Ich hab hier spontan zugegriffen, denn die Eckpunkte fand ich cool: eine investigative Journalistin in New York bei der Story ihres Lebens - klingt gut. Und alles, was ich bisher aus dem Oceanview Verlag gelesen habe, war rasant und spannend, von daher: ich war neugierig auf diesen Krimi.
Was ich leider zu spät gesehen habe: das hier ist bereits Band 6 einer Serie um die Reporterin Clare Carlson. Aber in diesem Falle war das egal, dieser Band ließ sich auch völlig unabhängig von den restlichen Teilen lesen. Großer Pluspunkt; das ist ja heute nicht mehr selbstverständlich, weshalb ich eigentlich ungern mittendrin in eine Serie einsteige. Aber hier war das freundlicherweise kein Problem.
So, hierum geht es auf Deutsch: Clare Carlson ins News Direktor und Journalistin bei einem New Yorker Fernsehsender; immer auf der Suche nach einer Story. Und darin hat sie auch Erfahrung; Clare ist pulitzerpreisgekrönte Investigativjournalistin. Hier hängt ach ihr Herzblut, auch wenn sie mittlerweile im Sender Karriere gemacht hat. Der neueste Fall: die ehemalige NYPD-Ermittlerin und Privatdetektivin Wendy Kyle ist auf offener Straße ermordet worden, ihr Auto ist explodiert. Als Clare sich näher mit dem Anschlag befasst, fällt auf, dass es hier an Verdächtigen nicht mangelt, denn das Opfer hatte mehr als genug Feinde. Wendys Schwerpunkt als PI waren Ermittlungen in Sachen Ehebruch, und in ihren Unterlagen taucht der Name eines Multimilliardärs auf….könnte hier ein Motiv liegen? Clare gräbt tiefer, und stellt fest, dass ein ungeklärter Fall, an dem Wendy in ihren Tagen als Polizistin involviert war, immer noch Kreise zieht…..
Ohne jetzt weiter zu spoilern: das war ein richtig cooler Krimi. Super spannender Fall, richtig gut geplottet. Man weiß zwar irgendwann, wer hier zu den „Bösen“ gehört, aber mit der Auflösung hätte ich am Ende nicht gerechnet. Also, ich wiederhole mich: gut gemacht.
Und ich glaube, ich habe eine neue Heldin gefunden: ich finde Clare klasse 😊. Sie ist kein junges Mädel mehr, sondern steht kurz vor ihrem 50. Geburtstag, auf den sie gar nicht so viel Lust hat, und die ist 3-mal geschieden. Man kann sich also denken: ihr Privatleben ist nicht so bombe gelaufen. Sie hat eine knapp 30jährige Tochter, zu der sie aber erst seit einigen Jahren wieder Kontakt hat – auch das lief suboptimal. Aber irgendwie macht mir das Clare sympathisch. Sie ist trotzdem keinesfalls zu bedauern; Clare ist tough, smart, und weiß, was sie will. Ja, diese Protagonistin ist mal was anderes, und mir hat sie sehr gefallen.
Gefallen hat mir auch der Stil: sehr temporeich, flüssig, und witzig. Ließ sich klasse lesen. Der Autor ist übrigens selbst Journalist, von daher sind die Szenen im Sender wohl sehr authentisch. Hier hat jemand Ahnung, von dem was er schreibt.
Ich bedanke mich beim Verlag und bei Netgalley für das Rezensionsexemplar! Hat Spaß gemacht!

This was not really my cup of tea. This is the sixth book in a series and the first one I've read. I couldn't really figure out what this book was suppose to be. On the one hand, it seemed to want to be a thriller dealing with serious social issues (which it did at times), then it came off as more of a romcom about a TV journalist turning 50 and looking at every man as a potential sexual partner including a couple of her exes. I didn't find any of the characters particularly engaging, the plot was fairly predictable, and the characters' actions weren't really believable. Not recommended

This is a Mystery, and this is the sixth book in the Clare Carlson series. I ended up DNFing this book around 30% because I just could not get into the story, and I found myself not caring about the characters. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

In the sixth Clare Carlson mystery, Clare is worrying about turning fifty, dealing with the potential sale of the television station where she works, and dealing with an irritating new boss among other problems.

In the quest for news to televise, Clare becomes interested in the death of Wendy Kyle. She's a former cop turned private investigator who specializes in getting evidence on cheating husbands. She dies when her car explodes as she was about to enter it leaving a cryptic page from her diary as the only clue to what she was working on.

Clare sees the death as the exciting news she has been looking for and decides to look into the death. Kyle was a fascinating person with at least as many enemies as supporters and a fair number of her enemies were with the police. Not to mention the many rich and cheating men that she exposed.

The mystery was filled with twists and turns as Clare tried to find out who wanted Kyle dead the most. She calls on two of her ex-lovers to help her out. Both of whom wouldn't mind rekindling their relationships with Clare despite being married men themselves.

I enjoyed this story. I like Clare for her dedication to her job of finding and reporting on important stories. I also like that Clare is angsting about turning fifty without a husband or lover in the picture. I also like her growing relationship with her daughter and granddaughter.

This is a masterfully crafted mystery that keeps readers guessing until the final pages with its relentless pace, intricate plot twists, and well-drawn characters. Whether you are a fan of investigative journalism or crime fiction, this book delivers a thrilling and satisfying experience that lingers long after you finish the book.

RG Belsky. Newsroom drama. Clare Carlson. What could possibly go wrong?

The sixth Clare Carlson book and all previous outings have been winners that the MRB boys have enjoyed. Yeah, we're biased.

A prize winner journalist now an NYC TV reporter and news director who is approaching her 50th birthday and reflecting on her three previous failures in marriage. She can’t stand her boss and the TV station is up for sale. But a juicy scoop might do wonders for killing the sale. The newsroom is a constant setting for comfort and chaos. The juicy scoop she needs falls into her lap when a former star cop, Wendy Kyle (who got dumped for slugging a higher officer) and now a high-profile PI is killed. It’s NYC so you can bet that crooked cops and politicians will be at the core of the investigation. Kyle’s PI business specialized in catching husbands fooling around that helped cement her poor reputation with the NYPD; there was no shortage of higher ups who would be just fine if she was wiped from the board. Clare’s investigation chased a story with little evidence to support her theory that Kyle’s death was more than a random killing.

Belsky is a proven winner. Great story, intriguing characters, realistic dialogue, believable settings combined with a healthy bit of his trademarked humor. Tell us if you saw the conclusion of this book while reading. I didn’t. Broadcast Blues can be a stand-alone book, but it might help understand Clare if you read these in order.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance reviewer copy.

Clare Carlson has a lot going on in this sixth novel by R. G. Belsky. Her TV station is being sold. Clare’s position as news director is affected when she decides to take on the role of an on-the-air reporter following the sensational murder of Wendy Kyle. Wendy created controversy when she left the NYPD under extenuating circumstances and started her own PI firm specializing in working for women who suspected their husbands of cheating.

Clare’s daughter needs help when she realizes her marriage is in trouble. Clare agrees to an alliance with her boss – a boss who is difficult to work with - to ensure they keep their jobs with the station’s new owners.

Mr. Belsky’s experience as a journalist continues to be a highlight of his creative storytelling. Once again the pace is robust and Clare’s experience provides a compelling read.

Thoroughly enjoyable! This was my first Clare Carlson book. Here, she's trying to connect the dots surrounding the death of a private investigator while dealing with the pressure of big changes at her news station and personal changes. It kept my interest and had some good plot twists. While Clare is not my favorite character here because of a lot of what felt like an obsession with her age and some questionable values regarding relationships, it made me want to pick up another book in the series.

Book # 6 in the Clare Carlson mystery

This mystery about a TV newswoman Clare Carlson held me captive from the opening pages. What a refreshing and captivating read. It starts with a bang when an explosive device planted in a car detonates killing Wendy Kyle, a private investigator catering to women who suspected their husbands of cheating. Undoubtedly Wendy had angered many people with her work: the list of suspects is endless. Clare knows it will be a huge story for her and sets out to find the truth.

What a page-turner this turned out to be, once started I simply couldn’t put it down. The story is witty, clever and mostly engaging. We are taken on a wild cat and mouse chase through the streets of New York while a television reporter provides us with a fascinating lens into the media along with the murder case. The pacing and plotting are excellent. In fact you couldn’t ask for a more exciting drama. Clare is smart, spunky and persistent: once she gets a scoop she is like a Pitbull she will never let go till she says so. I like the tone it makes you feel part of the TV newsroom with all its craziness and back stabbing.

With its snappy dialog and exciting plot “Broadcast Blues” is one of my favourite mysteries I read this year. Have no fear if you haven’t read the previous installment this one stand solid by itself.

This is the first Clare Carlson book I’ve read in this series. Clare is a dogged TV journalist in NYC, always eager for a scoop/story. She is investigating the death of Private Investigator Wendy Kyle, who was murdered in a car bombing. Although this is book six of the series, it is easily read as a stand-alone. This is a good story and I look forward to reading more from Belsky.

Admittedly, I have eclectic reading tastes that often take me away from the blog’s main them of murder mysteries, espionage stories, adventure novels, and thrillers. Recently, I've read a couple historical novels such as The American Daughters and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. There’s the 1930’s Nobel Prize winning work of Sinclair Lewis with Babbitt, a recent Pulitzer Prize winning novel for fiction (Trust by Hernan Diaz), an autobiography from Prince Henry (Spare), nonfiction histories of 5,000 years of Chinese history (From Yao to Mao), another history about the zeppelin era (His Majesty’s Airship), and a Pulitzer Prize winning biography about Robert Oppenheimer, American Prometheus.

Of course, I’ve never abandoned mystery novels. However, when I’ve been away from our primary theme for very long, it always feels so good to come back to a good murder mystery, especially when it involves an ongoing saga of a protagonist I’ve come to enjoy. It was like coming home after being away too long and sitting down in my favorite chair and reading for my own joy. That was exactly my situation when I learned that R. G. Belsky was about to publish a new novel, Broadcast Blues, the sixth in a series about Clare Carlson, a television reporter and news director in NYC. She is a most compelling character. Now approaching her 50th birthday, being a three-time divorce who is between relationships, dealing with a boss she hates, and facing the possible sale of her tv station, Carlson is desperate to have a new tawdry sensational story to chase down. The consistent thing about Clare is that there is always chaos happening around her in the Channel 10 newsroom. This story dives into NYC politics and crooked cops. Primarily, the story surrounds the murder of Wendy Kyle, who had been fired from her job in the NYPD, who had a very mixed police history of being praised for her good work and being severely reprimanded for overstepping her proper boundaries. She went on to become a notorious private investigator who specialized in catching wealthy husbands in the act of infidelity. She continued to be an irritant to the NYPD, so there were lots of people who would have been happy to see her dead. However, Clare seemed to be chasing a case for which there was no supporting evidence other than her intuition and need for a new story.

I could not put this one down. Belsky hits a nice balance between some good humor in the dialogue and real danger to his characters in the plot. I did not see the resolution of the main plot and subplots until the story got tied together at the end – didn’t see it coming. While Broadcast Blues could be a stand-alone novel, it’s my preference to read about Clare Carlson’s adventures in the order that the novels were published. This novel gets my strongest recommendation.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Clare Carlson is a TV investgative reporter looking the her next big story. An explosive car bomb
kills private investigator Wendy Kyle, a former NYPD officer. Kyle's specialty is cases dealing with
cheating spouses. Clare investigates not only Kyle's past and present clients but also her history
with NYPD. In doing so, she draws the attention of rich powerful people who are willing tp protect
their secrets at all costs. Will Clare unmask the real killer before she is stopped?
Sixth in the series, works as a stand alone.
#BroadcastBlues #NetGalley

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
Wendy Kyle was a police officer that caused a lot of trouble and was kicked off the force.. She then became a PI to try and take down powerful men. She ends up being killed. This does not stop Clare Carlson a TV news reporter from digging into the story to seek justice . There are powerful men who are involved and they don’t want the truth to come out.

This was an enjoyable read. The main character is dealing with turning 50, but with a young spirit and dealing with big possible changes in her professional life as well as ex hubands and boyfriend. Her current big story deals with lots of big issues, police corruption, infidelity, abuse, victimization but told in very readable style. Think my students will enjoy this, despite the age differences and maybe open their eyes to not being so different despite the age differences

This is book six of a series, but fine to read on it's on. Claire, a newsroom manager and reporter is on the case off a former police officer who was killed by a car bomb. She is smart, spunky, persistent and a rule breaker, not unlike the dead woman. Complicated case but told in an easy to read, sometimes humorous style. Good read.

A good book to get introduced to Clare.
My first book of Belsky, that I picked up purely based on the write-up on a news director's quest for news.
Starts off slowly, picks up momentum gradually and it has all elements of a mystery thriller.
As per the usual format for crime thrillers, there is a sudden unexpected twist in the plot during the last 100 pages and all the loose ends are nearly tied up to conclude the story.
My only concern is that all the crime novel writers make the reader a byestander or a mute spectator to the happenings. Very few writers invite the participation of the reader to solve the mystery.
This is the reason that Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmesmysteries are so evergreen , challenging the readers to solve the mystery by presenting all the clues

In any case enjoyed reading this book which kept me engrossed right till the end.

This book had me from the very beginning. Clare Carlson is head of the TV newsroom, but also a lovable on air personality who is known for breaking the big stories. And with the death of Wendy Kyle, former NYPD officer turned PI who is killed in a car explosion, Clare knows she has found her story. The police quickly “solve” the murder and close the case, but Clare is not convinced. The more she dives into it, the more things don’t add up. She continues to investigate and becomes a target for some powerful people including some members of the NYPD. With lots of twists and turns and red herrings this is a fun novel for mystery fans of all ages. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book by R. G. Bel sky I read, and, although is is #6 in a series, it stands well on your own. The heroine is an ambitious, driven journalist investigating the death of another strong, unconventional woman. It is well written, the story is more than interesting, and the protagonist is, if not the most lovable person, highly relatable.

R.G. Belsky adds to his list of enticing mysteries with his latest book Broadcast Blues. Wendy Kyle, a former NYPD detective who had been fired from the force, is blown up in her car (or so the reader assumes), and Clare Calrson, a successful TV newswoman, wants to know why and how it happened. She digs deeper and with fervor, coming to terms with the former NYPD commissioner who is running for governor. There is a multi-millionaire who is not always faithful to his wife, and there are several woman who figure into this confusing web of relationships.

This mystery is compelling and has some clever and interesting plot twists. Good reading and a smart list of characters keeps the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next.

Thanks to Net Galley and Oceanview Publisher for the opportunity to read this convincing mystery.