Lowcountry Boil: A Liz Talbot Mystery

Intriguing Mystery with Low Country Style

Susan M. Boyer has written a clever mystery with an engaging female detective in Liz Talbot, a true "Steel Magnolia." She carries a Sig 9 and faces danger head on while keeping the gracious manners of a true Southern belle (although her mother has to remind her to wear lipstick).

I loved the Low Country setting on her fictional but realistic island of Stella Maris, South Carolina. You will hunger for the Southern and Low Country food, yearn for the beautiful beach setting, and bite your nails as you read this fast paced thriller.

LOWCOUNTRY BOIL is beautifully written, has intriguing twists, and is full of interesting Low Country details.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

A reader's delight. The first line of Lowcountry Boil--The dead

A reader's delight. The first line of Lowcountry Boil--The dead are patient.--had me hooked from the get-go. Full of unique Southern insights and gracious charm, this book nonetheless packs a wallop you don't want to miss. Protagonist Liz Talbot is part Steffi Plum and part Kinsey Millhone, as quick to say, "Bless your heart." as she is to pull her trusty Sig Sauer 9 or deliver a roundhouse kick to the sternum.

Susan Boyer's debut novel is full of ingenious plot twists, a cavalcade of unforgettable characters, and a setting so lush you can smell the marsh grass and feel the ocean's breeze. And, oh, before I forget, the story takes place near Charleston, South Carolina, so naturally, there's a ghost.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fabulous, Fun Southern Mystery

This is a very entertaining, upbeat mystery. It has everything a Southern mystery needs--a wonderful lowcountry setting on an island near Charleston, family drama, quirky characters, a ghost, and a sassy, savvy private investigator who is one part Kinsey Millhone and one part Melanie Smooter (Sweet Home Alabama). I couldn't put it down. Highly recomended.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Fun, small-town mystery. This female PI is capable and smart--no

Fun, small-town mystery. This female PI is capable and smart--not just cute and stumbling into clues. Fast paced. Never saw the ending coming.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Y'ALL. There's a reason this book won a Daphne -- several reason

Y'ALL. There's a reason this book won a Daphne -- several reasons, actually. If you like fantastic, funny mysteries with a great cast of very real characters, then hightail it right now to order a copy of LOWCOUNTRY BOIL.

Liz Talbot is a heroine after my own heart: a smartassed PI who doesn't know how to listen to her well-meaning and over-protective big brother and has a healthy helping of hunky guys hanging around, plus a dog named Rhett, and affinities for the beach and Kenny Chesney. Oh, and a mamma who owns a cast iron skillet, makes mean deviled eggs, and loves Estee Lauder lipstick. Let's just say I identified.

This one is a keeper. Full of mystery, fun, food, and several twists that I never saw coming, it's the kind of book that compels you to read it in a single sitting. Witness, I am still in my PJs at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, and that horrific grumbling is my stomach complaining that I've eaten nothing today because I was so engrossed in the goings-on in Stella Maris (which, by the by, I am so sad isn't an actual place, because I want to go there).

I'm off to make some chicken salad. You should be off to pre-order this book. In the interest of full disclosure, I read a pre-publication advance copy, but was under no obligation to review it or say nice things about it. It is an amazing read, though, and it'll be out in just 10 days, so go reserve yours. You can thank me in 11 days.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

a fun read

This is a good cozy mystery and a fun book to read. I will be looking for book # 2.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

South Carolina cozy at it's best. Liz Talbot is a modern girl in

South Carolina cozy at it's best. Liz Talbot is a modern girl in a truly traditional family.  Her grandmother is a southern belle who throws great themed parties.  Her brother is the protective policeman brother.  Her sister has a heart for the underdog and needy kids. Her Dad heads the family , with his sidekick dog.  And her Mom's famous last words are always---"put on a little lipstick before you go out!".  But Liz is a gutsy PI, with her trusty Sig gun at hand, running on the beach, through neighborhoods and climbing trees whenever she wants to see what she wants to see, and refusing to stay "safely at home" when she "needs" to investigate things. 




Liz has been working away from her hometown, with her partner, Nate, until she hears that her grandmother's death was NOT an accident, but a murder. At the reading of the will, she finds herself the sole owner of her grandmother's home and acres of virgin South Carolina coastal island lands, much to the chagrin of her cousin, who has grand plans for development of those lands. 




A long dead best friend returns in Liz's life as her 'spirit guide'.  No one else can see or hear Colleen, whose 'job' is to protect the island.  Colleen's sister is in danger too, so Liz finds herself getting into lots of danger, with bad guys, and with avoiding her policeman brother.  Lots of thrills and chills, with fun and sassy heroine!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Lowcountry Boil By: Susan M. Boyer Copyrite September 18,2012

Lowcountry Boil

By: Susan M. Boyer

Copyrite September 18,2012

Publisher: Henerey Press



Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle: she blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz high-tails it back to her South Carolina island home to find the killer. She’s fit to be tied when her police-chief brother shuts her out of the investigation, so she opens her own. Then her long-dead best friend pops in and things really get complicated. When more folks start turning up dead in this small seaside town, Liz must use more than just her wits and charm to keep her family safe, chase down clues from the hereafter, and catch a psychopath before he catches her.



This is the first book in a new series by Susan M. Boyer… If you’re a fan of Dame Agatha Christie you will love this book. The number of players, suspects, second string players and assorted family members who take part in this performance will boggle your mind.

Thankfully we the readers are supplied with a list of the cast and their positions. I love the location for this murder, and Liz Talbot our lead heroine is a woman who has faced some real adversity and moved on to create a career for herself that is perfect for what is about to happen.

Liz is dragged home by the death of her beloved grandmother. Her sister Merci feeds her what turns out to be a totally fabricated scenario which forces Liz (now the owner of her grandmother’s house and land)to take a roll in the management of the town and island. As the bodies start to stack up, Liz has to puzzle it all out, and her help comes from a surprising source.. The spirit of her best friend from childhood.

If I’ve made you half as dizzy as this book made me, then I’ve done my job. This book is going to keep you up late at night as you turn page after page to reach the surprising conclusion.



FTC Full Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher who only asked for a fair and impartial review.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Anonymous

Enjoyable!

Much has already been written about this finely crafted mystery

Much has already been written about this finely crafted mystery by Susan M. Boyer, so I'll just add a few observations.

Boyer has invented a fully-formed fictional island culture on the South Carolina coast. With the detailed descriptions you would swear you could drive to Charleston, take a ferry and come upon this wonderful world and be able to walk and drive its streets. I'm a fan of that kind of creation, but if you aren't someone willing to invest time with a whole island-full of characters, then perhaps you will not enjoy this book as much as I did.

Liz Talbot is smart enough, observant enough and quirky enough to handle the rigors of growing through a series of novels, which I hope we'll see. The story has plenty of surprises to keep a reader on her toes. Liz has two serious contenders for her heart, which should keep her love life interesting. Boyer's writing stays out of the way of the story: it's finely crafted without any necessity to call attention to itself.

I don't give out many 5 star reviews, but this book earned it.

I thought the whole ghost thing was a little far fetched and rid

I thought the whole ghost thing was a little far fetched and ridiculous.

Easy read

It was suggested by our book club ~ I really enjoyed it!

If Stephanie Plum were Southern, an actual private investigator,

If Stephanie Plum were Southern, an actual private investigator, and had an open mind to the supernatural, she would be best friends with Liz Talbot. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of Boyer's Lowcountry Boil and could not get enough of the rich characters and southern setting. Bring on the next in the series, please!

A Delicious Read. I gained ten pounds reading Lowcountry Boil. S

A Delicious Read.
I gained ten pounds reading Lowcountry Boil. Southerners don’t skip meals, and they don’t miss a trick, especially private investigator Liz Talbot. With a setting so perfectly drawn out you’ll feel you’re there, this read will have you tasting every deep-fried bite and intimately knowing everyone on the island paradise of Stella Maris, South Carolina. Lowcountry Boil has it all: guardian spirits, brotherly and not-so-brotherly love, murder, skinny dipping, a hit man, Scarlett-worthy love of land, family ties that both bind and break, and love…quadrangles. An intriguing, well-written whodunit. With a side of gravy.

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