Review: The Tell-All by Libby Howard

  The Tell-All

by Libby Howard

Life at sixty isn't quite what Kay Carrera expected. She's working as a skip-tracer for a PI who is desperate to land his own reality TV show. She has a new roommate who arrived with more than the usual amount of baggage. And her attempts at knitting are less than stellar – way less than stellar. Worse, the cataract surgery that restored her sight has also delivered an unexpected and disturbing side-effect. Kay sees ghosts. And when the dead turn to her for help, she just can't say no.

My Take:

Kay Carrera is getting life redefined at sixty, the hard way.  Her husband she's spent her life with has recently passed after suffering for years after a terrible accident. She's picked up a job as a skip-tracer for a PI, one who'd rather be a star. In order to keep her house, she's had to take on boarders... ones with problems of their own. She's had cataract surgery too, which cleared things up a lot, but gave her an unexpected side-effect - she's seeing ghosts. In the small town of Locust Point, there's not a lot of excitement... but all of that is about to change too.

With the discovery of a prostitution ring in their small town, things get really dicey, especially when the Madam turns up dead. And the ghost in Kay's eye is asking for help to solve the murder.

 

Content:

Drug Content:

PG-13 - There's a significant amount of drinking in this, mainly social drinking, but there's also a keg party where teens are drinking. The main character chides herself over how often she's seen with alcohol by her new tenant.

Violence:

PG - This is a murder mystery, so somebody is killed. Not a lot of blood and gore though.

Language:

G - The language in this book is squeaky clean. 

Adult Content:

R - Sorry to pop an R on this one, as there's no real sexual content on screen at all. This isn't erotica, which I don't review. But there's a prostitution ring that was operating in the city, and there are a ton of kinks discussed in some detail in the book, or at least defined. People can be pretty sick. 

Christian content:

Nada. There's one mention of praying, but it's to a goddess, and likely that's in jest. That having been said, there's some value here in at least the desire of a dad to hold his family together, and love of family. There's an instance where someone puts themselves in harm's way for someone else. There's also an undercurrent of persistence and diligence in getting to the bottom of an injustice. As many of us have had to do, Kay deals with a recent death of a loved one with grace and a few tears. Death is something all of us have to deal with here, and this book touches on grief well.

Final analysis:

I'll drop a warning here that there's a few short passages in here that might be triggers for some. But the writing in this novel is entertaining, witty, and engrossing. It rolls across the pages as a comfortable cozy mystery with a bit of spice and sauce, and I found it hard to put down. I liked the character development and even through all the sauce and sass there were some real moments. Five Stars!

About the Author

Libby Howard lives in a little house in the woods with her sons and two exuberant bloodhounds. She occasionally knits, occasionally bakes, and occasionally manages to do a load of laundry. Most of her writing is done in a bar where she can combine work with people-watching, a decent micro-brew, and a plate of Old Bay wings.