This crime calls for an off-the-grid hero: retired-FBI-agent-turned-boardinghouse-landlady, Ethel Fiona Crestwater, and her double-first-cousin-twice-removed sidekick.

A complex and intriguing mystery with elements of lightheartedness a la Mrs. Polifax and Thursday Murder Club. This is the 2nd addition to a fun series and I look forward to more.

This was a fun listen! It was the second book in the series, but could have easily been read without the first. It reads like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but more lighthearted and with multiple POV's. A typical whodunit that has you trying to guess the ending the whole time.

Posted on my stories and feed on 9/30

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting mystery. I loved the backdrop of the book.

Ethel is a multi-faceted character with a lot to offer readers of all ages. At times, I wanted more Jesse. This can be read as a stand-alone, but I do tink folks who read the first book will be more engrossed. Folks who enjoy procedurals and books like Richard Oseman's Thursday Murder Club series or Stacy Abrams` may enjoy this. The pacing is a bit slower than Secret Lives, but the narrator is extremely effective in drawing the reader in and portraying each character.

DNF @10%

I didn't like or care about the plot and the writing felt boring and detached from the story.

One of Ethel’s lodgers is attacked and the man she was with killed. Why, what links them and will she be ok? Ethel is a retired FBI agent but she still has the skills and contacts to investigate and find the truth, together with her double-first-cousin-twice-removed.

Action packed novel where Ethel should not be underestimated. More people will be put in danger as secrets become known. Well written and well narrated (I listened to the audiobook). Great characters for us to enjoy.

This was a fun ride! I love that the hero and shotcaller/string-puller is an elderly lady! She is still kicking ass in her "dotage"! And now I want to be a 2nd cousin twice-removed! I am adding all of Mark de Castrique's books to my TBR!

#DangerousWomen
#NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, Mark De Castrique and dreamscape media for this ARC!

This audiobook was an interesting digest on politics and corruption. The MC a retired female FBI agent with her distant cousin solve an assassination of a secret service agent together. I imagine these two like my bestie and me solving murder mysteries together in our 80s heheh.

I super loved Ethel, the spy detective in her mid-seventies, that helped assist during this political murder investigation. A highly-entertaining and thrilling 2nd book in the series to the first, Secret Lives. Absolutely enjoyable as a stand-alone book too.

Thanks to NetGalley for an audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Mark De Castrique for this ARC adio!

I didn’t realize this was book 2 in a series so I had not read book 1 but I still really enjoyed this book!

We follow Ethel a retired FBI agent and her cousin Jesse to try and figure out a murder.

This is a well written, fast paced read. I loved Ethel and all all the other characters.
I will need to get more books by this author!

This book follows an intelligent former FBI agent, Ethel, and her double-first-cousin-twice-removed Jesse Cooper as they solve a case of political corruption. Ethel runs a rooming house and when one of her tenants is part of a botched attack, Ethel throws herself into discovering the truth behind the attack. This political mystery has Ethel unofficially investigating deaths and using her amazing skill set to try to keep Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter safe.

I found the book to be intriguing and entertaining, which made me want to keep listening. The narrator Patrick Lawlor did a good job making the characters come to life.

I realized at some point in the book that this was series, but it could easily be a standalone. Mark does a great job filling in events from the previous book when needed, I didn't feel like I missed anything. I will be getting the first book to read because I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5864794876

🎧4⭐️

(Secret lives mysteries)

This is a sequel, but the first book that I’ve read. It’s a political thriller/ conspiracy.

I had the audiobook read by Patrick Lawlor. I would have preferred a female voice for Ethel.

Our main characters are an unlikely duo Ethel a retired FBI agent in her 70’s with a nifty spy skill set, her accomplice is Jesse a distant obscure college aged relative, he is bright and tech savvy.

It starts with a robbery come murder. One of the injured in the robbery is Detective Frank’s niece.

Political/ conspiracy thrillers aren’t my favourite as they can be intense, the unofficial older main character gives it a more informal feel.
I have to say I liked Ethel, and admired her savviness, and ability to get where oil can’t! Her contacts with high level personnel is impressive.
The driving force for the plot felt believable and interesting.

The second book in the series featuring Ethel Crestwater is even better than the first, and very enjoyable on audio! Here 75 year old Ethel and her sidekick/double first cousin twice removed, Jesse, are thrust into a strange adventure when one of their housemates, a Supreme Court clerk, is assaulted. Very quickly Ethel seeks help from friends in high places and gets pulled into a series of events that could only happen in Washington DC, involving congressmen, lobbyists, justices, and all manner of law enforcement officers. The novel is fast paced and the plot is complicated enough to ensure lots of twists and turns. I love Ethel’s razor-sharp brain outsmarting almost everyone else, and the moments when Ethel is underestimated by other characters provides a great deal of levity. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

Colleen Chi-Girl on GR
***-1/2 stars rounded to 4 stars:

This was an interesting read on audio about political corruption in the capital and beyond. It highlights the intelligent and savvy, main character, a 75 year old power house of a female, retired FBI agent, by the name of Ethel Fiona Crestwater. Along with her doubled and removed cousin sidekick, they go after the bad guys and complete havoc is created. It’s a clever novel and some of the writing will make you chuckle aloud.

I’d like to thank Dreamscape Media, the author, and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC, a very cozy, exciting, thriller.

All of the characters were narrated by Patrick Lawlor and I felt it would have been much better in either one woman’s voice or Lawlor doing male and someone else doing female….Just my opinion.

Dangerous Women by Mark de Castrique
Narrator, Patrick Lawlor
Secret Lives book two
Suspend disbelief and hang on for a wild ride. Hilariously entertaining and made me want to go back and listen to the first book. There were a few references to book one but no spoilers. Definitely this one could be read as a standalone but why would you?
There were maybe just a few too many references to double first cousins twice removed but that is a small complaint.
Narrator was excellent for both male and female characters in all age ranges from 20’s to 70’s.
It was a fun quick read and I look forward to more books in this series.

When a border of Ester‘s name Brooke and her friend get a salted and he dies of course her and Jesse go to the hospital after all it was an old border and a good friend of hers that asked if his niece could stay with Esther to begin with she was doing an internship for one of the justices as was her friend who was murdered. Although Detective Gwynn Meadows is on the case because Esther has more pull than he does she’s going to do her own investigation and thanks to a homeless man with good teeth Jessie‘s hacking ability and her friends in high places she’ll find out this case is way bigger than her last one but she’ll have to do it soon or more people could die. I love the stories with Esther and her second cousin twice removed so much! They’re so smart and I think the author Mark De Castrique must be a very intelligent man because for a cozy mystery this one almost went over my head but I think even if I did I would probably just continue reading because these are so much fun. This is a book I highly recommend if you love cozy mysteries with an IQ then you definitely love these books with Esther and her cousin Jesse I certainly do. This is one book you will not guess the ending of because once again I never do! I want to thank the publisher and Net Galley for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Before requesting this novel, I didn't realize it was the series' second book. Based on my experience, you can read this series (so far) out of order. This was everything I wanted in a cozy mystery. It was funny, fast-paced with an intriguing "who dun it."

In this novel, Ethel, a 75-year-old FBI retiree, investigates the death of a Supreme Court law clerk and the assault of her lodger with her cousin twice removed, Jesse. Having not read the first novel, I was pleasantly surprised that the heroine is not your typical 75-year-old. Ethel is a well-connected badass who can easily maneuver tense settings. This is a perfect book for fans of Murder in Marlow, The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, and The Thursday Murder Club.

You know I enjoy a book when at 50% read, I start researching other books by the author. This is a new, welcome mystery into what is now known as the elderly detective genre. Ethel is FBI; her sidekick is Jesse, a cousin twice removed. The mystery starts off with a bang, no pun intended, with a shooting of a couple entering the man's home. His companion is the niece of a well-seasoned detective and old pal of Ethel's. Ethel lights up any scene that she is in. The character development, as well as the plotline, deserve an A+ in my book. The narration is also outstanding!

Name of Book: Dangerous Women
Series: Secret Lives Book #2
Author: Mark De Castrique
Narrator: Rachel Lawyer
Publisher: Dreamscape Media and Poison Pen Press
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 26, 2023
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages: 320

The heroine in this series is 75-year old Ethel Crestwater, is a retired FBI agent and now a boardinghouse landlady. Jessie Cooper is her partner who is fun tech expert also -first-cousin-twice-removed.- whatever that means
When two Supreme Court law clerks Court are attacked, one is dead and the other in a coma, now there is fear that Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter might me next.

Ethel is still very much connected in Washington, D.C.; she and Jessie become unofficially involved in the investigation.

Ethel definitely made this story interesting and enjoyable

This is only my second Mark De Castrique. I look forward to another!

Want to thank NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Poison Pen Pres for this audio eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 19, 2023.

Another terrific entry to the “Elderly Detective fiction” genre (think Richard Osman’s “Thursday Murder Club” series, Deanna Raybourn’s “Killers of a Certain Age,” Steve Martin/Martin Short’s “Only Murders in the Building”). Go septuagenarians!

This is a sequel to “Secret Lives” and again 75 year old Ethel Crestwater uses her age as a cloak of invisibility. Returning is her young sidekick, her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, Jesse, a university student, who is taking lock-picking lessons from Ethel. She’s a retired FBI agent turned boardinghouse landlady — and her tenants (mostly young people in law enforcement) are her family. One of them, Brooke, a law clerk for the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (a relative youngster at 48), was mugged while her companion, another law clerk, died. The backpacks containing court papers of Robert (the victim) and Brooke disappeared. Ethel has a LOT of connections (Brooke’s uncle is a DC homicide detective and former boarder) and after surveying the circumstances, she decides to, well, meddle.

It’s eventually apparent the attack does involve a current case before the Supreme Court, where the Chief Justice will most likely be the tie-breaker. Ethel is a delightful sleuth — she has the wits and guile of people half her age (or a third of her age) and the story is better when Ethel is in that part of the story. We do get asides for the various nefarious characters who are working to conceal their crimes, but Ethel is the bright spot in each chapter. The legal case is a bit complicated (with lots of interested parties) and those parts can so slow as they get explained.

Audiobooks work best with fewer characters and “Dangerous Women” might just have a tad too many to keep track of. However, the narration was bright and discerning — this is still mostly like a police procedural and as long as you don’t take frequent breaks, the story flowed.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Brooke has blue eyes and the Chief Justice has brown, but that’s it.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO There’s talk of environmental concerns on a large scale, but nothing seems out of place or season.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media (audiobook), Poisoned Pen Press (book) and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!