Beginner's Luck: A Paul Grey Murder Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Fine first effort!
Review: A shady antique dealer named Ralph Meeker had a sweet deal going. He would sell stolen art to wealthy clients and then blackmail them with threats of exposing their "crimes." When both he and one of his victims, Senator Allan Puckett, turn up dead on the same night, police conclude that it was a murder suicide and quickly clear the case. However, Lindsey Grey, who was mentored by the Senator and her husband, amateur sleuth, Paul Grey, cannot believe that Allan Puckett would kill himself or anyone else for that matter. So Paul sets out to find evidence that will clear the Senator, remove the cloud that may hurt his wife's chances of getting elected to her mentor's seat, and release insurance funds to the man's wife.
For a guy whose regular job is some sort of contract data entry, Paul Grey is a pretty methodical detective. He does get tripped up, as beginners often do, by starting with a premise and then trying to develop evidence to prove it rather than allowing the evidence to develop the premise. However, he's evidently read enough mysteries and watched enough Law and Order to doggedly track down leads and continues to investigate every angle until he comes up with a pretty plausible theory.
Then, taking a page from Charlie Chan, he gathers all the suspects together at Denny's telling them that he knows who the culprit is. Unfortunately, it turns out that Grand Slams are not only on the menu when several of the gentlemen take exception to Paul's probing and accusations. With everyone furious at him it's no wonder that his car is blown up. But now at least the police are willing to listen and begin to be more open to the idea that the case was not quite so open and shut.
In her breakout novel, Beginner's Luck, Cheryl Ritzel has created a strong foundation for her proposed series staring Paul Grey. With a twist on the usual detective mysteries Paul Grey is just a regular guy who has a knack for winnowing out facts where others would have given up. And, despite some beginner's boo-boos he manages to solve the case with lots of hard work and determination...and, well maybe a bit of beginner's luck.


Rating:
Summary: An entertaining whodunit
Review: Cheryl Ritzel is a Middle School teacher who writes as an avocation. She has a background in Politics and Psychology.

Paul Grey's wife, Lindsey, is running a campaign for the Senate. Her uncle is Allan Puckett, who is Atlanta's fortieth-district Senator. Allan has been grooming Lindsey to step into his shoes. But Allan is found dead in his bathtub of a gunshot wound to the head and everyone assumes it's suicide. Paul Grey begins a personal investigation that also involves the art deal Ralph Meeker, who has also been found dead. What do an art dealer and a senator have in common? Stolen art:

"When I saw it I knew for certain it was hot. On the back of the canvas was a mark that said 'Property of Weider Private Collection.' I immediately asked him if it was indeed stolen. He laughed, saying what on earth did I think? Did I really think I could get an original Metcalf legitimately? I was livid. I shouted for him to get out. He just shrugged and left claiming that he'd be seeing me."

Of course the police think that Allan Puckett is behind the murder...everyone is in agreement about the stolen art. It is up to Paul to track down and interview all persons who attended a campaign party for his wife. He knows that one of them has the answer to the riddle.

Ms. Ritzel does a nice job of weaving a tangled web of deceit in this amateur sleuth thriller. She is intent upon keeping the audience in the dark right up to the end and succeeds. She also handles her male protagonist with panache, which isn't always easy to do. Paul Grey isn't too wimpy, or too macho. He's just an ordinary guy trying to help out his wife's family, and he and his wife have a wonderful give and take relationship. Paul manages to get himself into a dangerous denouement, but even that is handled with lots of finesse.

Beginner's Luck is an entertaining whodunit written with a large audience in mind...it's not too risque, yet the usual tension is there. A good effort by a writer with lots of skill and verve.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read! Everything you want in a murder mystery!
Review: I read "Beginner's Luck" while on vacation at the beach, and couldn't put it down to go swimming! The book's story flows smoothly for an enjoyable read and has all the things you want in murder mystery: Intrigue, Sex, Humor, and Emotion.
I chuckled, I cried, and I tried to solve the mystery (of course, the author outwitted me for a great ending)!


Rating:
Summary: Does it take skill or beginner's luck to solve this mystery?
Review: Paul Grey has the misfortune of meeting Ralph Meeker on a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth on his trip to Atlanta. But even more annoying was to have the same little overweight, heavily-gold-decorated art and antiquities dealer on Paul's return trip home. Ralph was a real pain in Paul's neck, and everyone else's on board, for that matter.
On his return home from a late night shift at work Paul learns of the apparent suicide of Senator Allan Puckett, and the murder of antique dealer Ralph Meeker. The news hinted that the Senator had killed Meeker then two days later killed himself. Paul found it too hard to accept.

Paul's wife Lindsey is into politics. Senator Allan Puckett was like a father to Lindsey, and became her mentor. She became hooked on politics when Allan got her a part time job in the Capitol. She worked as a lawyer's aide until such time as she would feel she could become an elected official. She finally felt the right time had arrived. To further progress, Lindsey and Allan had hosted a dinner to kick-off her election campaign.

During the party Paul witnessed Allan and Ralph Meeker having a very heated argument. Paul is interrupted by Lindsey before he has a chance to approach the arguing couple. By the time his attention gets back to the couple they have disappeared.

Ballistics shows that an antique Colt Army revolver from Meeker's shop is the same gun used in both killings.

These deaths have a very negative effect on Lindsey's campaign efforts. Paul starts an amateur investigation into his friend's death, and an effort to clear the Senator's name in the killing of Ralph Meeker. Paul and Lindsey cannot believe that Allan murdered anyone, nor did he kill himself.

Paul runs into problems that place his and Lindsey's life in danger. As an amateur playing detective in this very convoluted case does Paul uncover the truth with his skill, or does he count on - BEGINNER'S LUCK?

Cheryl Ritzel has written a good twisty, turny, convoluted tale of murder, love scandals, and forgeries. In this her debut novel she has shown a great talent for plot and terrific talent for dialog. The dialog is so real it's like eaves dropping on someone's conversation.

Looking forward to Paul Grey's next case.

-Shirley Truax, All About Murder