Unbalanced By D.P. Lyle: Review/Giveaway

Sep 7, 2024 | 2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Tracy Condie

by Tracy Condie

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a signed copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

This is my first Jake Longly thriller, but I did not feel lost and was able to keep the players straight. An enjoyable mystery, it reminds me a bit of the Travis McGee books I read when I was younger. Different from those older novels are the multiple points of view which give more insight into what the characters are thinking. This might be book seven of the series, but it does a very good job as a stand-alone.

This story takes us to the Gulf Shores where former MLB pitcher Jake Longly, has parlayed his sizeable earnings into a seaside bar/restaurant called Captain Rocky’s where he holds court since he retired from the Texas Rangers. Jake, who knows nothing about running a restaurant, was smart enough to hire Carla, who has great restaurant skills, and followed up by making her a partner in the business. When Jake isn’t sunning on the beach or sampling the food and cocktails at Captain Rocky’s, he is spending time with screenwriter girlfriend Nicole. There isn’t much that he likes better than spending time with Nicole, unless it involves going with her to run errands for Ray, his P.I. dad, because those errands never work out so well. This time is no different when Ray asks Jake and Nicole to pick up papers from his client who they find dead. Normally Jake ends up getting pulled (kicking and screaming) into investigations. He is a rather reluctant sleuth, but this time he decides to be a team player.

Ray and his associate, Pancake, were originally hired by the victim, Carl Davis, to look into who is embezzling from Orange Coast Realty, his very lucrative and successful real estate company. They offer to stay on and work for Carl’s daughter Savannah to look into who killed her dad. Detective Brooke Peters isn’t 100% sold on the idea of collaboration, but Pancake seems to have a knack of wearing down those defenses as the sparks fly and the flirting increases.

The light-hearted banter is entertaining, and sass that seems to come from everyone except Ray (he served as a Marine and is all business) keeps you laughing. When you aren’t chuckling about how much food Pancake can consume, you are trying to figure out which suspect makes the most sense. Suspects include the business partner, Mitchell Littlefield, who may have embezzled a heck of a lot of money. There is a former employee who feels that he was railroaded because of his aggressive sales tactics and that everything is BS. Could Savannah, the seemingly broken-hearted daughter, be an award-winning actress? The plot builds until the big reveal and the thrilling conclusion.

At the end of the story, the only mystery I did not figure out was why Tommy Jeffers is nicknamed Pancake. I just might need to add the previous books to my TBR list to get to the bottom of that one. All in all, I would say that this thriller is light-hearted with plenty of tongue-and-cheek humor but nothing scandalous.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a signed copy of Unbalanced, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “unbalanced” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 14, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Tracy Condie is a paralegal by day and cozy armchair sleuth by night. When she is not working or reading, she enjoys preparing the recipes found in culinary cozies or researching recipes of meal items described therein and sharing reviews of both books and food on Instagram and on KRL. She lives in Corona, California with her husband and dog Zoolie, and looks forward to visiting with their grown sons when their time permits.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

7 Comments

  1. Always looking for new series. this one sounds good.
    thanks. txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Reply
  2. I read several books in this series.

    Reply
  3. Great cover! Sounds like an interesting book.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply
  4. Sounds good!

    Reply
  5. Someone mention Travis McGee and I’m in…enjoyed the summation heartily…and “Pancake”?
    Thanks for the review and opportunity.

    Reply
  6. I like that this cozy is touching about running restaurant, which sounds interesting to me as hubby was in restaurant business for over 30 years before he retired a few years ago! Ha! I would love to figure out why Tommy Jeffers is nicknamed “Pancake”!
    cwkuen(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Reply
  7. We have a winner!

    Reply

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