Nice mix of suspense, the world of radio news shows, and of course a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

Silverman’s Room for Doubt is the fourth book in a popular mystery thriller that is a fun read with plenty of quirky characters to keep the reader full engaged.

I must admit this is the first book that I have read by Silverman, but the author expertly has written a book that craftily involves the reader without getting lost in what happened before. The story is very involving and the mystery that presents itself is very intriguing.

Silverman’s characters are richly drawn with and her major character, Carol Childs is very likeable lead and her involvement into the murder case is very natural. The author has an excellent knack of capturing her characters in a realistic manner and entwining their quirky personalities to make them lovable without becoming cartoonish.

The pacing is very well handled and the race against time to its final conclusion was exciting and exhilarating. This is a fun, deeply enriched murder thriller that is highly recommended. I am excited to add this series to my reading list because of Silverman’s engaging writing and fantastic characters.

If you are a murder mystery thriller fan, you should really go and search out Silverman. This has the cosy feeling of an excellent detective series in the same vein as many detective series but this has the added bonus of a confident woman who is strong, independent and able to face life’s many struggles. This is very seldom found these days and quite a few writers could learn a thing or two from Silverman’s intriguing characterisations.

An interesting take on a present day problem: what to do about abusive men when the law can't help.
Quite gripping with interesting characters.
A good read that points out how when you really look into some things, the black and white of it blends into an ambiguous grey.

This interesting mystery immediately grabbed my attention and I just couldn't put the book down or turn the pages fast enough to see what would happen next. Even though it is book four in the Carol Childs Mystery series, it is the first I have read and had no problem reading it as a standalone. However, I liked it so much I plan to read the first three and any future installments.

I really liked the protagonist, Carol Childs who works for a talk radio station in Los Angeles and her dynamic with the other colorful and complex characters, especially private investigator Gerhardt (Chase) Chansen. I highly recommend this smartly written can't-put-down mystery.

I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my unbiased review.

Room for Doubt is a great mystery with a plot with many twists and turns that kept me guessing. I enjoyed Ms. Silverman' writing. I have not read previous books in this series but will be reading them now. I recommend to all readers of mysteries.

Ok, so I liked this but didn't love it although I am intrigued enough by the series to have gone back and bought the first book to try and get more of a handle on it.

What I liked:
The details of Carol's life at the radio station - especially as it's really quite different to how things were at the (British) radio stations that I used to work at.
The reason why Carol is investigating things - ie that she's a news reporter and it's her job.
I liked the idea of the mystery

What I didn't like:
The mystery got really convoluted, with lots of side characters tangled up in it all of whom were being told/knew different things.
There are a few ethically dubious things going on - at the news organisation where I work I'd be getting in big trouble for repeatedly putting a caller on air who is essentially admitting to killing people - likewise giving airtime to an interviewee who is likely to say something slanderous and getting the station sued.

What I didn't understand:
I didn't get all of the relationships and friendships that Carol has going on - but this may be because I haven't read any of the rest of the series, and as I said, I liked the book enough that I've gone back and bought the first book so I can try and straighten things out in my head.

Once I've read more of the series I think I'll be able to get a handle on whether I like it or not - and why Carol is doing some of the things that I don't like.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
I feel really dumb. I had a chance to review one of her earlier books but somehow, it got buried and I never did. Silly me. I plan to go back and rectify because let me tell you, this is a good mystery with a great heroine. Momma can appreciate the world of journalism having spent some of her youth as a reporter and news reader. While this was more than 30 years ago, it appears it is still an old boy's club with women scrabbling to maintain footholds.
Carol Childs is a fantastic heroine. She is smart and tough and trying to adapt to format changes. She reports on a gruesome death on the Hollywood sign that the police want to call a suicide. It becomes apparent pretty fast that it is anything but a suicide. But once Carol learns more about the murderer and the motives, she is torn. There is a significant moral ambiguity that both Carol and the reader experience particularly when the murderer calls Carol's talk show and confesses.
Things are seldom black and white and this story is filled with such moments. It makes this a thought provoking and visceral read. THe reader feels the emotions that haunt Carol as she tries to do the right thing.
The story was fast faced with well developed characters. It was a page turner but would make a great summer or anytime read. I give it five purrs and two paws up.

This is my first Carol Childs Mystery and the fourth in the series and I felt a slight disadvantage despite the author doing a good job of providing glimpses into Carol's backstory. Carol is a divorced (from her high school sweetheart) single mother of two teenage children and works for KCHC radio station as a radio host and reporter.

The mystery unfolds when Carol realizes the Casanova she saw in the grocery store days earlier putting the moves on an attractive woman is now a corpse hanging from the Hollywood Sign. Carol quickly observes the lack of motivation of the on-site detective to investigate the crime, particularly when she starts to ask questions about the significance of an unusual calling card found on the nose of (Bruno) the dead guy.

The police are quick to label Bruno's death a suicide and Carol has nothing to go on that suggests otherwise until she's put in contact with Gerhardt Chasen, a military veteran and now private investigator. Chase is investigating suspiciously ruled suicides for two grieving families. He shares his theories with Carol and she is quick to shoot him down immediately and at every turn thereafter -- both professionally and personally. Chase is definitely made of Teflon because her barbs seem to miss their mark time and time again.

Unbeknownst to Carol, her weekly radio show has one toe in the grave and only gets the shot of adrenaline it needs from Chase. He wants to garner interest for the cases he's been hired to solve, so he calls in to stir the pot and asks a few of his friends to call in to Carol's radio show as well. His tactics not only saves Carol's show but it also provides a crucial clue from a caller that sets them on the path to solve the mystery.

I liked Sheri & Misty, but I didn't like Carol, she was a manipulator and a user. Read for yourself ...

"I wasn’t about to share with him what Andrea had told me about Sally. I was beginning to feel what information I had concerning Mustang Sally was mine and mine alone. And whatever information Chase had, at least what I could get from him, was mine too."

"The closer I got to home, the more the idea of using Misty to get to Sally appealed to me."

Carol's refusal to see all angles greatly annoyed me. Lies and half truths are told, lines are crossed where lives hang in the balance -- all so Carol can satisfy her agenda. How you view the ending will depend on whether you believe all the stories that we're told. Unfortunately, in this story not everyone gets their justice.

Book provided by Henery Press via Netgalley.

Unusual cozy murder mystery. Interesting change. Life is not always black and white. Many of the characters from the previous books in the series, plus some intriguing new ones. I look forward to reading more about the new man in her life.. I really like this series. I am familiar with the Los Angeles area, so those details add to my enjoyment. Always wanted to work for a radio station. Have the face for radio, but not the voice.

Carol Childs thinks the biggest risk to investigating something based on a call from her "whiz kid" boss is upsetting her son on his 16th birthday. Little does she know that he just planted her in the middle of a murder investigation and when a late night caller to her radio show seems to have more info than the investigators she finds out she's in for a ride. Great fast paced, fun, cozy mystery. I'll be reading more in the series!

I'm 2/3 of the way through this book, and I'm just not caring enough about the solution to finish it. I like Carol Childs fine; not so much on the pushy PI she's dealing with on this case. But what I'm really annoyed with is that we learn pretty early on the who (generally) and why of the murder. I kept thinking it was a red herring, but in reading other reviews just now, it appears the solution is exactly what it seems to be from very early in the story. The mystery seems to be more about tracking down Mustang Sally, who calls into Carol's late-night talk show, than about solving a murder. There's not enough tension or mystery here to me. <spoiler>I don't know exactly which abused woman has brought down the wrath of the sisterhood on this guy, but I also haven't been made to care.</spoiler> This just progressed too slowly for my taste, with not enough actual mystery.

Thank you to the publisher, who provided a review copy via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

“Room for Doubt” earns 5/5 Cryptic Call-in Callers with Callous Comments!

I am new to Nancy Cole Silverman’s Carol Childs series…where have I been, you ask? I have the first three books and always meant to read them due to the many 5-star reviews. ‘Better late than never’ with this fourth book, a perfect place to start: Police cover up? Multiple murder investigations? Vigilantes? Who knew talk radio could be so…dangerous! I never felt left out of any backstory or character connections having not read the previous books, and although a couple of references about previous cases were made, there were no spoilers for this newbie. The story was very exciting kept me engaged with a bit of humor to help cut the intensity. I found Nancy’s characters well developed and varied from responsible to quirky, meticulous to passionate. My favorite is Carol Childs, a strong-willed woman, and enjoyable following her interactions with Misty Dawn, a quirky homeless woman who has ingratiated herself into Carol’s life as a self-proclaimed psychic, and Garhardt “Chase” Chasen, a ruggedly handsome private investigator who seems to stir up more than Carol wants to deal with. The setting of LA and issues raising a sixteen year old and the ins and outs of ‘talk radio’ play out in the background along with addressing issues with abused women. This issue is not easy to bring into the cozy genre, but Nancy does it well. I am hooked and need to head back and read the rest of the series.

Taut writing that will enthrall you and have you racing to reach the final pages!

COULD Mustang Sally and her tribunal of Black Widows (Black Butterflies?) operate successfully in today's society? That question rolled around in the front of my brain the entire time I was reading. I still don't have an answer, but I love that Silverman has me wondering.

Would I spend my hard-earned cash on this? maybe
Would I recommend it to friends and family? to crime fans, yes, definitely
Is it a Kindle Keeper (Do Not Delete on Pain of Death)? probably not

Recommended for: crime fans (esp. black widow, serial killer, strong female lead).

Warning: domestic violence triggers, though no graphic scenes described.

Room for Doubt is the fourth book in Nancy Cole Silverman's Carol Childs mystery series. Radio journalist Carol Childs receives an early morning call from her boss, Tyler Hunt, to cover the report that there is a body hung from the Hollywood sign. Not yet daylight, Carol arrives on the scene and quickly realizes this is no publicity stunt. The detective in charge rules it a suicide much too quickly in Carol's opinion.

When PI Gerhardt Chasen (Chase) approaches Carol's boss to propose a link between this case and two others he is investigating, Tyler instructs Carol to check in to it. Irked when Chase calls in to her faltering Sunday night talk show, Carol is amazed as the switchboard lights up. But when an anonymous caller saying to call her Mustang Sally takes credit for the murder and states there have been others and there will be more, Carol finds herself in the midst of contract murder and the lengths abused women will resort to escape their abusers.

Faced with information from a variety of unexpected sources, Carol finds herself in a position to need Chase's help, but not for the end goal he expects. Will the outcome result in justice served, or is it Mustang Sally that has been handing out true justice?

Fast paced with rich and quirky characters, this mystery, although part of a series, certainly stands alone. I really enjoyed this page turner and do recommend this book.

A good read that was entertaining and well written. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Carol Childs is an ex-model and now a talk radio reporter. She is called to a supposibly suicide on the Hollywood sign. She notices that the dead body is male and wearing a clown nose. When she asks the Detective investigating the case, he just tells her it is a suicide and to let it go at that. This gets her interest going, and soon Carol finds out about a group of women who kill men who are abusive to their girlfriends and or wives. The more she looks into this "group" the more she finds out about the people around her she had no idea of the things they went through. Then there is the Private Investigator, Gerhardt Chasen, "Chase" for short. He is also looking into this group, but not for the same reasons. Will Carol's belief in justice remain as strong as when she starts or will there be Room for Doubt in what is right and what is wrong? I would like to thank Net Galley and Henry Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is a well paced mystery and has well developed characters. . It caught my attention from the beginning and kept it. Silverman addresses a serious social issue and handles it deftly. This is the first book of this series that I have read but I did not have trouble catching up, with this being the fifth book in the series.

Carol Childs is a 40ish single mom with a daughter in college and a 16-year-old son still at home. She is also a radio reporter who doesn't appreciate being called away from her son's birthday party to report on a scene at the famous Hollywood Sign. It's a grisly scene too... a naked man hanging from the sign wearing a red clown nose. The cop on site, Detective Riley, seems very eager to declare it a suicide, without even getting out of his car to walk up the hill and take a look. Carol doesn't think so, as she had had a brief interaction with the man on the sign the day before, and he in no way seemed suicidal. Another person at the scene, PI Gerhardt Chasen (Chase), doesn't think so either and spins her a tale of other recent deaths that have been called suicides, but he thinks are actually murder. Carol thinks that is crazy, and besides, what can she do about it?

Carol has been given a shot at a late-night talk show and in the era of cutbacks in radio, she is eager to make a success of it. The first night is not going well. The program director suggests talking about City Council matters and there has been not a single call-in. Until Chase calls in and starts talking about his theory of the murders and a woman calling herself "Mustang Sally" calls in suggesting that the dead men were abusers and got what they deserved from the "Tribunal". The switchboard lights up! Can there be a group of women who help other women on the run, and have gone off the rails? Carol and Chase need to find Sally before another death occurs. Carol is not eager to get involved, especially with Chase. She is attracted to him and does not want to be.

Nancy Silverman has taken a realistic look at the problems faced by abused women. It's a serious issue but she manages to inject some humor while coping with job and personal pressures. I was particularly interested in her take on commercial radio. My husband was a radio DJ (a long, long time ago) and we still have friends in the business. The program director and other people at the station ring true to me. She also brings in well-developed secondary characters: her friend, Sheri, and washed-up Hollywood psychic, Misty Dawn. Room for Doubt is the first of this series that I have read but I'm sure I will be catching up.

Thanks to Henery Press and NetGalley for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars

Nothing like waking up at 5:30 am to hear that a body has been found on the Hollywood sign. That's what Carol Childs hears one morning. This story leads her on a complex chase that includes possible women vigilantes and some shocking secrets. The book kept me engaged throughout.

An interesting mystery with lots of twists and turns and a killer that is difficult to judge and an unusual but questionable ending