First Chapter Review: The Bali Mystery by Linda Weaver Clarke

Linda Weaver Clarke is celebrating the release of the first book in her Amelia Moore Detective Series. This is a cozy mystery.

BLURB:  Amelia Moore, the founder of the Moore Detective Agency, specializes in missing persons. Her cases have taken her to some very interesting places and put her in some dangerous situations, but she always solves the case. With the help of Rick Bonito, her business is flourishing.

When Mrs. Brody hires Amelia and Rick to find her missing brother, they find themselves in Bali, Indonesia. They are mystified why her brother quit his job, put his home up for sale, and ran off to this mysterious and exotic island without telling a soul.

COVER: Like the covers for her other books, you can see great care went into creating this one. The setting and main characters are captured here in an eye-pleasing color scheme. I like the subtle texture to the background.

FIRST CHAPTER: Amelia has accepted a new case that involves finding Mrs. Brody's missing brother, William. It soon becomes apparent that someone would rather she not investigate William's disappearance. That's when Amelia calls in Rick to give her a hand.

KEEP READING: This looks like it will be another great book by Clarke. Though a short chapter, the reader gets a chance to meet the two main characters, and the author works quickly to set up the conflict. Told alternately from Amelia's and Rick's points of view, both characters' personalities shine through. Rick is a bit unorthodox in his approach, whereas Amelia is a no-nonsense kind of gal. It looks like Clarke might be weaving a romantic element into the plot between the two main characters. Right now it's more like Moonlighting, where the two detectives are determined to be just friends while considering the winning attributes of each other secretly. I'm curious to see where these characters go from here.

Series: Amelia Moore Detective Series
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 29, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1497327156
ISBN-13: 978-1497327153

Purchase at:

Amazon paperback

Amazon Kindle

Barnes and Noble paperback

Barnes and Noble Nook

Smashwords

iTunes

Through April 28th, you have a chance to win a free copy of The Bali Mystery by visiting Linda's blog at http://lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com/2014/04/interview-with-mystery-and-sweet.html

I read the first chapter of this novel from the author's website. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.