Ich bin vor einiger Zeit auf den kleinen US-Indie-Verlag Oceanview Publishing aufmerksam geworden und habe deren Newsletter abonniert, und so bin ich auf „Cultured“ gestoßen. Oceanview macht „Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense“, und zwar richtig gute – ich habe bislang ausnahmslos coole Stories aus diesem Hause gelesen, und ich kenne die Autoren alle nicht, aber Herrn oder Frau Lyle werde ich mir auf jeden Fall merken!
Also, auf Deutsch, hierum geht es: Jake Longly ist Ex-Baseballprofi und Besitzer eines angesagten Restaurants in Alabama. Seine Freundin Nicole ist erfolgreiche Drehbuchschreiberin in Hollywood, und beide könnten so ein schönes glamouröses It-Pärchen sein, allein: sie sind nebenbei als Privatdetektive in der Detektei von Jakes Vater Ray tätig, und das ziemlich erfolgreich. Der Vierte im Bunde ist Jakes alter Schulfreund Pancake, der nicht nur enorme Mengen an Nahrungsmitteln in sich hineinschieben kann und das Restaurant irgendwann mal leer gefuttert haben wird, sondern auch enorme Fähigkeiten als IT Hacker besitzt, und dem nichts verborgen bleibt.
Der aktuelle Auftrag des Teams führt in einen Kult hinein: April Wilkerson, die als Hostess bei „The Lindemann Method“, kurz TLM, arbeitet, ist verschwunden, und ihre besorgte Mutter beauftragt die Detektei, sie zu finden. TLM ist ein Resort für die Schönen und Reichen mit der Versprechung, sowohl Lebenshilfe zu geben als auch Finanztipps zu geben – zu schön, um wahr zu sein, oder? Jake und Nicole schleichen sich undercover ein und decken so einiges an Unstimmigkeiten auf, denn April ist nicht die einzige junge Frau, die von dort verschwunden ist …..
Mein Leseeindruck: Spannend, witzig, mitreißend. Ich fand schon ab Seite 1 den Stil richtig genial: Die meiste Zeit erzählt Jake aus der Ich-Perspektive heraus, und das tut er sehr lakonisch, sehr witzig, sehr authentisch. Eigentlich würde Jake nämlich gerne nur entspannt chillen und das ruhige Leben genießen, aber Nicole sieht das anders, und wo Nicole hingeht, da geht er halt auch hin. Klar. Und wenn das bedeutet, dass er sich in gefährliche Situationen begeben muss, dann ist das halt mal so. Für mich hat einen Großteil des Charmes der Story Jakes Erzählung ausgemacht, das war einfach oft genau mein Humor.
Ein zweiter Teil der Geschichte wurde natürlich aus der auktorialen Perspektive erzählt, wenn es um April ging, bzw., um die Machenschaften des TLM-Clans. Und das war dann weniger humorig, aber sehr spannend.
Natürlich weiß man schon sehr schnell, um was es geht: Menschenhandel und Prostitution. Und wer die Übeltäter sind (oder höchstwahrscheinlich sein können), weiß man auch relativ schnell. Also zumindest mir war das recht schnell klar. Das hat aber der Lesefreude keinerlei Abbruch getan. Die Story war relativ geradlinig, ohne viele unvorhersehbare Wendungen (fand ich), aber nochmals: das war hier auch völlig ok. Es ging darum, wie so ein Kult funktioniert und wie es kommt, dass so viele Leute auf derlei Versprechungen hereinfallen, und was so im Hintergrund abläuft. Und das war verpackt in eine coole Story mit sehr unterhaltsamen Charakteren.
Also, mein Fazit: grandios geschrieben, super unterhaltsam, interessanter und nicht alltäglicher Fall mit ernstem Hintergrund, ich war bestens unterhalten!
Das hier ist der 6. Teil einer Serie um Jake und Nicole, man kann aber auch mit diesem Teil einsteigen und verpasst nichts. Der Fall ist in sich abgeschlossen, und alles, was man über die Protagonisten wissen muss, erzählt einem Jake schon noch – passt 😊.
Besten Dank an den Verlag und Netgalley für das Rezensionsexemplar!

Pancake (Tommy Jeffers) and Nicole work for Ray Longly as PI’s at Longly Investigations
Jake Longly runs/owns restaurant, Captain Rocky’s in Gulf Shores.

Jonathon Lindemann runs a very profitable business teaching life coaching and confidence building with a path to success. Jonathon’s business is very successful in spite of displaying cult-like tendencies. When April Wilkerson is suddenly missing from her job, her mother hires Longly Investigations to probe.

An exciting thriller combining luxury, money and power and it kept me intrigued to the end. Loved it!

Cultured by D. P. Lyle
Jake Longly and super-hot Nicole are back with a new mystery. Jake’s enormous sidekick, Pancake, continues to stretch the bottom line of Jake’s restaurant with his apparent insatiability for food. A self-help financial whiz guru who seems to be too good to be true is the main protagonist. One of his acolytes, a comely young woman, has disappeared and Jake’s dad is hired to find her. Although Jake does not work for his dad, Nicole, and Pancake do and where they go he goes.
I enjoyed the book but not as much as the previous books. Nicole is a fast driver and Pancake is an insatiable eater, which has been established in previous books. Those two facts seemed to be overdone in this book. Over and over again it was mentioned how much Pancake eats and how fast Nicole drives. Perhaps a first-time reader would miss the redundancy but as a consistent reader. I just got tired of it.
I still think it is worth reading and it is entertaining. The trafficking part is certainly frightening.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for an advance copy of Cultured, the sixth novel to feature former baseball player turned bar-restaurant owner, Jake Longley, set in Alabama.

Jake and his girlfriend, Nicole, are drafted in to help his father, Ray, with a new case. Twenty-two year old April Wilkerson’s mother has not heard from her in over three weeks. April worked at Magnolia Farms, the headquarters of TLM, an upmarket investment club with steep fees and a rich clientele, run by financial guru, Jonathon Lindemann. Jake and Nicole are sent there as potential investors where they are greeted cordially and given a soft sell. Too much cordiality makes them wonder what is being hidden.

I enjoyed Cultured, which hides a dark subject matter behind a light, humorous tone. I did say, having read a previous novel, that I was one and done, but second chances are a thing so I decided to try again.

Jake Longley’s shtick is still tedious over the course of a novel, compromising mostly of how incompetent at life he is, now that his baseball career is over. Initially it’s light, bright and welcoming, but it never changes. Still, he brings a lightheartedness to a rather dark tale.

Given Jake’s approach it is obvious that the novel is designed for entertainment. Everything comes easily to them and there are few sticky moments, so it’s all about the plot and what’s behind April’s disappearance (more than I imagined). I found it interesting and it held my attention. The novel is mostly told from Jake’s point of view, but timely switches to others give the reader a hint that there are secrets to be revealed. They whetted my appetite for more and, boy, was I rewarded. The criminality was much more than I expected and far less pleasant than the tone would imply.

Cultured is not a profound read, but it’s entertaining.

Cultured relates the story of a mother who has not heard from her daughter for a period of three weeks and hires a private detective to locate her. Along the way, the reader is confronted with descriptions of how the wealthy live, a Madoff type Ponzi scheme, “dating” apps online, prostitution and several other topics. The novel is written in a manner which keeps the reader constantly turning pages to see what happens next. The writing is infused with humor and easily holds the reader’s attention span.
This novel is recommended for readers who enjoy this genre and I thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

Nicole and Jake are going undercover at Jonathan Lindeman's complex. This is a case that Jake's father "took on". A 'missing' girl even though she is 22years old. But did she leave Lindemann Farms on her own or has something else happened to her? Who is this Lindemann? Is he a con artist or does he really run a legitimate business? Nicole and Jake are about to find out. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

This was a fun story to write. Though the subject matter is dark and serious the story is light and bright. Hope everyone enjoys hanging out with Jake, Nicole, Ray, Pancake, and a bunch of bad actors.

This is the first book I read in this series. Unlike many other series, I did not feel that I needed to read the previous books in the series to understand the story. For me this is a plus for this book. Furthermore, I found the detectives in the story were a likeable group of people. The book was pleasant reading.

However, I am giving this book only three stars because the author did not provide sufficient transitions in the mystery plot line. The investment club that is being investigated is shown initially as appealing to wealthy women who doing some of the investing. However, when the detectives go undercover and explore joining this club, it comes across right away as appealing to solely wealthy men. For me to find the plotline believable, there would have to be a secret subgroup to make the plotline believable.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for honest review.

Laid-Back Mystery With Bite. Here in this sixth entry of D.P. Lyle's Gulf Coast based mysteries, we see so much of what makes this series so great. There is quite a bit of humor, a great sense of laid back Gulf Coast small town life, and a mystery that could prove to be either nothing at all or quite sinister indeed. Human/ Sex Trafficking is mentioned early as a possibility of what is happening, though to reveal if it actually is would be a massive spoiler. Just be prepared for the possibility, if that is a major no-go for your own reading tastes. Overall this is truly a great book full of heart and humor all wrapped up in a satisfyingly complex and dangerous-enough mystery. Very much recommended.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Oceanview Publishing and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Spectacular piece of fiction with suspense, twists and turns.