A Grand Murder

( 80 )

Overview

A Grand Murder is the first book in the Catherine O'Brien mystery series.

When a prominent local businessman and friend of the chief of police is murdered on the front steps of his posh Grand Avenue Hill home, Saint Paul homicide detective Catherine O'Brien a pithy, vertically challenged, St. Paul, Minnesota, homicide detective with a monstrous coffee habit and her partner Louise are given two days to find his killer.

They soon discover their ...

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A Grand Murder

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More About This Book

Overview

A Grand Murder is the first book in the Catherine O'Brien mystery series.

When a prominent local businessman and friend of the chief of police is murdered on the front steps of his posh Grand Avenue Hill home, Saint Paul homicide detective Catherine O'Brien a pithy, vertically challenged, St. Paul, Minnesota, homicide detective with a monstrous coffee habit and her partner Louise are given two days to find his killer.

They soon discover their victim had a list of people with motives to murder him, including his fashion designer ex-wife, his mistress's husband, and the chief of police. The only evidence they have to go on is a missing cell phone, a stolen book, the victim's letter opener, and an ugly pair of Alpaca wool mittens.

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Editorial Reviews

Sullivan McPig
The writing is decent and the plot engaging. It's got all the elements I like to see in a good murder mystery: a weird murder, lots of suspects with suspicious behaviour, red herrings, clues that are open to interpretation, and to top it all off, a quirky investigator who has to make sense of it all to catch the killer.
Catherine is a tough, but very likeable, lead character and her dry sense of humor makes this book not just a suspenseful read, but a funny one as well.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780983713708
  • Publisher: Before The Fall Books
  • Publication date: 8/9/2011
  • Pages: 224
  • Product dimensions: 0.51 (w) x 5.25 (h) x 8.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota. After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.

Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband and her daughter. Her Catherine O’Brien mystery, A Grand Murder, is available from Before the
Fall Books. Her second Catherine O’Brien mystery Murder is a Family Affair, will be released shortly.

Stacy is hard at work on her third book in the series.

Visit Stacy on the web at http://www.StacyVerdickCase.com
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 80 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(18)

4 Star

(27)

3 Star

(17)

2 Star

(9)

1 Star

(9)

Your Rating:

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 80 Customer Reviews

  • Posted October 3, 2011

    A fast paced fun read!

    A Grand Murder is a caffeine enhanced race through the upper crust of St. Paul to find a killer. The story begins with the murder of a prominent business man on his own front lawn. At the bequest of their chief- a personal friend of the victim, Detectives Catherine O'Brien and Louise Montgomery are on the case. Armed with coffee and Louise's distinct driving skills, they are on a mad dash to solve the case before the Chief comes unglued. The story is fast paced, which I love and I never felt lost, which I love even more. Ms. Verdick Case has a fabulous ability to draw the scene and the characters at play in it. She made me laugh, cringe, get heart-ache, and want to shake someone- in all the right ways. I always had a clear picture of her characters and their reactions; Catherine's cringing as Louise barreled her Prius through downtown St. Paul, for example. I fell in love with the characters and their personal lives as well. I was cheering all through the book for Catherine and her husband, hoping the job didn't get in the way of their marriage. Mel, the security guard, was one of my favorite supporting roles. She has such a great sense of person and personality I found myself wishing she would pop up more often. Ms. Verdick Case also has a fabulous cast of suspects. She gives us reason to doubt or exonerate each one. The plot twists were well crafted and the red herrings dangled in all the right moments. Overall I felt I knew too soon who the murderer was, basically because she was a little too helpful, which the detectives figure out toward the end. I will give Catherine this one though- they were under the gun, so to speak, to figure out the case. In future books I hope that she doesn't fall so obviously for the helpful murderer trick. The plot was very familiar, which I don't think is a bad thing necessarily, especially if you are looking to pick up a traditionally written women's sleuthing mystery. I am a fan of getting what I expect. (As a side note, I also love Alpaca wool, and want a pair of the mittens!) I look forward to reading more Catherine O'Brien mysteries; I feel the characters and the author both have a bright future ahead.

    9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 29, 2011

    Good Murder Mystery

    This is a good book that was fun to read. A 4 star book for sure! It will leave you wanting to read more about its main characters. If you like John Sandford and Robert Crais you will like this book. A definate must read for Murder Mystery junkies.

    8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 29, 2011

    Loved the Book & Trailer!

    I enjoyed this book, it was a great weekend getaway read and it captured some good Minnesota humor! Looking forward to the next book to see where she goes.... Catherine reminds me of Beckett from Castle keep the books coming! www. youtube. com / watch?v=yrOSSrvc5YM

    6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 22, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Okay quickie.

    Four stars for mystery, three stars for editing. Not just punctuation ( particularly inappropriate apostrophes, which is par for the course in a free eBook). On page 77, Forster should be Carter, an unfortunate error considering the context. Other than that, good mystery fun. I'll probably read the next Case book, hoping that a better editor got there before the readers in the general public did.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 29, 2011

    Check it out great light mystery!

    Good read!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 11, 2011

    mundane

    Nothing exciting here.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 6, 2011

    good read !

    Really liked this book. Especially how not-a-morning-person Catherine is. Can't stand it when main characters are perky, jogging, celery munching specimens of perfection. Most people are not morning people, so it's very relatable The dynamic between Catherine and Louise was entertaining, too.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 27, 2012

    F

    Seemed amature. Too many grammer errors....did this book even get editted?!
    vs

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 10, 2012

    Enjoyable

    Quick, enjoyable read. Would probably read more by Stacy Verdick Case.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 2, 2012

    Okay

    The story did not hold my attention very well

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 2, 2012

    Good Book. Fun read!

    This was a fun book. I liked the characters.The difference between the partners worked well.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 1, 2012

    Have someone proof read first.

    Interesting story. But if I read one more hyphenated-word I think I may have gone insane. I think that alone will keep me from reading another one of her stories. I realy wasn't necessary to get the point across.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2012

    I liked this read.

    It kept me engaged. Funny any light reading is what i do. If you feel the same way, enjoy.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 8, 2012

    Good Read

    Good read. Nicely written. Will look for more from this author.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 8, 2012

    An enjoyable read

    The characters were well portrayed.. And it moved along at a good clip.. A lot of humor and an believable plot and character..

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 4, 2012

    Great read!

    I picked this book because it was inexpensive and I was waiting for a new release to come out. I am so glad I got a chance to read this book!! I couldn't stop reading! The plot was so thought provoking. I loved it!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 2, 2011

    A Grand Murder

    Great book!

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 25, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Nice

    Nice

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 22, 2012

    It may be a grand murder but. . .

    It may be a grand murder but not a very good book

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2012

    Good story, too much foul language.

    I enjoyed the story, the partners relationship and the humor.A fun mystery, an easy read buttoo much foul language. Would have enjoyed it more without the cursewords Shawnee

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