All Bets Are Off: A Samantha True Mystery

Called into a lawyer’s office early that morning, Samantha True’s life was about to change drastically. The lawyer, Tyson Lockett, passed a piece of paper to Samantha to impart some troubling news – her husband, Carson Holmes, had been killed. Looking uncomfortable, he told her there was still more bad news. He passed the death certificate to her and asked her to look at it carefully. The information was not correct. The lawyer said her husband used that death certificate to establish a new identity and the man she knew as “Carson Holmes” was not really “Carson Holmes”. The real Carson Holmes died from cancer 10 years ago. The third shock was that he was actually married to someone else – divorcing, yes, but it had not officially happened yet. She slipped unconscious to the floor as darkness surrounded her. The lawyer woke her and she ran to the plastic trashcan to deposit her lunch. Sam was told that everything Carson Holmes owned reverted to his estate and belonged to his actual legal wife. The lawyer couldn’t even tell her his real name. But he did tell her to get rid of anything associated with his name as fast as possible. He told her to transfer the money in her joint account immediately – she had been keeping her own money in the joint savings account so she could quit her job, which she had just done! That was all she had to live on now – but the account was already empty. The lawyer said Carson had left his private investigator business to her by putting it in her name. The building lease was paid for a year. But she knew nothing about being a P.I. She got up and stormed to the door as the lawyer told her to be careful who she talked to, and to forget Carson Holmes had ever existed. Now the curious Sam will ignore the lawyer’s warning and try to uncover the truth of how her life got so messed up. All she has left is the private investigator business, so she studies up on YouTube videos to see what she needs to do. But when people come around trying to get information on Carson, she knows she is in over her head. How can she stay safe? Who are these people? And who was Carson that these strangers think she knows something? What are they looking for? This was a good story with a clever story line. Sam was a strong character who didn’t let disaster hold her back from taking care of what she needed to do. Grab your copy and see how if she can survive against an unknown enemy!

Plucky New PI Tries to Sort It All Out Even though the author does tell us in the blurb what exactly happens to the heroine at the start of the book, I still was a bit shocked to read all of it, to see her world turned upside down so quickly--the money part especially got to me. Poor Samantha! But the heroine gets back on her feet as best she can as she tries to figure out the mystery of it all. I liked Samantha; she’s a great protagonist. Even though the world did its best to get her down, she kept getting up and fighting the good fight. I am usually ambivalent about private eye mysteries, preferring amateur sleuth mysteries to those, but I quite enjoyed this one, probably because Sam is a newly minted PI who doesn't yet know her way around the business (much like an amateur sleuth). Enjoyable banter and humor were a surprising part of this book as well. This is the first book I have read of the series, and I might have to go back and read the first one.

Such a great read, so exciting. Whirlwind life this Samantha True has. Yet, heartbreaking to find out you do not know the man you married at all! So filled with mystery, danger, and a big learning curve, this is a book to set up for a lot of sequels (I hope). I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.