Murder Among Friends by Linda Burson.
Emotionally and mentally, Camille Thurston has had it. She needs a much-needed rest from her job and her life in Boston. She decides she’ll find it at her brother Zachary’s home in Connecticut. Little does she know that this is just the beginning of more emotional and mental exhaustion.
A woman is reported missing and Cammy’s brother Zach and his partner, Russ Nolan, are on the case. Cammy, who has worked for a private investigator for the last three years, decides she can’t sit by idly. She becomes involved not only with the case, but with the family of the missing woman.
Review by Laura Furuta: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. This story has many characters that you are introduced to and that I loved reading about. Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2018. The story Murder Among Friends by Linda Burson is a thrilling mystery book. It is a story that constantly had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. It is a book that I didn’t want to put down until I had read the final page. It begins with Camille Thurston taking a break from her job in Boston and staying at her brother’s home. She needs to recharge mentally. When a woman is reported missing her brother and his partner begin the investigation into where she could be. Camille who works as a private investigator also finds herself drawn into the case. Will the missing woman be found? This story has many characters that you are introduced to and that I loved reading about. They are supportive of Camille and are there for her when she needs help. There are others that you come to believe have a hidden agenda. There are times when my mouth dropped open when reading what some of the characters said and did. I loved the character of Camille. She is a woman who once she starts an investigation does not give up until she finds the truth. I also enjoyed the interactions between Camille and her brother as it shows how much they care about each other. There are also some humorous interactions between her brother and his partner. This is the second book I have read by the author and have found that she writes wonderful stories with amazing characters. I look forward to reading more of her stories.
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis-Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. She heads to Connecticut to stay with her brother Zach his wife Leah and her niece and nephew who love her almost as much as she loves them. Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2018. Camille (Cammy) Thurston works for a private detective business as a private investigator, a job she has been at for three years. It was three years ago that her life was turned upside down, she was passed over for a promotion at work and the night she thought her boyfriend of three years was finally going to propose he broke up with her. It was at a bar drinking away her sorrows that she met Frank Dees the owner of the private investigation business who offered her a job.
Camille’s father and now her brother are police officers but Camille realized after graduating from the police academy that it was not for her but being a private eye was just what the doctor ordered after everything that happened to her. Now after three years of pushing herself she is emotionally and mentally ready for some time off. She heads to Connecticut to stay with her brother Zach his wife Leah and her niece and nephew who love her almost as much as she loves them.
While at Zach’s home she meets and falls in love with a little neighborhood boy Austin who can’t wait to spend time at the house playing with Cammy and the kids. Austin is dropped off each day by his father Grant Clemons in spite of the objection by Austin’s mother Paula. Paula and Grant have a very contentious marriage she is a sorry excuse for a mother and is always fighting with Grant. When Paula disappears, Cammy offers to help with Austin and after a while she and Grant become close. He has finally found a woman that makes him happy but with Paula missing their relationship is at a standstill. Either they have to wait seven years still she is declared dead or if she is dead her body has to show up, those are the only two ways that Grant and Cammy can legally marry and be together.
Grant always knew he was miserable with Paula but he didn’t realize the extent of misery that she was leveling on their son. Neither he nor Austin are sad she isn’t around and their biggest worry is that she could return. The reason that Grant never divorced her and the reason he married her in the first place are not for me to reveal but for you to find out for yourself and both reasons are worth the read.
I don’t want to give anything away in this review but I will say that there were surprises that I didn’t even see coming and I doubt anyone else would. There are also a group of Paula’s so-called friends each claiming to be her best friend who can’t stop themselves from interfering in Grant’s life, each woman with dreams of having Grant for themselves in spite of some of them being married. It is Grant’s next-door neighbor and Paula’s friend that causes a lot of trouble but another thing I am unwilling to talk about. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
Review by Bob-VINE VOICE: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. Captivating. Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2022. Ever since the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, I’ve always loved murder mysteries. I hit the jackpot with this one. It had several cases going on at the same time. This author has a real knack for creating a lot of suspense and keeping you there.
Also, as an extra bonus, who would have known romance would be thrown as well! I feel like I got a lot more than I bargained for in this book. The main mystery involves finding a missing woman. Who is it? Who did it? There are several options, but I bet you can’t figure out who did it!
I found the characters, Cammy, her brother Zach, and Grant very likable, relatable, and well developed. I found Cammy extremely likable. As a private investigator, she just couldn’t help but get involved in this mystery even though it was her law enforcement brother, Zach’s case. My heart went out too little 7-year-old Austin, a pawn in the marriage between Grant and Paula.
Wow, the twists, and turns will have you spinning. Well done Linda Burson! This is the first book I have read by this author. I see she has several more. I will have to check them out. I loved the pace of this story. Seriously, you will not want to put this one down.
Review by Beverly: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. OH, EMM GEE!!!! Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2021. OH, EMM GEE! I can’t even begin to explain how much I LOVED Murder Among Friends by Linda Burson! She creates a setting with wonderful characters, to nosey neighbors, mystery, suspense, a HUGE ending twist, and of course murder, but just how much? I guess you will have to read to find out!!!!
Grant, stuck in a marriage he was forced into, does everything he can do to deal with his wife Paula, just to be with his son. Until one day Paula disappears without a trace.
Grant, being a lawyer, knows though he didn’t do it he’s now the prime suspect. Though he’s not the only one who isn’t sad Paula is gone.
Camille, an undercover PI, takes a leave of absence from her job in Boston to stay with her brother in Connecticut. Ends up in the middle of Paula’s disappearance investigation.
I got sucked into this book, I didn’t want to put it down. I felt like the nosey neighbors watching Camille and Grant during the investigation of his wife’s disappearance.
Trust me when I say READ IT!!!
Review by Angela Packard: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. Great Romantic Mystery. Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2021. This is the first book I have read by Linda Burson, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Cammy works for a private detective and after a really hard long case, feels she needs a vacation. She heads to her brother’s house in Connecticut for the summer. Three months, turns into five. Her brother is a police officer as others had been in her family. She went to the Academy but decided that was not the way she wanted to go with her life. Cammy’s brother gets a case about the neighbor’s wife going missing. Cammy who has fallen in love with the neighbor’s little boy gets involved with the case. But is she too close? She has the neighborhood talking up a storm spending so much time with the handsome father.
There was romance and mystery and catty women. This book made me smile and giggle more than once, but it also kept me turning the pages. I will be seeking out other books by this author.
Review by Ashley: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. I didn’t see that coming! Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2021. Murder Among Friends by Linda Burson was excellent. I was expecting a thriller, but I got so much more, crime thriller mixed with romance. Murder Among Friends was well written, the characters were developed well, and the banter between the siblings was believable, it reminded me of the banter between me and my siblings. Murder Among Friends quickly caught my attention and kept me quickly turning the pages to find out what happened next. I was pleasantly surprised at some unexpected twists that I didn’t see coming. I’m generally pretty good at guessing the “twists” but I didn’t see these coming, which made it that much better. The attention to detail is great throughout the book, it really makes you feel like you are sitting right there “seeing” everything that is happening. I recommend this book to anyone who likes the thriller genre, even the romance genre, you won’t be disappointed.
Review by Ashleigh: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. This get away is the best thing that could have fallen into her lap. Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2018. Murder Among Friends by Linda Burson is a fast-paced thriller with enough suspense to steal your breath. Following the story of Camille Thurston, and her needing a break from the fast-paced life in Boston in favor of staying with her brother and his family. Needing to recharge both mentally and physically, this get away is the best thing that could have fallen into her lap. Camilla’s brother is a police detective, so when a woman is reported missing, he and his partner into where she could be and what happened to her. Camilla, who is a private investigator, feels she can offer something to the investigation, so she decides to run a concurrent investigation along with her brother. While bring pulled into this investigation, Camilla is still trying to heal herself, and working diligently to find this missing woman, she attempts to reconnect with her friends back home. But when hidden agendas and unanswered questions come to light, how will Camilla continue to find the missing woman without taking away her safety blanket of those around her. Is she strong enough to accuse those closest to her in the name of justice? As the story heats up, hot on the trail of a murderer, Camilla will have to give up everything she knows in order to find him. Burson is an old favorite of mine, so when I saw this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. If you are looking for a great read that will simultaneously take your breath away while keeping you on the edge of your seat than this is one that you need to buy today!
Review by Charlisa Wahtomy-Alba: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. First time reading this author. Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2021. Camille is looking to take a break from her highly stressful PI job and decides to stay with her brother and his family. He had been trying to get her to live with his family for years and she is finally ready to take him up on his offer. When a neighbor goes missing her brother and his partner take on the case. She can’t just sit by and not help, can she? This was a great book that kept me on the edge of my seat. The equal parts suspense and romance balanced out this book very well and the writing style of the author was great. The characters came to life and they felt so real. I will definitely be finding more books by this author.
Review by Jenna M Knee: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. GREAT READ. Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2021. This book hooks you from page one. You are instantly drawn into the world of Cammie and want to know everything right away. It very much has classic TV drama vibes and I could easily see this being made into a Lifetime Movie. Definitely a page turner that makes you want to continue reading with no regard to the outside world. There are twists and turns in every chapter and just when you think you have it figured out, another twist smacks you in the face. I really hope that Ms. Burson continues writing Cammie and Grant’s story because there is so much more to be told with these two characters.
Review by Kirchersmiles: 5.0 out of 5 Stars. Awesome!! Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2018. This is my second book by this author and it had me at page 1. This is one of those stories that has you trying to figure it out all the way through the book, and being wrong and changing your mind and then deciding no you were right at some point, then just giving up and throwing your hands in the air.
No book I have ever read seriously had my jaw on the floor like this one did…This author did an amazingly awesome job with this story, and I see this book being a tv movie no doubt. You have to read this book to understand why I am saying all of this, I will not go into any details because I will not be able to stop myself and that would not be fair to anyone.
I loved the first book I read by Linda Burson but this one is my favorite so far and I absolutely can not wait to read more by this author. Every word just flows so perfectly and I read it in just a few hours because I couldn’t even think of putting it down afraid Id miss something LOL. Well Played Miss Burson!!
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Product Details:
Paperback: 310 Pages
Publisher: Independently Published (May 30, 2020)
Language: English
Murder Mystery
Mystery (Private Investigator)
Amazon Print:
https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Among-Friends-Linda-Burson/dp/B089CZ3YZ5/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Message From Linda Burson: I decided to write a different kind of biography. While the one written in a few of my books is accurate, this one adds a bit more detail. This one will give you the complete reason while I decided to not only write a novel, but to finally complete it, as well as continue writing.
Life is short. Yes, you’ve heard that cliché many, many times, I’m sure. For me, however, I understand it and feel it to my core. There are those of you who may feel it as deeply as me. Whether you changed your life completely, well, only you would know that. As for me, that’s exactly what I did, and the true reason I am now writing full time.
I had two close calls in my life, close as in the end of my life as we know it here on earth. This makes one stop and think. It certainly made me stop and think, a lot. It made me appreciate what I have, but it also made me consider if the life I was living and the direction it was heading was truly what I desired. This wasn’t a difficult decision for me. I always knew I wanted to write books, but as I said in the previous biography, something always seems to “get” in the way.
Besides the fact that physically I could have died twice, I did have four special people in my life who died way too young. They were all close to me as I was to them. The first important, irreplaceable person I lost was my mother who died from ovarian cancer. Next, was my brother who died due to heart issues; my best friend, who was more like a close sister, died due to breast cancer, and lastly, a cousin who was also a best friend to me, to suicide.
This alone should have been enough for me to make changes in my life. It did get me to seriously consider making these changes and attempt to start that writing career multiple times, but it didn’t push me over the edge enough to do it. It took me being diagnosed with breast cancer, not having great odds, and a couple of years contemplating my life that finally gave me the push I needed to close my business and write full time. It’s the second scare I experienced that keeps me writing.
So, if you don’t wake in the morning looking forward to starting your day, hopefully with a smile, then maybe you need to take a second look at the direction of your life. I found the joy and passion in writing books. Do I want to sell lots and lots of books? Of course. But that isn’t my driving force. I know not everyone is going to love my stories; but that doesn’t matter as much as the fact that I enjoy writing them. It makes me happy; it makes me full whole, and it makes me wake looking forward to starting my day because I know I have something waiting for me that I love to do.
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