well, yes, of course; and the book does indeed leap out of the starting gate with Wren’s discovery of a naked man at the bottom of a staircase. But “Death” also stands for Death Bogart, the other main character in this engaging new series. In his case, as in Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey’s before him, Death is a family name, and rhymes with “teeth.” (Good luck reading it that way; it takes practice.)

I wasn’t expecting Death to become not only a main character equal to Wren, but the dominant puzzle-solver, yet the partnership works well. Wren is coming off a broken engagement; Death is a veteran of the Afghanistan war, with both PTSD and a physical disability – both of which author Loretta Ross handles well and believably. They are both flawed but likeable characters, and I hope their relationship continues to develop as the series goes on.

I also wasn’t expecting the amount of humor the author infuses into the story, without ever losing the edge of suspense. Somehow she manages to make the villain(s) frightening and laughable at the same time. And she completely snowed me on the murderer for a while. I went with the obvious “unobvious suspect”, thinking I was dealing with a typical cozy-style mystery, and even after several developments, I continued to think that person was involved – until events proved otherwise. Kudos to Ms. Ross; I’m not usually that easy to fool!

The book starts with a figurative bang, and it ends that way, too, with a bombshell that I suspect presages the focus of the second book. It’s not a cliffhanger ending; everything from the current mystery is sorted out. Rather, it’s like those epilogues that end with “To be continued…”, a built-in teaser for the next book.

Death and the Redheaded Woman fits my definition of a cozy, yet it’s a bit grittier and more realistic than many cozies. And while the series is called the Auction Block Mysteries, and the auction theme is prevalent – Wren is an assistant auctioneer, after all, and the mystery centers around a mansion she is prepping for an auction sale – the theme never feels contrived or forced, as in some cozy series. The book certainly doesn’t read like a debut novel, but it is. Altogether, I found Death and the Redheaded Woman a breath of fresh air, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next book.


FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are entirely my own.

Picked this one up from the library on a whim. Was a cute book though disjointed at times. And I was surprised that Death ("Deeth") Bogart, bounty hunter/PI, featured more than the titular character, Wren Morgan, auctioneer.
Wren stumbles on a dead man in the opening chapter, a man who Death immediately recognizes as a man integral to another case. He wasn't working on it, but it promises to be a big reward, one that he desperately needs. I really like making Death a former soldier and current hero. I also liked that he was on hard times. Makes for a more interesting story for sure.

DNF: 25%

This book was ridiculous. Who finds a naked dead guy and thinks, "Oh what a waste, he was gorgeous."? The main character isn't a police officer, mortician, funeral director, ect... She shouldn't have that kind of reaction to finding a dead body! Then she's attacked in her own home and suggests using her atlatl on the culprit. Ummm... I'm sorry I don't even know how to react to that suggestion. This book was just one gigantic hot mess.

This new cozy mystery is a little sexier and edgier than most of its contemporaries, which helps to make it a fresh take on the genre. Based on the ending, I'm guessing we'll be seeing more from these characters, and readers who are tiring of the same-old cozies may find something new to enjoy in this. Review copy provided by Netgalley.

I don't necessarily want to be Wren but I definitely want to be friends with her. She's so nice and kind with a good sense of humor. She's the type of person who would not only bring you soup if you were home with the flu but clean your house and bake you some brownies. And don't even get me started about Death (pronounced Deeth). He's amazing. A big burly marine who suddenly finds himself disabled and not as strong as he expects himself to be. But he's so nice and so sweet to Wren. Really they're just amazing together. But this isn't a romance this is a mystery and it starts out with a dead guy. The mystery is interesting and involves 2 sets of missing jewels. It definitely kept me turning pages but because I absolutely loved these characters and to figure out what was going on. While this is a cozy I didn't find it cutesy or silly. The pacing was good, the characters were fantastic and the ending tied up all the loose ends and made sense! Not only that but it made me laugh.
Overall:This was a fun an interesting mystery with great characters, an interesting premise and centering around an auction house and a bounty hunter which is both unusual and gives a logical reason for investigating.

Full Review: http://iwishilivedinalibrary.blogspot.com/2015/02/death-and-redheaded-woman-review.html

Fun and entertaining.

I loved everything about this book! Pretty sure this will be a new favourite series.

The story starts right away with the dead body being discovered by our MC Wren in the first few pages. The pace whips right along from the very beginning and keeps the reader fully engaged from first page to last.

I loved the character of Wren. She's smart and funny, resourceful but kind. I felt like Wren and I could be great friends.

Then there's Death Bogart [pronounced Deeth] the former soldier turned bounty hunter who shows up just in time to run into Wren at the police station where they are both interested and liking what the see in each other. The rest as they say, is history.

This book has some romance but it's mostly focused on solving the murder and the historical mystery that is involved. If you don't like or don't care about romance with cozies then you should enjoy this.

The story is well-written and interesting. I liked that there was a historical aspect to the mystery, and the auction component was also unique for a cozy "hook".

There's lot's of humour and snappy repartee in this book, and I especially loved that! For example, after finding a man's naked dead body in the home she's going to appraise for auction, Wren persists in calling the room where the body was discovered "the naked dead guy room" throughout the rest of the book. I smiled and even laughed out loud numerous times while listening to this [I read this in audiobook format] and the narrator was excellent - really bringing all the characters to life.

I am very excited to read others in this series, and am hoping I've found a new favourite cozy mystery series. If the other books are as terrific as this one was, I think I'll be hooked.

Alternated between amusing and annoying, bland and heartfelt. Forgettable.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

This book is just amazing! When a book starts out with

He was gorgeous and he was naked but, unfortunately, he was dead.

you sit up and pay attention because you have not idea where this story is going to take you. But I quickly knew this was going to be an extremely entertaining read.

Wren Morgan is an assistant auctioneer. She arrived at the Campbell Victorian to start an inventory of the oldest house in the county for an upcoming auction. Barely in the door she finds the dead body, something tells her this auction won’t be taking place anytime soon.

Death (Dee-th) “it’s a family name” Bogart, a private eye/bounty hunter has just arrived in town chasing down a bail jumper. Death is also a veteran, who had to leave the military for health reasons. The government is taking its good sweet time processing his military benefits so he is presently living in his Jeep Grand Cherokee. He arrives at the police station to drop off his detainee and sees Wren across the room and is immediately captivated.

The relationship that has begun between Death and Wren was a pleasure to read as they quickly grew comfortable with each other. Death has been through so much and Wren opens her heart to him. Like many war vets he not only has a physical disability, he also suffers with PTSD. His self esteem is pretty darn low and he has a hard time accepting help. Wren knows to tread lightly and allow Death to share things with her at his own pace. She too has a bit of drama in her past and he knows she needs someone to help her get on with her life and someone she can trust. Ross was written both characters in a way that you become engaged into their lives and what they are feeling pretty rapidly.

The main mystery plot of the story is excellent. We are not only following clues to solve a murder but there are some valuable items that have gone missing and there may be a tie in to some objects that disappeared back during the Civil War. The “aha moment” was absolutely priceless and something I never saw coming.

Loretta Ross has a fantastic sense of humor and liberally injects into this story. I was smiling and giggling throughout.

The author also knows how to tempt us readers. As this story wraps up she give us just a bit of a tease of the next Auction Block Mystery.

To learn this is Loretta Ross’ debut novel just blows my mind. I don’t need an appraisal to tell you this is an author we need to watch! She is going places! I am completely SOLD!!