In a debut modern noir set in the heart of Texas, we get a detective team filled with excitement. Not a bad read.

To be quite honest I read the description wrong and was confused when I started reading. But I'm glad I eventually read it since it was a good throwback to the old gumshoe tales. Made me think of a modern day Dick Tracy or Dragnet. It was well written but I found it easy to put down. It didn't grab me.

I really enjoyed this modern day noir. Donovan Bay is an ex-cop turned private investigator in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. He's hired to investigate the brutal murder of a businessman. There is a trigger warning here in that rape and abuse is discussed although not in great detail. There's a 2nd case involving some rare stolen comic books. Vaughn writes what he knows. He's worked in the comic book industry for decades. I liked how he inserts little Texas details in the book as well. Bay drinks Dr. Pepper constantly and frequents Taco Bueno and Whataburger. Bay is a likable wiseass surrounded by a good supporting cast.

This was just an OK read for me. The characters and the mystery were good but I was not a fan of the writing style. Donovan and Michelle have been hired to solve a cold case in small town Texas. At first there are no leads and there is no evidence that the victim has any enemies. The more they investigate the more suspects they uncover. The solution to the mystery happens quickly. The book could have been shorter and better edited. The author goes into way too much detail and it does not move the story along. It is a good mystery that gets bogged down with the writing.

I really like this style of writing, but not when the descriptions go over the top. I don't really need to know that a character turns the light on or off if it has nothing to do with the action. Otherwise, this is an entertaining book with great characters.

This book is so good. Donovan Bay is the perfect representation of a 1950's private detective with a present day twist.

Donovan Bay is an ex police officer turned private detective. He and his partner, Michelle, take on a case that has the police out of leads and a Mother at wits end.

A man, a son, has been brutally murdered. The further the investigation moves, the more we learn about the victim. He is not a nice man. He is a cruel, devious, perverse man. The attack was personal and we find out why.

I really enjoyed reading Second Wednesday. J.C. Vaughn writes in a no nonsense manner. There is absolutely no filler. He is straight to the point with each character introduced and the type of relationships that unfold. The plot moves quickly and for the most part smoothly. I did come to the correct conclusion regarding the whodunnit not too far in, but the story and writing kept me reading. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGally, the publisher, and J.C. Vaughn for an ARC in return for an honest review.

3 stars

A PI investigates an unsolved murder which leads to him rehashing his high school days, meeting up with old classmates, & discovering a sordid past in his own home town.

[What I liked:]

•The narrator (1st person) is drily funny. I enjoyed his self-deprecating sense of humor.

•The scene breaks & chapter lengths are relatively short, which helped me not get bogged down in the pacing.

•The side plot about the comic book thefts was really fun. It helped give some comic relief (ha, ha) from the dark & depressing details of the other investigation.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Donovan cracking the case seemed way too abrupt to me. There was no lead up to it, I guess to make it a shocking twist? But it felt too sudden, & compared to the tumult of emotions Donovan had about confronting someone he was less close to, he really showed no emotions at the moment of confronting the killer.

•Sometimes this narrative goes way, way too in depth with details. First of all, I got bored with the constant litany of intimate details about Donovan’s food life. But just in general, he would say every tiny action he took in order to pack his bag or back out of a parking lot, & it really got tedious.

CW: rape, murder, suicide

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Donovan Bay and Michelle Bentley are private investigators. An awful murder was committed a year ago which the police are still investigating in Texas. Due to the case growing colder the mother of the murdered victim has hired Donovan Bay and Michelle Bentley to see if he can solve who killed her son. They start working immediately but find it is more perplexing than normal. As they dig deeper into the case, a hunch Donovan has them finding makes the victim deserving of being killed. Who is it? Will Michelle and Donovan discover who did it?

It’s an excellent first mystery. The twists and turns of trying to find out who did it kept me wondering if they would find out. It’s well written. If you like mysteries, this is one to try. I look forward to the author writing more about these two private investigators working together.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to check this out. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.
I had actually thought that this was going to be a graphic novel, so I was thrown off a bit when it wasn't; it took me until chapter 6 or 7 to start getting into it. After that, though, it was the kind if book you can't help but read all in one go. Which is exactly what I did.
I ended up enjoying it. My only complaint is that the killer was obvious from their introduction, and I'm pretty sure that was unintentional- the big reveal at the end, I suspect, was supposed to be something of an emotional sucker punch. It wasn't. How could it be when you saw it coming 200 pages ago? So yeah, that was a little anticlimactic, but otherwise? It wasn't bad!
I liked the characters, I liked the overall tone, the writing was solid and I appreciate that there was actual detective work involved, rather than a series of convenient coincidences.
It was a fun, quick read with a timely theme (Me Too) and a relatable protagonist. Overall, definitely worth a read.

Let me be clear: This book is not a graphic novel. It is marketed and advertised as such, but it's a chapter book. That's not the best way to get the word about your book out there. I come hoping for some awesome illustrations/comics and a good story, and I get lots of chapters instead.

Don't get me wrong, the book is good/interesting/okay - but I didn't get what was advertised nor what I wanted out of it.

If you want a good chapter book read, this is it. It's good.

This was an interesting concept! I read parts of it and enjoyed it, but I had requested it assuming it was a graphic novel.

I chose this thinking it was a graphic novel but it is not. This shouldn’t be labeled as a graphic novel if it isn’t one.

This isnt a graphic novel. I was expecting a comic but it is actually a written book. I think it is important to label, describe and categorise books appropriately otherwise it will not reach the intended audience.