A couple weeks ago I was given an awesome opportunity. I was asked by Rick Polad the author of Change of Address to read and review his first Spencer Manning Mystery. Of course I jumped at the chance. How often is someone given the opportunity by the author to read their book and write a review for the world to see? Well, I had this great opportunity to do just that. I had two weeks to read this book and was hoping all along that I would be able to read it in this allotted time. I say this because it was a lent copy on my Kindle and I tend to read slower on my Kindle. But after I started reading it, I knew that having it read in a two week period was not going to be a problem.
Change of address is the first in what I hope to be a several book series. The second one is due out the end of July. Change of Address is a edge of your seat mystery. It takes place in Chicago and is told in first person through the eyes of Spencer Manning, the son of a police chief who is not sure if he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps. Instead he went into the Army and even went to the police academy. Still undecided what he wants to do, he decided to go backpacking in the backwoods of the Yellowstone National Park. Unfortunately that trip is cut short by a telegram saying that his parents were killed by a drunk driver.
He goes home to take care of the arrangements of his parent's funeral, which for anyone would be tough. What is even harder is being back home and surrounded by so many different memories. Still undecided what he wants to do with his life, he decided to get his private investigative license. His first case comes from an old friend who wants to find out who the father of his niece is; his sister's daughter. Now comes the hard part, all Spencer has to go by is a guy with light brown hair pulled back in a pony tale that she refers to as "Uncle Ronny." Spencer didn't know what to make of this little girl or where to go from here. After visiting with this sweet little girl to see what other information he can get from her, he has a little bit more to go on. See, apparently "Uncle Ronny" said that he would take her for a horse back ride.
With this new found information little did he know that Spencer's world was going to be turned upside down and taken on a rollercoaster ride. Not to mention the readers are taken on a rollercoaster ride.
Little did Spencer know that by finding out who the mother of his friends niece is, would he find out how his parents were really killed. That is one of many surprises in this book.
With that said, if I tell you anything more about the book, I'm going to ruin it for you. This book has it all, murder, suspense, and intrigue. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a curve ball is thrown at you and it leaves you wanting to read more to see how each character plays a part in all of this.
This is a must read. So run not walk to your nearest book store or download a copy to your Nook or Kindle for this amazing read.
The next Spencer Manning Mystery will be out at the end of July and guess who will be anxiously waiting. This girl, that's who.
Mystery Moon
