Review: One for the Money

Thanks to NetGalley and Boomerang Books for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

My brain feels like it is in so many different places, but I’m glad to finally be focusing enough to get this review out!

In One For the Money, D.B. Borton’s first book in her Cat Caliban series, after decades of marriage and raising three children to adulthood, Cat is ready for a change. She sells her suburban home in Cincinnati, buys a small apartment complex, and decides she wants to become a private investigator. When a body is discovered in one of the upstairs apartments in her complex, Cat gets her chance to try to solve a murder.

I will be honest, I almost DNF’d this book. I was fairly bored with it in the beginning and felt uninterested. I pushed through and I’m glad I did, because the story really picked up in the second half! I enjoyed Cat’s no-nonsense attitude and her renters/friends—I would really like to have had more details about them. However, I feel like the real scene-stealers of this story were Cat’s cats! I also liked how Cat often referred to her knowledge of detective stories and films throughout the story, as well as the Old Hollywood aspect to the mystery. At times, I felt that the dialogue was a bit forced and it took me some time to get comfortable with the main character.

I thought this one was alright. The story definitely picked up as it went on, and there’s a chance I might read more in this series, but I didn’t love it enough to want to read more this minute. If you like mysteries set in the late 80s/early 90s featuring a woman detective, give this one a try!