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I received this book for free from a book tour, the author. This review is voluntary. My opinion is not influenced in any way.
An Untidy Affair by MB Dabney Series: A David Blaise Mystery #1
Published by Per Bastet on June 25, 2021
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 264
Format: Paperback
Source: a book tour, the author
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Struggling Philadelphia private eye David Blaise gets two routine but unrelated cases on the same day in May 1985 - the day city police firebombed the MOVE house, which killed 11 people and destroyed an entire neighborhood.
When Blaise starts following a cheating husband and searching for a missing person who may not actually be missing, he also discovers his cases may be related, and that he is being followed.
When his tail is murdered, implicating the P-I, Blaise must find the true killer before he is literally buried alive.
My Thoughts
An Untidy Affair is a gritty, hard-boiled private eye novel that delivered. The story is set in the mid-1980s in Philadelphia. David Blaise is a PI with his own business and a former prostitute, Mae, as his secretary. Blaise finds himself wrapped up in more than he bargained for when two seemingly unrelated cases start having some common connections. And someone doesn’t want him connecting the dots…
The author has a wonderful writing style that kept me engaged and really brought the setting to life. The characters felt real as well. The suspense, humor, and relationships worked well to balance out the story.
If you’re looking for a suspenseful mystery that keeps you guessing, pick up An Untidy Affair. It’s well worth the read.
About MB Dabney
MB Dabney is an award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in numerous local and national publications, such as Indianapolis Monthly, NUVO, Ebony magazine, Black Enterprise.com, the Indianapolis Recorder, and the Indianapolis Business Journal. A native of Indianapolis, Michael spent decades as a reporter working at Business Week magazine, United Press International and the Associated Press, the Indianapolis Star, and The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest continuously published Black newspaper, where he won awards for editorial writing. He has co-edited two anthologies — Decades of Dirt: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem from the Crossroads of Crime; and MURDER 20/20 — and has published numerous short mystery stories, including Miss Hattie Mae’s Secret (Decades of Dirt) , Callipygian (The Fine Art of Murder), and Killing Santa Claus (Homicide for the Holidays). An Untidy Affair is his first novel.
The father of two adult daughters, Michael lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Angela.
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