Member Reviews

Although I really liked the characters throughout, early in the book I was a bit ambivalent about the plot. Once the story rolled out, I came to understand the points with which I had issues and I came to love it this unique and intense novel. I think I have been reading too many quick and easy mysteries recently because while this one develops throughout the novel and reflects the complexity of life and a serious subject, it was excellent. I have a couple of Ms. Silverman’s other books on my Kindle based on the recommendation of people whose opinion I respect but I hadn’t gotten around to reading them. I requested this book from Henery Press via NetGalley thinking that reading it would kick start me into reading the others; boy, I was right about that! I can't wait to dig into the earlier books and anxiously await the next one.

The review represents my honest opinion.

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I have not read this author before and this is the 4th book in the series. It didn't matter, I still understood the characters and how they related. I may not know all the background but I was still able to enjoy this book. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but as I continued to read, I became engrossed in the story. There are some grammar problems and such. For instance she gets a call at 5:55 am and then complains it's not even 5:00 am. Sorry, but it is 55 minutes past 5:00 am. That aside, I liked Carol and her crew. Her boss Tyler is a twerp, but that's OK. The story has some twists to it that made me change my mind on the killer. You do know who the killer is fairly early in the story, but it is the background of the killer that makes the tale interesting. I would read more by this author.

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This is the first book I have read by this author and the first in the series I have read.
The author has the ability to catch readers up quickly without taking too much time away from the main story and murder.
Carol Childs the lead in the story is well developed keeping readers engaged with her development as well as what could or will happen to Carol. The story is written in first person. We follow Carol as she tries hard to balance work, family and her personal life.
I was impressed how the author the author took the dark setting of murder and kept it from turning into a campy story.
Room for Doubt is well paced murder mystery that is current with what is happening in the world take seriously issues and making them relatable to everyone.
Thank you for the advance Copy from Netgalley and the publisher

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I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Henery Press. Thank you.

This fourth Carol Childs mystery novel finds Carol being given a late night call-in show at the radio station. With all the downsizing taking place Carol doesn't have much choice but to accept in order to keep her job. Finding topics is a big problem until Carol begins to receive advice from a private investigator with his own axe to grind. There have been unusual murders taking place and the PI thinks there may be a connection between them regardless of how far-fetched the idea may seem. Carol sees a body hanging from the Hollywood sign as the police are beginning to investigate. She also sees something decidedly odd connected with the body which is never mentioned by the police so it doesn't make it into the news. When a woman calls the radio show and cryptically asserts that she and a group of revenge seeking women might know something about the case Carol has to figure a way to meet this woman. Especially when the woman reveals the strange circumstance the police are keeping hidden.

The biography for author Nancy Cole Silverman lists twenty-five years in news and talk radio as her means of being familiar with the main circumstances in this novel. There is tension throughout the plotting and I'm sure readers familiar with the other three books in this series will be glad to find characters returning. The addition of the private investigator character will be interesting for fans to watch in subsequent books for a possible new romantic interest for the divorced Carol Childs.

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This is the fourth book in the Carol Childs series from Ms. Silverman.

Carol is a single mom and not looking for love. What she is looking for is how the boy she saw in the grocery store the other day is now hanging from the Hollywood sign, naked and dead with a clown's nose on. 

The world of Talk radio is a competitive one. Carol is a bit tired of the little bit of time she gets on the air. But things change when she subs for the night show and a killer calls to chat. 

With the help of Chase, a P.I., who has been trying to solve a series of such killings, she warily begins putting her story together. Not quite fully believing the stories she is getting she still goes the distance and agrees to meet the killer. Only the deal is a shocker!

And the ending....it's a Winner!

Thanks to Netgalley and Henery Press! This book is scheduled to be out in July of 2017.

Books,BooksandMoreBooks

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Between the lovable characters that are well written and fleshed out, to the plot itself, it is an overall great read. Highly recommend and you will NOT believe the ending!!!!

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'Room For Doubt' is another gritty, engaging offering in Nancy Cole Silverman's Carol Childs Mystery series. I was instantly consumed with events that continued to unfold with chilling speed. The same wonderful cast of characters is there, with a few new ones that I hope will become regulars. The plot was entirely believable and filled with locations in my hometown which made it even more real. I love it, and I can't recommend the entire series highly enough!

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I wasn't sure what to expect when I started to read this book, but I loved it! I was in from the very beginning and read the book in one sitting. This is the 4th book in the Carol Childs series, and I haven't read the previous books, which wasn't a problem. I'll definitely be reading them now!

Carol Childs is a radio reporter in Los Angeles. She's been on the air for a while, and her station is changing its format and her show. Early one morning she gets a call to go to the Hollywood sign to report on a man found hanging from the "W". She notices that he has a red clown nose, which she thinks is strange, but the police rule his death a suicide.

Her boss Tyler at the station wants her to talk to a private detective named Gerhardt Chasen, called Chase. He's convinced the suicide was actually a murder, and is linked to other cases he's investigating. He wants Carol to talk about the mysterious deaths on her Sunday night radio show, hoping that someone will call in with some insider knowledge of the murders.

Carol is reluctant, but Chase calls in to her show and phone calls start coming in. Right at the end, a caller named Mustang Sally calls in with a very interesting story. She says the dead man "deserved exactly what he got. And so do a lot of other men like him. Men like that just don't know how to treat a woman." Then Sally says that he was a pig, and that if "they" didn't make it look like a suicide, they wouldn't be very good at what they do.

Carol changes her nighttime show format to discuss the problems women have with the men in their lives. She gets more calls from Sally and then more information that convinces her that there is a group of women out there committing murders for hire for abused women.

Carol, Chase, her best friend Sheri, and an old friend and psychic named Misty all work together to identify Mustang Sally. The plot takes a lot of twists and turns, and comes to a satisfactory, albeit unexpected, ending.

The book was very well written, and the plot was extremely entertaining. The characters were interesting and fun to read about.

I highly recommend this book. It's a great read.

Thanks to Henery Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Radio reporter Carol Childs is sent to a crime scene early one morning, where she discovers that a man’s body has been found hanging from the center of the Hollywood sign. At first, Carol is convinced this is a publicity stunt, but soon learns that the police investigating have deemed this a suicide. Carol is a bit stymied by their call because things just do not seem to add up. Later, during her new call-in radio talk show, a caller who goes by Mustang Sally confesses on air that she is involved in this murder and further states she will act again. Piqued by the whole thing, Carol stays on this case, with help from her best friend, a one-time psychic and a crazy PI, all of who have different opinions and contribute various ideas to the mystery and its solution. As Carol investigates further, finding clue after clue, she uncovers something stranger than she ever would have imagined. As she ferrets out clues and continues to try to find this eccentric Mustang Sally, Carol is pulled into a strange secret organization of women, who are intimately involved in serial killing. The story moves along at a nice clip, going through many and varied twists and turns, until reaching a solid conclusion--though not the conclusion many would have expected.

As I read this book, I could not help but be reminded on Janet Evanovich’s Sisterhood series, mostly because that band of vigilantes reminded me a lot of the group in this book, with definite similarities, but definite differences. If the author planned on an on- and-off again relationship between Carol and the PI, I hope she spends time developing it in future books, as I saw no chemistry between them. If there are plans for them to become closer or even become enmeshed in a relationship, I sincerely hope that the author spends time developing what is not there right now. Nevertheless, the characters, especially that of Carol, her one time psychic friend and the kooky PI were especially well done. The book definitely held my interest as I eagerly read page after page to see what would happen next. I have not read any other books in the series or by this author, so have no comparison with others to provide. However, this book can be read as a stand-alone book quite easily, as I never felt there was any missing information or backstory about the characters or Carol or her life. The book is well done and pretty good reading, unless you are more in tune with totally conventional endings (this does not have one). I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

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After the last book in this series I wasn't sure if I was going to continue reading this series. I ultimately decided to give this book a try and I am glad that I did. Carol is back with a really interesting mystery surrounding a death that police have ruled a suicide. Carol's investigation with the help of pesky but hunky PI Chase will lead her to discover covered up murders that just might lead her to a group of women determined to get justice.

I was glad that Carol didn't seem too over her head in the investigation in this book. Her decisions and behavior (especially towards the end) really surprised me. I have to admit that I didn't like the relationship between her and Chase or at least what it became. I liked it better when she was annoyed with him.

While the plot at times seemed a bit far-fetched I still really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more from this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

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Room For Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman
Room For Doubt (A Carol Childs Mystery Book 4)
by Nancy Cole Silverman (Goodreads Author)
108416
Nancy Cunningham's review May 29, 2017 · edit
liked it

I really enjoy reading books for a sense of place---either to travel somewhere new for a few hours with the characters, or as in this book, to experience a familiar locale through someone else's eyes.

I'm rather new to Southern California and as Nancy Cole Silverman's characters buzzed around the Los Angeles area, I travelled with them. . . . to the Hollywood sign, to the posh neighborhoods with their glitzy homes. . . and to Carol Child's place of work---a local radio station.

Before commenting on the book's style, I think it's important to say that this book doesn't make any pretense of being great literature; it was clearly written to entertain, and it did a good job of doing that. I loved the characters and the plot (and resolution) were interesting. But, for an author that has the capacity to conceive a less than traditional resolution to her story, and imagine such a brash but bouncy heroine, the language and style were disappointing. This book has the potential to be entertaining, readable, and a better novel; it just needs more zip to its language to add a little polish and pizzazz.

NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Synopsisroom without a doubt

Reporter Carol Childs is called to a crime scene in the Hollywood Hills at five thirty in the morning, and she’s convinced this is a publicity stunt to promote a new movie. The police are quick to rule it a suicide, but something doesn’t add up for Carol, espcially since someone named Mustang Sally confesses to the murder on the air and threatens to kill again.

Book Review and 4.0 rating

This book was not as good as the previous one because it seemed as if she was following a trend that I have seen in other cozy mysteries. The idea of the psychic was okay, because this is her friend. This book however seemed to follow along with her job as a reporter. This was cool!

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Steady plot and interesting characters made this a book I couldn't put down.

Carol's life has had major changes; a mutual break-up with Eric, the radio station is now news & sports format KNST, her new boss is Tyler Hunt who is 21 to Carol's 40. With the return of Misty Dawn, hippie psychic to the stars, Carol has a house guest and a disturbing listener Mustang Sally to Carol's broadcast show.

Carol stumbles upon a group who help abused women in a permanent way. The dilemma is what to do about them.

This is book 4 in the series but could be read as a stand-alone because of all of the changes in Carol Child's life.

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“Room for Doubt” by Nancy Cole Silverman is book five in the Carol Childs Mystery series. It is not necessary to have read the previous books to enjoy this new one. The author drops in background information that is relevant to the current plot, but does not spend pages and pages needlessly summarizing events from the previous books.
The main character, Carol Childs, works as a reporter for a talk radio station in Los Angeles. Carol’s character is mult-faceted and well developed, and the supporting cast of characters is equally interesting and detailed.
The book is written in first person so we follow Carol’s thoughts and actions as she struggles to balance work, her personal life, and family conflicts. We also tag along as she wonders “What happens when one day a creepy guy tries to hit on you in the grocery store and the next day his body is hanging from the Hollywood Sign?” As the body count around town rises and more and more people become entangled in the murders, she has to sort out the facts from the “Fake News. Written by bloggers with questionable facts I felt sure hadn’t been substantiated.” All the while, the action is being driven by her feeling “that somebody – out in radioland – knew something, and might be listening.”
Readers should note this novel deals with a complex social problem and resolves it in a controversial manner. The book’s solution is not one that will please every reader, but it is a solution that might be all too real. If you are a “by the book, no exceptions” person, you might not like this novel. If you can balance the good against the bad and accept that someone else’s reality is not your own, you will end reading with some interesting issues to consider.
I have read and enjoyed the previous books in this series, and I enjoyed this one as well. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a copy of “Room for Doubt” in exchange for my impartial review.

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This was an interesting story. I'm not familiar with this author, but I found the story to be well written. Everything flowed smoothly and even though I am not familiar with the characters in this series, I was able to understand the dynamics so the story wasn't difficult to follow.
As a radio station host, our main character begins to receive calls from an odd caller who represents a group of abused women who believe in payback.
This secret group of women is soon to be exposed and this will wreak havoc on everyone involved.
This story has me interested enough to read the others in this series.

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