Invitation to a Killer (Augusta Hawke #2) by G.M. Malliet (Goodreads Author)
Colleen Chi-Girl's review Jan 22, 2023
Bookshelves: 2023, audio, contemporary, crime-mysteries, women-centered, maryland/d.c.
3-1/2 stars

This is the 2nd book in a series by G.M. Malliet called the August Hawke Mysteries. I love a strong female lead and would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and Dreamscape Media for this fun crime and mystery. This novel seems to fit well into the category of "cozy or humorous mysteries"; it isn't a cliff-hanging, tension evoked thriller, but if you're looking for a beach read or a novel to relax and have fun with, this is it!

The main character is Augusta Hawke, a successful mystery writer who seems to be in a slump or is too busy to write as she becomes enmeshed in solving a real crime/mystery at a D.C. party. Although there are a number of characters introduced, Augusta, along with Callie, her new and needy, friend, and an older male doctor from the party, are the main people to focus on.

There was a lot of deliberate, silliness and tongue in cheek humor, while Augusta deals with the outrageous and extravagant Callie, and the crime that occurs at her party. The narrator: Erin Dion, was good at channeling Augusta, but it was hard to distinguish the rest of the character voices as her voice range and tones didn't change that much. Putting it at a higher speed actually helped keep me in the listening groove.

The doctor also has an adult niece, very close to him, who becomes one of the more interesting secondary characters. From this point on, you'll be on your toes trying to figure out "who dunnit".

*more 2.5 stars*

This sucked me in right from the beginning and I was excited to follow Augusta on some whimsical thriller/mystery that was about to ensue. However, the more I got into it, the more political it became and the more I fell out of the story. Definitely not for me.

My biggest issue with this one was the narrator. With no major inflections for different voices, and just not enough variation or personality in the voice, it was hard to force myself to listen.

This on top of the far fletched/ kind of weird premise it builds itself on between the author and Callie, I just wasn’t interested in the plot enough to push through it to completion.

Prior to requesting this book I did not realize that it was the second in a series. However, I did not feel that it was necessary to have read the first book to grasp the story. Any character that was present in the prior book was reintroduced and explained the relationship of the main character to them. This book follows a mystery writer who gets herself involved in a murder investigation. I found this to be an enjoyable read. It follows a fairly large cast of characters in a 'who done it' narrative. I am still slowly getting into the mystery genre, as I more frequently read thrillers with a faster pace. So, the slower pace made it a little tough to get into at first. Overall I really enjoyed this read and would read again from this author.

Wow I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook! It hooked me from the very beginning and had me glued to my seat!

I really liked the premise of this book, but I think it took too long to get to the murder. There was a lot of buildup before the murder, which disconnected me from the story a bit.

I did not enjoy this book. It was not engaging and I was bored throughout most of it. Don’t waste your time.

DNF - I'm grateful for the advanced copy, but from the moment I started listening, it just didn't catch me/interest me. I was bored immediately.

Our amateur sleuth in Invitation to a Killer is Augusta Hawke, who doesn’t seem to actually do much writing. I guess she isn’t quite an amateur, she got her PI license after helping solve the case in the first book, which I didn’t read. This time around she’s at a party hosted by a lobbyist’s wife when a celebrated doctor dies. At first, the death is written off as a heart attack, but of course, we’re not surprised when it turns out he was murdered. Someone at the party killed him. Was it one of the CIA couple, the lobbyist or his wife, the book publisher, the image consultant, the congressman or his wife? It could even have been the cook or the butler. Augusta decides the police aren’t treating the death as the murder it clearly was, so starts investigating on her own.

Augusta is kind of a bland character, but hearing the story (I listened to the audiobook) from her point of view gave the whole thing a casual, conversational tone. We have a nice selection of suspects, each with his or her own secrets, no surprise in the Washington area.

Then we have the final Christie-like gathering of all the suspects. They even get snowed in. I don’t know. It felt a bit forced to me. And there was one twist too many. Or maybe that was the point and it’s supposed to be just a touch too much?

I think this worked fine as a stand-alone. We got to know August and her background well enough and the mystery was self-contained. I listened to the audio version. The narrator did a fine job with Augusta’s voice, but could maybe have done better at distinguishing some of the other characters.

A dinner party full of guests that barely know each other turns into a night they will never forget when one of the guests dies. Augusta is an author who writes mostly mystery and crime novels is approached to be a ghost writer for a memoir of inspiring Ambassador Callie and soon invited to a dinner party at Callies house. As Augusta tries to piece together why each guest at the dinner party was invited. When Doc Burke, a famous celebrity doctor who also uses much of his money and fame to help those less fortunate with cosmetic surgeries, dies of what appears to be a heart attack the group all need to learn to grieve in their own way.
Not much longer after the doctors death Augusta is contacting by someone saying they are the niece of the famous doctor and she needs her help to solve the mystery of what happened to her uncle and to see if she can help get his memoir published.

The twist and turns of this keep you guessing what really happened to the doctor and why. With connections to each guest at the dinner party getting revealed through the book it keeps you guessing right up until the end.

In this second installment of the Augusta Hawke mysteries, Augusta finds herself, once again, in the midst of a mystery. Callie Morgan, an aspiring ambassador and writer corners Augusta after one of her book signings: she wants Augusta to be her ghost-writer. Augusta doesn't have any interest in doing so, but she accepts an invitation to a dinner party at Augusta's ostentatious home. Towards the end of the night, Augusta is devastated to discover one of the other guests, Doc Burke is unresponsive in a chair by the fire. Was his death accidental or did something more sinister take place? The mystery is complex, but not convoluted, and had an enjoyable resolution. A great addition to the series.

I candidly reviewed a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley.

Augusta Hawke is a successful mystery writer and a newly certified private investigator. When she's approached to ghost-write a memoir, she ends up at a dinner party where someone dies in a room full of people. Initially, the police believe it's a simple heart attack. When Augusta can't stop thinking of the death, she opens an investigation (procrastinating writing her latest book).

I enjoyed reading this book. There were enough characters to keep things interesting, and the characters were relatively distinct. I'm firmly placing this in the "cozy mystery" genre; there was mystery and just a hint of suspense, but no real thrill factor.

Throughout the book, I thought about the meta-experience of the author of this mystery, G.M. Malliet, writing about a mystery author solving mysteries. I thought that Augusta might be an over-powered or Mary Jane character. She was just naturally good at everything, and she never hit a real blocker she couldn't overcome on her own.

I would recommend this if you like cozy mysteries. It's in a series, but I didn't read the first one, and my experience wasn't impacted. I'll probably read the next one.

My thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to review this audio book.

Augusta Hawke is a crime writer asked by the wife of Washington D.C lobbyist to write her memoirs. So when Augusta attends a party thrown by Callie Morgan, a prominent doctor is found murdered. Augusta assists in solving the murder.

Enjoyed this. Loved the narrator. Was kept engaged with the twists.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape media, and G.M Malliet for the ARC.

I really wanted to love this book but found it very difficult to follow. I wasn't aware this was the second book in a series- perhaps if I had read the other one first it would have been easier (or if I had book instead of audio- there are a lot of characters and coversations without much change in the voices.). I would still encourage someone to read it and give it a try, it's an interesting storyline!

I adored the conversational tone of this audiobook! The protagonist, mystery novelist Augusta Hawke, narrates the story as if speaking to a close confidante and I found this very engaging. The principal storyline is the death of a renowned humanitarian doctor at a dinner party at which Augusta is present. While it seems that the man had a heart attack, subsequent events lead Augusta—and others—to question whether the doctor may have been murdered. But no one can come up with a reason why. The plot is complex and intriguing and I loved the Washington DC/Virginia setting and the political intrigue that surrounds the characters and their various attempts to write their memoirs in the background storyline. This audiobook is wonderfully narrated and in addition to being a smart mystery it is also very funny. I am looking forward to the next Augusta Hawke book! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

Thank you netgalley for giving me this audiobook. It was a really good whodunnit but I feel like it fell apart in the end. I was fully invested until the last couple chapters.

INVITATION TO A KILLER is the second book in the Augusta Hawke Mystery series by G. M. Malliet. While I haven’t read the first book in the series, I found it easy to follow the characters and never felt lost. I greatly enjoyed that the protagonist, Augusta Hawke, is a successful mystery author who gets involved in solving a murder, Agatha Christie style. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing who the killer was, with plenty of questions to keep Augusta on her toes. Was the esteemed doctor even the intended victim? Who confiscated the deceased’s remains? And why does the doctor’s teen niece feel the need to get involved? With some tongue-in-cheek humor about the writing profession and D.C. politicians and scandals, this is a light, entertaining whodunit that kept my attention throughout.

The narrator, Erin Dion, adeptly gives voice and personality to Augusta Hawke, but there wasn’t a huge range to cover the rest of the characters. However, the way the book was written made it easy enough to discern who was speaking.

I was provided an advance audiobook thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was provided with this audiobook from the publisher to review. This book was an interesting read. I found the narrator to have a great way of keeping me enraptured into the story. Augusta is a novelist who has found herself caught in the middle of a real life murder mystery after a dinner party, where the guests do not seem to be the most trustworthy members of society. Augusta goes to solve this murder by herself by going on investigation. I will say, the ending was a bit of a twist, but not an overwhelming shock. This book was just OK, not my favorite, but still finished it. I would probably mot read the next book in this series.

I just could not get into this book. It was extremely confusing who was talking because it was one narrator covering multiple voices. Unfortunately for an audio listener it made the book really hard to follow along to. I gave it till 40% until I DNF it. I had really high hopes for the story.

3.5 Stars
Augusta Hawke is a crime fiction author who is approached by Callie to ghost write her political life as a fictional work. Augusta is lukewarm about ghostwriting Callie’s life. Callie invites Augusta to a dinner party to better sell the idea. As dinner parties go, it was typical except when Doc Burke is found dead. The death is ruled a heart attack and the case is closed. Augusta has nagging doubts about Doc Burke’s death. As Augusta starts to investigate Doc Burke and their death many pieces of information don’t add up. Through her investigation she comes across, a manuscript, a niece, and a mysterious wife or two. In order to draw the killer out Augusta host’s a mystery weekend writers retreat and invites all the attendees of the dinner party. What secrets will come out during the weekend and will the killer be caught? Follow Augusta while they put the pieces of the puzzle to this mystery together to bring a killer to justice.

I enjoyed the book and didn’t realize it was the second in a series. It is good as a stand-alone book and I didn’t feel lost about the story line. I felt a little empty about some of the characters and others I wanted to ignore. There were a couple of character that I couldn’t understand why they mattered and thought of them as the red shirt guys from Star Trek TOS. That is until the very end of the book when everything was wrapped up quickly and then understood why they were in the book. Overall, I did enjoy the book but I didn’t feel quite fulfilled. I felt like something was missing and incomplete but unsure what it was. I would recommend this book to general mystery readers.

I listened to the first chapter at normal speed and then sped it up to 1.75. I really liked the narrator’s voice at 1.75 speed. There were not as dramatic in the fluctuations of their voice for various characters, but I was still able to differentiate the various characters without it.

#Net Galley provided an advanced listeners copy