Book wasn't meant for me. Hopefully someone else will enjoy it. I will look into renting it in the future

4/5

A fun and cool thriller book from a new to me author. I liked the cover and premise of the novel. I’ll definitely continue reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest reviews.

Jude Dillane, owner of The Corner Lounge in Manhattan’s East Village, knows she will never be safe until The New Year’s Eve Serial Killer, Art Bevins, is behind bars. Still on the loose, he continues to taunt her. Blaming Jude for all his troubles, Bevins is determined to make her pay. With the FBI investigation at a stand-still Jude knows it’s up to her to bring him to justice. With all this swirling around her, Thomas “Sully” Sullivan, her friend and landlord, becomes enamored of his new tenant, Dolores Castel. Jude instantly distrusts Sully’s new love and believes Dolores is weaving a dangerous web. As she continues her pursuit of Bevins, Jude looks into Dolores’s past, uncovering a series of deadly coincidences. Can Jude stop Bevins from his deadly pursuit and protect her friend from ruin. A fantastic read!

I haven’t read the first Two books in this series and maybe it’s my fault that I haven’t checked it first because right from the beginning I felt like missing some major plots in here .
Interesting characters overall and while the storyline was good and I was invested in the heroine and her ways of solving “the crime”, I felt like it was a bit out of place in some moments and had to stop a few times to think back of what I’ve read.
I will give it another try sometime in the future but for now, I had to stop at 50% mark unfortunately.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Don't we all want to befriend Jude Dillane, co-owner of the Corner Lounge in NYC's East Village? While she and her staff serve up phenomenal drinks and dinners, she solves crimes. In this third volume in the Murder on the Rocks series, Jude senses that serial killer Art Bevins, who escaped capture in volume 2, is following her. Alongside this drama, Stoler introduces us to a gold digging widow and a fashionable publicist, both up to no good. Straight Up has it all--roller-coaster plot, intriguing characters, compelling settings, and drinks and clothes to die for.

Straight Up, the latest installment in Cathi Stoler’s Murder on the Rocks series, is a tightly plotted mystery. But this is no ordinary thriller. The characters are fully realized, complex individuals, and they propel the narrative in unexpected ways. Set in New York City, the landscape is as finely drawn as the plot and the characters.

The story opens with an intriguing prologue that sets the stage for all that will follow. The beautiful, mysterious Delores Castel, and Diego Lowell, her young companion, are on a first-class flight from LA to NYC. In just a few pages, Stoler creates an atmosphere heavy with suspense.

The tension continues as protagonist Jude Dillane, owner of the Corner Lounge, tries to get back to some semblance of normal, in the aftermath of a near-fatal encounter with Art Bevins, the man the newspapers dubbed The New Year’s Eve Killer. Despite her best intentions, though, she is stymied at every turn. Her love life is a mess. Her business partner wants out. And her landlord and best friend Thomas “Sully” Sullivan is bewitched by the scheming, enigmatic, Delores.

Worst of all, Jude receives a threatening letter from Bevins, who is still on the loose. Special Agent Elaine Garlinger, who is in charge of the New York F.B.I.’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, is back on the case, but Jude fears Bevins may once again elude capture. She senses he is close, and in a desperate bid to rid herself of him, she embarks upon her own investigation.

With grit and courage, Jude battles the demons that plague her, including those she’s created for herself.

Once again, Stoler delivers a well-written, fast-paced novel with an appealing cast of characters and a high-energy conclusion.

I expect I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read earlier books in the series. The neighbourhood and the bar sounded appealing but the characters didn't have much depth, and it seemed a bit repetitive, particularly when Jude went to work, and followed the same routine every time.
The plot wasn't particularly engaging, Art and Dolores' connection was a bit of a coincidence, and was Dolores sleeping with her son?
I did finish it, but am still a bit puzzled about a lot of it.

1.5 - 2 stars

Okay first off there were major formatting issues that had nothing to do with the actual text itself. At first I thought it was an odd stylistic choice the author did, but upon further inspection I realized that wasn’t the case. The one of the issues I ran into was the messed up structure of the chapters I had two chapter twos and one of them was placed after chapter three, as well as two chapter threes. But even without these confusing issues I did not enjoy my time reading this story. The tone and writing felt off, it had almost portrayed itself as a somewhat cozy mystery and then the more you read the more you saw it trying to take itself so seriously. Also, it felt as if you were just dropped off in this world with no real idea of what is going on or what happened in the previous book(s).

The characters were another problem for me; they all read very superficial and surface level, and there were many times where I forgot who was who because all the male characters were basically the same except for some gruff sneering added in for the more “macho” characters. With the writing style that wasn’t for me and the bland characters I really couldn’t get into the whole mystery plot itself. Overall this was kind of a struggle to get through, but I'm sure for those who are fans of this series they won't have any trouble settling in for more mystery and intrigue with characters that they like.

ARC given by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Straight Up by Cathi Stoler is a wonderful read. The writing and pose are great alongside the characters. I enjoyed reading this one and I can't wait to see what comes of it.

You’ll need a stiff drink to calm your nerves as a vortex of danger swirls around bar owner Jude Dillane, growing stronger with each page, in STRAIGHT UP, book three of Cathi Stoler’s Murder of the Rocks series. Well-developed, intriguing characters and pulse-pounding suspense make this New York City mystery a must-read! I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

The third book in the A Murder on the Rocks Mystery series is chock full of suspense and intrigue. Very well developed characters. The build up of the story plot kept me interested as to what was going to happen next. A thriller for sure! Thanks #netgalley and #LevelBestBooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.