Double Cover: A Warren Kingsley Mystery

By: Sherban Young
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: July 2011
ISBN: 978-1463724849
Review Date: November 2014
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld

Murder, mayhem, and comedy, all nicely wrapped up and contained on a small island resort in Connecticut, are the backdrops for a book that takes two minor characters from another of the author’s series, throws them together and produces hysterical results.

Thomas Redding, a rather unpleasant but fairly wealthy tycoon, has called a corporate retreat at the Berwald Island Inn, a charming hotel tucked away on the small island community of Berwald Island, CT. Complete with a really annoying motivational speaker, Redding expects attitudes to improve and sales to climb after the extended meetings. Unfortunately, as the story opens, we meet Redding, er, actually it would be more accurate to say, we learn of his early demise. It seems he’s been whacked by one of his antique golf clubs.

Redding must have known that he wasn’t a popular guy because prior to being murdered, he had hired a bodyguard. Handsome, buff Warren Kingsley might call himself a bodyguard, but it seems most of his clients end up dead, including Redding. Now certain that the killer is after him, Kingsley hires his own bodyguard, Borodin Mahrute. Together, the two bodyguards work to solve the crime and get sidetracked by other, more pressing things, such as making soup!

Kingsley makes fun of the local inhabitants, including Sheriff Ernest Ballard, although Kingsley seems to have mastered the art of ‘bumbling’ all by himself. Forced to stay on the island until the murder is solved, Kingsley and the other guests at the hotel quickly become bored. Together with his bodyguard Mahrute, and another employee of Redding’s, Harvard Blake, Kingsley stumbles upon clues and manages to get attacked by a masked thug, shot at, and pursued by a woman who has love on her mind (or could it be murder?).

I absolutely loved this murder mystery, and read it in one sitting. More than just a fun story, this book is about the odd mix of people staying at the inn and those living in the close-knit community of Berwald Island. The author has a real talent for bringing his characters to life and this goes well beyond the main characters of Kingsley and Mahrute. Judy the motivational speaker, Vanessa the seductress from somewhere overseas (Romania? Bulgaria? Kingsley just can’t place that accent…), and Trevor, the handyman who can’t change a light bulb to save his life, all play intertwined and comedic roles in the story. The dialogue is snappy, clever, and there’s at least one laugh per page. The murder seems to be solved about three-quarters of the way through the book, but don’t assume you know everything till that last chapter. Overall, a very satisfying way to spend several hours cuddled up on your sofa.

Quill says: Meet Kingsley and Mahrute, the new dynamic duo of comedic murder mysteries. See how they got started and I guarantee you’ll be laughing all the way to the last page.

For more information on Double Cover: A Warren Kingsley Mystery, please visit the author's website at: www.sherbanyoung.com