I made it to the third chapter and gave up. The story is dull and the dialogue not believable

Forbidden vices is a book by Michael L Douglas. This book follows the exploits of a retired private investigator, Charlie Redmond. A woman brings the case of her father who was murdered. The case was unsolved and she wants to uncover the mystery to attain closure for herself.
Charlie Redmond is on the verge of packing his bags for a much needed vacation, when he is confronted with this mystery. The victim was the CEO of huge company manufacturing medical equipment. A highly respected and liked man. The story weaves in a bunch of characters from various angles. There are some with a strong motive for the murder. With basically zero evidence and nothing much to go on; Charlie painstakingly puts the bits of the puzzle together. This story has a slow start at first but picks up speed around the last 10 chapters. There are good detailed descriptions of the various road trips the detective takes to track down the various possible suspects. The ending takes one by surprise.
Some problems in this story were the unrealistic plot lines in some places and abrupt endings in others. It is definitely not a nail bitting gripping kind of story. It is a good one time read.

3.5 Stars

Charlie Redmond is about to leave on vacation ... extreme hiking ...something he's looked forward to for quite awhile. But it looks as though vacation is going to have to wait.

A very pretty young woman appears on his doorstep asking for his help. Her father was murdered almost 2 years ago and the killer has still not been caught. Charlie retired from the police force and his life plan is to take as few cases as he can. And how can he say no to a pretty face.

Her father was found in his office with the throat cut. The owner of a business that sells medical devices, it seems like he was loved by everyone. So who would have wanted to kill this man?

Do not expect a lot of excitement with this book. It's more of a low rumble in the background. Charlie is persistent if nothing else. Like the Energizer bunny, he keeps going and going and going ..... and won't stop until the gets the answers he's looking for.

Trying to put together this man's life from various people ...family, friends, even work-related adversaries and a woman he was supposed to be having an affair with ... is proving much more difficult than he had expected. One by one he tackles the potential suspects and it's up to him to figure out who's lying and who isn't.

His investigation turns up a small link to a woman who was also murdered the same day. Charlies goes by his gut feelings ... but what could possibly be the link from one to the other?

This is a well-written story with lots of characters that will have you guessing who-dun-it until the very end. I rather like Charlie. Again, he's not flamboyant and he won't stand out in any room, but that's what makes his interesting.

My thanks to the author / MCP Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of FORBIDDEN VICES. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

2 stars

Charlie Thompson is a retired detective and is on his way to New Zealand for a hiking vacation. He is very much looking forward to it when he receives a caller at his home. No one ever comes to his home. It is Carla Willems and she wants Charlie to find her father’s murderer. It’s been nearly two years now and nothing is happening.

Of course, he takes the case.

There are some humorous moments in this book, like Charlie’s relationship with his scary 6’ 2” woman neighbor. But parts that are perhaps supposed to be funny come off more as juvenile. Charlie is a retired cop, so why is he acting like a twenty-something with some pot smoking dude?

The dialogue is somewhat facile. Are there really adults who speak like a teenager? I suppose there are.

I got tired of it and did not finish the book. At about 20%, I called it quits. Regretfully, there are too many books to read to spend time perusing one I dislike.

Thanks to Netgalley and MCP Books/Salem Author Services for forwarding to me a copy of this book to try.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's chwaracters and world are deep, well developed and described. All of of details that just enhanced the story and we'll crafted without word fluff and padding. I read. I loved, I reviewed. YOUR TURN. ...