I am so glad I got to read an advance copy of book 1, now I will need to keep my eyes peeled for book 2. I can't wait to see what adventures Emma and her gang of amateur sleuths get up to.

Of course there is the possible romance that could happen between Emma and the two hunky men that have appeared in her life, can't wait to see if anything happens with either man or maybe both (saucy possibilities). And I cannot wait to see where the "Friend for Hire" business leads Emma in the future.

by Laura Bradford

The first book in the Friend for Hire mystery series is fast paced and fun. Her work as a travel planner has slowed to nothing and Emma Westlake is trying to find new sources of income when a friend suggests that she offer herself as a paid companion. It seems to be going great --until one of her clients drops dead at open mic night halfway through his poem. He'd already warned her that four of the audience members wanted him dead and because Emma left the venue before the police showed up to investigate, she's looking a little guilty herself. Luckily two of her clients are extremely enthusiastic about helping her figure things out. I loved this one and can't wait to spend more time with Emma and her quirky clients.

When Emma's travel planning business slows down to a mere trickle, she realizes she needs to find a new line of work. A friend suggests trying to earn a living for doing something Emma knows she's good at – being a paid companion. She figures she has nothing to lose by trying, and is surprised when possible opportunities start arriving in her email inbox. When one of her clients drops dead during their time together, Emma jumps to the top of the list of suspects.

I really liked this author's Amish Mystery series (and wish it would continue!), so I was excited to learn that she has started a new series. As with most first-in-a-series books, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The setting is rather nondescript, but it didn't play much of a role in the story, so that didn't bother me. I liked the primary characters, and look forward to watching their relationships develop as the series progresses. There is the possibility of a love triangle here, which makes me wary, but hopefully, it will be short-lived.

As a nice change of pace, Emma was very reluctant to get involved in the investigation, but was goaded into it by her friends, Dottie and Stephanie. It will be interesting to see if Emma is more willing to join in the 'sleuthing' in future books. I was unable to guess the identity of the killer, but that's nothing new, so it won't keep me from reading the next book in the series.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele

Plus One for Murder, the debut Friend for Hire mystery, sets a good foundation for what I hope will be a long running series.

Emma Westlake’s travel business is floundering, and she is in desperate need of a new source of income. While lamenting her situation to an elderly lady with whom she has a weekly afternoon tea appointment, Dottie suggests that Emma do exactly what she does for Dottie for others…hire out as a companion. Emma scoffs at first, but the calls seeking her assistance start coming in immediately since Dottie is well connected. When freelance journalist and pot stirrer Brian Hill requests she join him at an open mic night, and then keels over shortly after taking the stage, Emma wants nothing to do with the investigation. However, her new client Stephanie and Dottie dive right in looking for clues and motives. Emma remains a reluctant sleuth until….

I think the premise of this series is great, and I can envision many future clients’ circumstances leading to murder investigations. There is a lot of potential here. One of my favorite things about the story is Dottie’s avid love for cozy mysteries which fuels her desire to be an amateur sleuth. She uses them almost as an amateur sleuth instruction manual. One of her favorite books is from another series by author Laura Bradford.

The supporting characters, including Dottie and Stephanie, make the book. They are funny, entertaining, and the true stars of the story. Emma’s other client Big Max steals any scene in which he appears, and her dog Scout is front and center throughout the tale. This leads me to Emma…I want to like her so much but thus far find her quite vanilla. The whole time I was reading I kept wondering where her friends and family were? What about her life before this book begins? It just feels odd, and she could really use some character development. I hope she becomes more flushed out in the second installment. There are hints to a potential love triangle coming. If so, I pray it is quickly resolved.

The mystery is well thought out and executed, and the pace is steady throughout (despite Emma’s dithering about investigating). There are four suspects from the get go (the victim gives Emma their info right before stepping on stage) so investigating is focused from the beginning. However, there are lots of clues and misdirection that keep readers guessing about the killer’s real identity. Each suspect is viable, each of their motives is engaging, and they all eventually weave together to make a satisfactory conclusion.

Overall, I enjoyed A Plus One for Murder and will definitely give the next book in the series a try.

Emma wanted her own business. She's tried being a travel agent but that wasn't working out. The old lady she visited said she should hire out as a friend. She wasn't sure about that but Dottie has a few friends that call for appointments. She finds out she likes the work.
Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on December 7th.

She goes along as a friend with a man who is going to read poetry. They eat, he goes up to speak and shortly thereafter he falls over dead. He had a bad heart but that's not why he died. He was poisoned.

Emma wants to leave it to the cops but her female friends don't want to do that.

There are several suspects. It takes a long time to weed out who might have done it. But Emma gos to brace the killer alone and almost dies...

It's not a large city but there was plenty of crime for those so inclined.

This was good read.

Laura Bradford has a slam dunk win with the first book in her A Friend for Hire series, A Plus One for Murder. The storyline is engaging and the characters are fun. I loved the three amateur sleuth combo of Emma, Dottie and Stephanie. It was fun following along in their investigation. I look forward to the next book in the series, A Perilous Pal scheduled to release summer of 2022.

This is an interesting one. On the plus side, Emma as a struggling freelancer trying to put together a new business once her travel agent gig goes kaput is super relatable. There's a lot of humor in here, like when Dottie calls her out about the cookies. And there's also a lot of heart, like everything with Big Max and her encouragement of Stephanie. On the minus side, the ludicrous idea of being a friend for hire almost made me skip it entirely (though I'm convinced now!). Emma's protestations of not wanting to try to solve the mystery get old pretty quickly. And the budding romance and the utterly stupid decisions made near the resolution...could we please let our amateur sleuths have SOME common sense and sense of self-preservation? Please?

Overall, though, this is a great diversion and an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"A Plus One for Murder" is a strong start for Laura Bradford's "A Friend For Hire Mystery" series. I always enjoy her books and was delighted to have the opportunity to read and review this one.

The story is about Emma Westlake, a travel agent whose business failed as more people started planning their own trips. Emma is down to one small income as she is being paid to visit and have tea with an elderly woman named Dottie. Dottie's husband had made the arrangements so his wife would have companionship after his passing.

Dottie pushes Emma towards a new business continuing with what she already does for Dottie. That is being a friend for hire. Emma gets two clients quickly as Dottie has lined them up for her. Things seem to be off to a good start and she places an online ad offering her services. In this case, the third client is not the charm. He's a pompous jerk who offends everyone enough that someone wants to kill him. On their "date" where the client, Brian Hill,, is set to read a poem he is instead murdered, although at first murder isn't suspected. Emma just wants to get away from the situation and takes off before being questioned. She also took a piece of paper that Brian had given her showing pictures of four people in attendance at the event who he said all wanted to kill him.

Dottie is an enthusiastic cozy mystery reader and she and Stephanie, another of Emma's clients, push Emma to help them investigate the murder on their own. Can the trio solve the case before the police can? What if the police don't really want to solve the case? It may be up to the women to get the job done.

I liked the book overall, but I especially liked how the cozy mystery readers decided to fancy themselves as amateur sleuths just like how things play out in the genre. That gave this book an extra layer of familiarity between readers and characters. The premise of being a friend for hire is a new one in a genre that is often repetitive from series to series. Bravo to Laura Bradford for her originality!

There wasn't much information shared about Emma's background and although that left me wondering that also leaves many options open for different routes the series can take.

This is a good story with interesting characters, a solid and engaging murder mystery, and enough suspects to keep you guessing. I absolutely recommend this to cozy readers as a five-star series debut!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I usually really enjoy cozy mystery but this one just wasn't for me. I'm sure plenty of people will enjoy this book. Sadly it just wasn't for me.

This is the first book of a new series. I wasn't sure about this book based on the description but I love Laura Bradford books so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did.
With so many people now planning their own trips, travel agent Emma Westlake needs a new job. When friend and client Dottie makes the suggestion that Emma does for others what she does for her, be a friend to some lonely people Emma thinks it will never work. But when one call after another comes in for a friend she decides to give it a try. Unfortunately when one of her clients falls dead in front of her she is drawn into the mystery by some of her other clients.
This is a great first book for a series with fun relatable characters, mystery and heart. I look forward to the next book.

The author did a great job in staging this well-written and fast paced whodunit. The tone was very comfortable making it easy to follow along with what the author intended. From the start, I was pulled in immediately and could not put this book down until all was said and done. The suspect pool was small, but it was the backstory and the motive that moved the story forward with visually descriptive narrative and engaging dialogue. There were plenty of red herrings that kept me in the guessing game as I devoured every spoken word. When I thought I had a handle on who was doing what to whom, the author changed direction that enhanced my reading pleasure. Bonus is seeing a few familiar names that put a smile on my face. Overall, I love the cast of characters and their diversity in age which made their interactions in this enjoyable drama come alive. I can’t wait to see what adventures await Emma in the next book in this delightfully appealing debut series.

A Plus One for Murder by Laura Bradford is the first book in the new cozy Friend for Hire Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries each book in this series will feature it’s own mystery to be solved within that book so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. However, there is character development that carries over from book to book for those that follow the series and characters from the beginning.

Emma Westlake has always wanted to be her own boss and run her own business but things are not going so well with Emma’s attempt to do just that. Emma had decided that she would open her own travel agency and did alright for a while but clients have been few and far between with travelers just booking themselves online these days.

As Emma goes to visit an elderly friend, Dottie, she can’t help but share her troubles. Dottie immediately suggests a new business to Emma to be a friend for hire since that is essentially how they became friends. Emma finds the idea ridiculous at first but then cautiously tries it out. However, as Emma does book a client who wants her to attend open mic night and cheer for him she instead finds herself witness to his murder.

My first thought in seeing this new cozy was what the heck is a Friend for Hire so of course I had to pick up the book and find out. As odd as this occupation may seem the protagonist actually made it work and found clients which made sense so I became interested in seeing where else the story would take me. The secondary characters actually made the book for me more so than the protagonist as she did have a few moments that seemed a bit too naive. Overall though I did like this one enough to start this first book out at three and a half stars and to want to return to it in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

A series debut featuring entrepreneur Emma Westlake. Emma was a travel agent with her own business, but online stuff has pretty much evaporated her clientele. At the urging of a friend, she starts offering companion options: gym buddies, platonic dates for events, checking in on the elderly.

One of her first clients is doing a standup poetry reading on Open Mic night and wants a friendly face in the audience. It's a strange request, especially when he confides he has invited four people who would just as soon see him dead. After starting on his mysterious and accusatory poem, he keels over on stage, a victim of poison.

Emma is a pleasant enough character but it's an odd set-up and doesn't always hang together well. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Hire A Friend, who knew that such a thing existed, but in this new cozy series, it works for our main character, Emma.
When her small business failed, Emma tries to find a new job, and a friendly suggestion to hire herself out as a friend, intrigues her.
Although not quite sure if she really wants to do it, requests begin to come in, and Emma tries it out.
Things turn bad when a client gasps his last breath in front of her, and she needs to find out exactly what happened.
I liked the idea of this book and I found all the characters to be quite likeable.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

#APlusOneforMurder #NetGalley

A Plus One for Murder is a solid start to a new series with a lot going for it. It checks all the cozy mystery boxes, but I particularly enjoyed the vividly written secondary characters. I loved the endearingly eccentric Big Max and the genuinely funny and witty Stephanie. I thought the dialogue between Emma and Stephanie came across so naturally, like real-life convos we would have with friends. Stephanie stole the show in every scene. The in-story references to cozy mysteries are also a cute nod to the genre and play well with how our somewhat reluctant sleuth ends up sleuthing. The book's premise gives the author a lot to work with for future books, as many new people can regularly come into Emma's life. Hopefully, in future installments, we get some of Emma's backstory. This book was enjoyable to cozy up with on a rainy fall day, and I am looking forward to the next one. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book has its reader, I have no doubt, but sadly that reader is not me. I finished it but don’t think it’s likely to stick with me.