4-STAR REVIEW: ONE DEAD TWO TO GO by Elena Hartwell

The Eddie Shoes Mysteries: Book 1
Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Private Investigator Edwina “Eddie Shoes” Schultz’s most recent job has her parked outside a seedy Bellingham hotel, photographing her quarry as he kisses his mistress goodbye. This is the last anyone will see of the woman … alive. Her body is later found dumped in an abandoned building. Eddie’s client, Kendra Hallings, disappears soon after. Eddie hates to be stiffed for her fee, but she has to wonder if Kendra could be in trouble too. Or is she the killer?

Eddie usually balks at matters requiring a gun, but before she knows it, she is knee-deep in dangerous company, spurred on by her card-counting adrenaline-junkie mother who has shown up on her doorstep fresh from the shenanigans that got her kicked out of Vegas. Chava is only sixteen years older than Eddie and sadly lacking in parenting skills. Her unique areas of expertise, however, prove to be helpful in ways Eddie can’t deny, making it hard to stop Chava from tagging along.

Also investigating the homicide is Detective Chance Parker, new to Bellingham’s Major Crimes unit but no stranger to Eddie. Their history as a couple back in Seattle is one more kink in a chain of complications, making Eddie’s case more frustrating and perilous with each tick of the clock.

Private eye Eddie Shoes has finally found the evidence needed to close her case—clear evidence of a cheating husband. However, her client kept pushing off paying, and Eddie made the fatal mistake of not getting paid upfront. But when the mistress of her client’s husband ends up dead, this case becomes much more than Eddie expected in One Dead, Two to Go by Elena Hartwell.

Edwina Schultz, or as she prefers to be called, Eddie Shoes, is a private eye who investigates cheating spouses just to make ends meet. Her latest case involves discovering whether Matthew Hallings is cheating on his wife, Kendra. Unsurprisingly, Eddie gets the evidence of his infidelity and presents it to her client, Kendra. But Kendra seems hesitant to pay.

Getting payment, however, is the least of Eddie’s problems when two detectives arrive at her office to inform her Matthew Hallings’ mistress has been found dead. Oh, and one of the detectives happens to be Eddie’s old flame. And if things couldn’t get any worse, her mother arrives at her door ready to make herself at home. Trying to juggle her personal problems with those of her client, Eddie must figure out if the Hallings are involved in the murder. But things are not as they seem, and the more Eddie investigates, the more questions she uncovers.

I really enjoyed the character of Eddie in this book. She is funny and confident but also a little self-conscious. The dichotomy of her character made her much more believable and made her easy to connect with. I also like the character of Eddie’s mother, Chava. It was fun to see how they went from distant to nearly inseparable by the end of the novel.

Hartwell is a great author, and her writing is solid. What I did struggle with was the pacing. It was so incredibly slow for about 2/3rds of the book. Then it goes from zero to sixty in the last third. I know this was the first book in a series, but the character and world-building bogged down the book and made it very hard to stick with. I kept hoping for the book to punch it up, but it felt a little convoluted when it did. It was especially disappointing as I believe Hartwell is a better author than what the pacing showed.

One Dead, Two to Go is full of twists and turns and keeps you guessing the whole way through. Don’t miss a chance to join Eddie and Chava in their next adventure!

Elena Hartwell spent several years working in theater as a playwright, director, designer, and educator before turning her storytelling skills to fiction. Elena is also a senior editor with Allegory Editing, a developmental editing house, where she works one-on-one with writers to shape and polish manuscripts. If you’d like to work with Elena, visit www.allegoryediting.com.

Her favorite place to be is at Paradise, the property she and her hubby own south of Spokane, Washington. They live with their horses, Jasper, Radar, and Diggy, their dogs Polar and Wyatt, and their cats Coal Train and Cocoa. Elena holds a B.A. from the University of San Diego, a M.Ed. from the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

She also writes as Elena Taylor, to learn more visit www.ElenaTaylorAuthor.com

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