IT’S BIG GIVEAWAY DAY!

A complete set of all 5 Davis Way caper books to one lucky commenter on this post!

The author has graciously donated a complete set of all five books, including Double Knot being released today!

THE RULES

Nothing complicated or fancy. Leave a comment and make sure your comment has a name on it. Anonymous comments can’t be considered because I don’t know who you are. Check back in a few days for the results! I’ll pick one winner randomly from among everyone who comments on this post. But ONLY on this post!

If you are usually a lurker, this would be a great time to join the conversation.

To read a review of DOUBLE KNOT — published April 12th, see my review.

Condensed reviews of the four previous Davis Way novels follow.

Don’t forget to leave a comment! I’ll get back to you with the winner before the end of the week. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on this week and I will do this as soon as I can. Absolutely PROMISE.

Davis Way Caper #1 – Double Whammy 

Davis Way used to be a cop in Pine Apple, Alabama. Her name sounds like a road and the name of the town looks misspelled, but really, that’s her name and Pine Apple is indeed the town from which she hails. She used to be married. To Eddie. Twice. It didn’t work out the first time and it’s hard to figure why she married him a second time.

After a very long search for some kind of job, she gets hired by a Biloxi casino. The terms of her employment are murky. From the get-go, Davis is sure there’s something awry with the setup but she needs the job.

It’s hard to do your job when you aren’t sure what your job is. Harder still when nobody is who or what they appear, including Davis herself. Davis gets in deeper and deeper until she is about to be swallowed by the crime she is investigating. Eventually, she extracts herself and she finds love. Her own double whammy.

Double Whammy is ambitious and well-realized featuring a strong woman character with a great back story. Plenty of action, a complex plot, lots of characters, a love story … and more. Fast-paced, lively and witty, Double Whammy leaves you wanting much more!

DAVIS WAY CAPER #2 – DOUBLE DIP

Something is rotten at the Bellissimo casino where Davis Way works security. Employees are double dipping all over the place and it’s slot tournament season. How better to catch a cheater at slots that be part of the action? Duty calls … this time for Davis to be a competitor in the tournament. Good news? She gets to wear really great clothing. Bad news? She’s working day and night until further notice. Her personal life is going down the tubes. Of course — nothing is what it seems.

The boss’s wife’s personal assistant is missing after bullets are fired. A mousey elderly church lady appears to be the key to a suspicious series of slot machine wins. And what does the So Help Me God Pentecostal Church have to do with all this? It’s going to take all Davis’s sleuthing skills to untangle this Gordian knot.

Complicated? Indeed. Yet the author carries it off with aplomb, style and humor.

Plots within plots, entwined with subplots and back stories. Ms. Archer juggles all the complexities while keeping track of at least a dozen characters, then ties all those dangling threads into a beautiful bow.

Nothing is left hanging by accident. At the end of the book, all that remains are tidbits designed to lure you into the next adventure.

DAVIS WAY CAPER #3 – DOUBLE STRIKE

It took me almost a week to read Double Strike. I could easily have read it in one marathon night, but I was enjoying it so much, I intentionally slowed down to make it last longer. I didn’t want to eat it in one bite, as it were.

I didn’t think it was possible, but Gretchen Archer and her cast of characters have gotten even better — and they were already wonderful. Ms. Archer’s writing is crisp, sure-footed, smart. You can clearly hear the author’s voice, something that was a bit muffled in earlier books.

I have it on good authority the editors — this time — let her “have at it.” There are sections in Double Strike, descriptive, opinionated, and hilarious. So good I stopped and read them aloud to my husband. I don’t usually do that, but I was having a “wow” reading moment and had to share.

Ms. Archer’s descriptions of southern culture are illuminating. I doubt they will make her popular in Alabama, but it’s some of the most intelligent descriptive writing I’ve ever read. Astute, witty. Quotable.

I didn’t want Double Strike to end, but when I got to the final few chapters, I knew I could not put it down until I finished it. It was 2:30 in the morning when I finished the book … and I read the last chapter three times, just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. A fantastic, climactic finish to this story! Our intrepid Davis Way has plenty of bread crumbs to follow into her next adventure. A satisfying conclusion for readers with enough dangly bits to make us come back and read the next installment.

Author, author!!

DAVIS WAY CAPER #4 – DOUBLE MINT

I have loved everything Gretchen Archer has written, from her first book “Double Whammy,” to this latest, greatest entry into the Davis Way caper novels.

Davis is growing into herself. Still madcap, but in a Sherlock Holmesian way. She knows what she’s doing. She knows why she’s doing it. She sees connections between seemingly random events. How they form a pattern. The problem is getting anyone else to see.

Mysteries within mysteries call for Davis’s clever mind and remarkable ability to see what no one else can see. Will anyone else believe her? Will they “get it” before it’s too late?

Welcome to another taut mystery and hilarious romp through the world of casino gambling, mysterious bankers, and sealed vaults. Not to mention gigantic heaps of money. Or something like it.

Categories: Author, Book Review, Books, Humor, Mystery and Thrillers

Tags: Author, Book Review, Books, Davis Way, Double Dip, Double Mint, Double Strike, Double Whammy, Gretchen Archer, mysteries