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L.C. Turner

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Stilettos & Scoundrels: A Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery Book 1 (The Presley Thurman Mysteries) Kindle Edition

by L.C. Turner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 1,187 ratings

Book 1 of 18: A Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery

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A dead senator, a new puppy, and lots of small town intrigue.

Presley Thurman is back in her hometown, Hunter’s Hollow, and she’s planning an easy month running her mother’s flower shop, Petal Pushers. But when she delivers flowers to Senator Daniels, she finds him dead in his hotel room.

Presley's once again embroiled in a mystery where she's the number one suspect. Determined to get herself off the suspect list, she and her brand new puppy, Bella, are on the case. Too bad Presley’s old high school crush, Cooper Sands, keeps getting in her way. He’ll learn pretty quickly that Presley won’t stop until she solves the crime.

Can Presley find the senator’s killer and keep herself out of jail?

The Presley Thurman cozy mystery series is perfect for fans who love clean mysteries with quirky characters, a canine sidekick, and lots of clues along the way!

“A wonderful gem found amid the dross that seems to becoming the norm for cosy mysteries these days.” – Goodreads

“Plenty of mystery with twists and turns to keep you swiping the pages of your Kindle. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, reminding me of the style and humor of other authors like Janet Evanovich, Lois Greiman and Gemma Halliday! The ending is a complete surprise and I love how nothing in this book leaves you hanging! This book is completely entertaining, attention-grabbing from the getgo, moves along at a good pace with fun characters and a well-written mystery!” – Amazon

“I love Presley's character. She's strong, fiesty, and still finding her way. Turner did a great job with the "mystery" of the story. There were lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing.” -Amazon

“I was so entertained by Stilettos and Scoundrels that I wasn’t even tired. What a fabulous story. My rating is five stars for this one. If you like mysteries, shoes, food, and coffee, this is a great one for you.” -Baroness Book Trove

“I really enjoyed Stilettos and Scoundrels, it's chicklit-ish mixed with mystery and a lot of fun.” -My Reading Room

Previously published by Laina Turner. This new edition is reworked with new characters and even more cozy fun.

From the Publisher

Stilettos & Scoundrels Book 1

Editorial Reviews

Review

Fashionista meets shopaholic meets amateur sleuth. Stilettos & Scoundrels is a story that is tons of fun, sassy, quirky and will leave the reader laughing as they race through the pages to see what happens next and solve the mystery. --Amazon

From the Author

Stilettos & Scoundrels is my first foray into fiction writing. As an avid reader all my life I always wanted to write but never had the confidence. When I finally decided to pursue my dream of being an author I didn't know I was in for such a fun time. Oh sure it's been hard and as I write the sequel to Stilettos I think of how much better I am at writing now. But it has been so satisfying to have accomplished a dream.
Laina

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003YJEQPY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Laina Turner Media; 6th edition (March 21, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 21, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2029 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 226 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #147,754 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #596 in Mystery Series
- #2,686 in Cozy Animal Mystery
- #3,673 in Cozy Animal Mysteries

Customer Reviews:
4.0 1,187 ratings

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L.C. Turner

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Laina Turner writes clean, cozy mysteries that always have a bit of humor. When she’s not writing she’s a college professor teaching business and English.

Through all her career choices, she has continued to have a passion for writing stemming from childhood, where, as an only child, she developed a vivid imagination. It was during that childhood that she devoured anything Scooby Doo and Trixie Belden, and a love of the cozy mystery was born.

In her spare time, she’s also the personal assistant to her daughter, who’s involved in many sporting activities, while she tries to convince her husband that no, 3 dogs and 1 cat is not ‘too much.’

She is proud of her varied experiences in life from barrel racing, to being on the dance team for a semi-pro basketball team, to being a mom of 2 amazing kids.

To find out more information about Laina and her books, check out her website at http://www.lainaturner.com/

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4 out of 5

1,187 global ratings

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Clara B. Ray

Fun, Light-hearted, Freelance Journalist Murder Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2013

Verified Purchase

My first time reading author Laina Turner's work. I found it to be a fun, light-hearted, entertaining "Jr. Detective" murder mystery; which was written in language perfect for college co-eds & students. After reading the author's biography, and learning that she was a college professor, I was not surprised. I think this book 'Stilettos & Scoundrels' is one that would be especially enjoyed by college students, and those college students just entering the professional work force. I liked the main character best, of all the elements of this story.

Presley Thurman was a young professional, on her first post-college graduation job. She was a hard working, dedicated employee on the job, and a zany, fashionista, fun loving person, when off the clock. After seven years of successfully working her way up the corporate ladder, Presley is challenged-- as many employees are today, with sexual harassment. Presley refuses to compromise, and instead leaves her secure job, for the not so secure territory of freelance journalism.

The murder mystery she stumbles into is filled with an array of personalities including corrupt politicians and over protective, but loving parents. Her junior sleuthing is actually well written, keeping her zany fashionista persona throughout. There is some engaging predictable and unpredictable romance, and I think the author did a good job of keeping a murder mystery both interesting and fun. A perfect book for long airplane, train, or car trips, a day at the beach, a long weekend, or any time the reader simply wants to enjoy a light-hearted mystery. I plan to read more from this author, and have already purchased two more of Laina Turner's books.

3 people found this helpful

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fussy old lady

Nice interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2023

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Nice plot twists, several things you won't see coming, although Presley being so intent on being in the thick of things is just plain dumb when she is so scared.
Also she expects a puppy under 8 weeks of age to keep her schedule...hmmmm not Gonna happen. A puppy that age needs lots of sleep, oh and they don't usually chew stuff up till about
16 weeks when they start losing baby teeth. At 6 to almost 8 weeks they are still gumming stuff not eating dry kibble as all the puppy teeth aren't in yet..wet food please before she does damage to the poor baby.
That aside. Its well worth buying. No icky over the top stuff here , no swearing etc. A nice clean read.

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Erin G

Intriguing cozy mystery

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2016

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3-3.5 Stars

Stilettos & Scoundrels is an intriguing cozy mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. Interesting characters, an intricate mystery, with a touch of action and suspense.
Presley Thurman has had enough of her lecherous boss so she quits her job and goes home to visit her family. She can't believe her luck when she finds out Senator Tom Daniels is in town. An interview with him, and subsequent article she plans to write, could be just what she needs to prove she's perfect for the job she wants. The day after her meeting with him, the Senator is murdered, she decides to do some investigating of her own. Placing herself in the middle of the investigation, she quickly realized she's also put herself in danger. With a cast of characters consisting of old friends, past crushes, meddling parents, and some sketchy newcomers, Presley has her work cut out for her. Will she be able to get the scoop on who the killer is?
This book was slow to begin with, laying the groundwork for the story. As a result, it took me some time to get into it. Once the murder was introduced and Turner began weaving her web, the story really picked up. With a variety of characters and motives, I had a hard time singling out who could have done it. I also enjoyed the romantic aspect Turner included. I'm eager to see what happens with Presley and Cooper in the future. I have a feeling Presley isn't done with her amateur sleuthing and I can't wait to see what trouble she gets herself into next.

2 people found this helpful

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Tari H.

New to me series with some awesome updated covers and a fun bunch of characters-and Bella!

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2022

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You just can't help liking Presley-hey I was definitely a fan from the moment she picked up that sweet puppy on the road. She might do some impulsive and crazy things and nope, she doesn't listen too well either, but she's new at this whole amateur sleuthing thing. And by reading another review, I found this was the author's first fiction work, so I think she did a pretty darn good job too. She and Presley were newbies together and I'm sure they've both learned a lot along the way.

There was definitely plenty of sleuthing and lots of theories that led to an action-filled showdown-I had no idea who to trust at one point. I enjoyed reading the entire explanation afterward and liked that there weren't any loose threads, at least none that I noticed. I've got the next in series so I'll be reading it soon I hope.

I love the updated and colorful covers for this series, and isn't Bella just the cutest? The old covers seem drab in comparison, and I'm super happy about it being in Kindle Unlimited as well so I can borrow any that I don't already have.

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024

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This is a cute cozy mystery with the usual trimmings. Though the first in the series, it's actually the third I've read. I started with one of the Christmas-themed ones (Mistletoe and Murder) and then read the prequel (Promotions and Poisons). Don't worry if you start out of sequence. Though there are serial plotlines, the mysteries are self-contained and the author keeps you up to date.

This one reads reasonably well. It serves up a scrappy protagonist, a cute and lantern-jawed love interest, an adorable dog (OMG, is Bella adorable. It's some kind of superpower), a twisty mystery, and a cast of quirky characters to alternately serve as suspects, killers, red herrings, and Greek chorus. The protagonist is working at her mother's florist shop between executive jobs (it's usually a bakery or a florist shop or a boutique in this kind of mystery), so she's back home after a long absence.

Overall, I enjoyed it, though the protagonist was Dumb on Cue a few too many times, especially at a critical point near the end. She does learn from those moments, though. Also, the murderer was fairly hard to guess and most everyone got what they deserved. I think I liked the Christmas one better, though.

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Srivalli R

It was nice

Reviewed in India on November 30, 2019

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For a cozy mystery it was interesting and fun to read about an amateur detective trying to find the murderer. There were quite a few characters and things going on in this book. I hope it's this long because it's the first one in the series. Going to read the next book to finalize my decision.

Nicola Kirby

Keeps you guessing until the end

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

Presley Thurman is a feisty and very likeable character.

This book has a bit more depth than your usual chic lit book and is less predictable too. Yet, not so much as to make it a labour to read. Once I got into it, I couldn't put my kindle down.

The narrative of Presley telling us the story of how she goes back to her hometown, to interview a senator, only to find herself in the middle of a murder investigation, is conversational and fun to read.
She meets up with old school friends and other local characters she hasn't seen in a while. Which of them, if any, has killed the senator? Why was he killed? As events unfold and Presley discovers more secrets, you are kept guessing right up to the end who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? and, who killed the senator?

Elisa

Awesome

Reviewed in Australia on June 28, 2014

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I love Presley's character I can't wait to read more she is funny and awesome the story was great I couldn't put the book down

Kindle Customer

Presleys change of heart

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

We meet Presley named after Elvis in this new cosy mystery.

When on a home visited to see her parents Presley stumbles into trouble in the shape of a dead Tom Daniels senator.
With many twists n turns along the way

Well worth the read especially if your a Janet Evanovich fan

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Stilettos & Scoundrels Book 1

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