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In$urance to Die For: A John Smith Mystery

By: Charlotte Stuart
Publisher: Level Best Books
Publication Date: April 11, 2024
ASIN: B0CZND56PB
Reviewed by: Diana Coyle
Review Date: February 8, 2024

When John Smith took the Claims Adjuster position for Universal Heartland Liability and Casualty Assurance Company of America, he never thought he might be involved in trying to solve a murder case, along with a high-value art and jewelry case, but that's just what happens in In$urance To Die For by Charlotte Stuart, book 2 in the John Smith mystery series.

John is just an average guy trying to do his job and stay employed, especially since he seems to annoy his office manager, Emma, all the time. They seem to not get along no matter how hard John tries. When he goes out on a routine art appraisal job it seems like things should be cut and dry, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. When a client asks for an appraisal of her artwork and jewelry, things get out of control fairly quickly for John. Then he finds out that a young gentleman by the name of Lonnie, who is an avid drone hobbyist, is found dead, and there are connections coming back to John’s clients. He now finds himself in deeper than he could ever imagine. Does John find out what’s going on with all the snags he’s experiencing with his art appraisal clients? What exactly can John do to fix these major issues? Can he save his job while trying to get to the bottom of this crazy mess? Why was Lonnie killed?

This murder mystery will have readers eagerly turning the pages to discover what happens next for John. This poor, average guy just wants to go to work and keep a low profile, and it seems the more he tries, the more he finds himself deeper into not only a murder investigation, but a high-priced art and jewelry investigation that Lonnie may have been involved in. When John starts seeing things aren’t matching up on his appraisal claims, he reaches out to his best friend, Sergeant Bruno McGinty, who is an officer in the local precinct. As Bruno discusses the strange details of these cases with John, Bruno realizes that John may be more involved in these cases than his friend should be...

This reviewer found In$urance To Die For to be a mystery that had plenty of intrigue, along with numerous twists and turns that would keep any mystery reader riveted to their seats. Stuart portrayed John to be an average guy, trying to get by in his day-to-day life. The ironic part was that no matter how John tried laying low, trouble always seemed to find him. Readers will feel empathy for John, especially since it was obvious he did have a bit of a self-esteem issue. He seemed like an odd character, but not in a bad way.

Another thing that stood out was the author’s dry, but hilarious sense of humor. While the whole story was written with an air of seriousness to the mystery, the crazy things John experienced daily gave this reader plenty to laugh at throughout the entire book. From John, who lived on a houseboat, going through the daily attack and harassment from a murder of crows that just seemed to have a vendetta against him, to his nosey mother constantly meddling into John’s business because he remained a middle-aged man who wasn’t married, this story had plenty of things that would give any reader pause for some good laughs amongst the seriousness of the rest of the story. Readers will laugh out loud on numerous occasions because John just always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time throughout the story. It was nice to see toward the end of the novel that he gained some respect from his friends and fellow colleagues.

Quill says: This reviewer highly recommends In$urance to Die For: A John Smith Mystery! Readers are sure to enjoy this heart-pounding, while also amusingly funny, mystery. Well done, Ms. Stuart!

To learn more about In$urance to Die For: A John Smith Mystery, please visit the author’s website at: charlottestuart.com/