To read an interview with Amy Shannon, and an excerpt from Smashed, please see issue 5.
A December Top Read.
Smashed: A Savvy Macavoy Story
Amy Shannon
Crime/Suspense
Savvy Macavoy is not your typical private investigator. Her braids, jeans, and sandals always give off a unique impression on her clients. Savvy has lived an interesting life and with her best friend, Leonard at her side, loves living her life, her way. She isn’t ashamed of her childhood spent on the hippie commune, but has an estranged relationship with her six brothers.
Savvy is attracted to her whiskey but tries to maintain being professional when she’s working for clients. Savvy thought everything in her life was under her control, until she met Strick, a veteran forced into the homeless life on the streets. When he crosses her path, without thinking or forethought, something about Strick draws her into him, and she immediately helps him.
Savvy tries to focus on her case, enlisting Strick’s help, to search for the missing late husband of wealthy widow Angelica Margolis. Strick and Savvy try to solve the mystery of “The Missing Harold.”
Uncaged Review: Normally I’m not a contemporary mystery reader. But the author pulls you right in from the beginning and it was a smart, fun read. Savvy is a Private Investigator, that is smart, stubborn and even though she was even a cop at one time, she had a problem with authority, so she quit the force and went to work with her own PI business. The only other person working with her, is her gay best friend Leonard – practically a genius, but just wants to work with Savvy, even though the only thing missing from him being a lawyer, is taking his bar exams.
Savvy’s life has always been unconventional, from her two mothers, to her 6 gay brothers and father, ending up being the only straight one in the bunch. And even though she’s on the outs with her brothers and she drinks too much, she has a heart of gold. Seeing a homeless man scrounging for food in the dumpster behind her business, she takes him in, feeds him – and even gives him a job. Strick, is ex military, and down on his luck, but in Savvy he finds his purpose.
When a lady who needs Savvy to help her find her missing husband, the story and the mystery really get going. The characters are easy to like, the mystery itself is well thought out and original, and the pace of the book is just about right. It’s not perfect, but it’s a very entertaining and kept my attention the whole time. And now I really need a bagel. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 1/2 Stars
