Book Review: Stay Tuned for Murder

 Stay Tuned for Murder is the third in Mary Kennedy’s Talk Radio Mystery Series. I reviewed the first in the series, Dead Air. In Stay Tuned for Murder, Maggie Walsh is back as a radio talk show psychologist and determined amateur sleuth. This time she’s dealing with a pushy psychic, the opening of the town’s time capsule, and, of course, murder.

Here’s a summary of Stay Tuned for Murder:

Maggie Walsh, Florida’s newest radio talk show psychologist, thinks that being tucked away in her studio will keep her safe from all the crazies. But when she hits the airwaves, there’s no telling whom she’s reaching–and who wants to reach back.

Maggie is a natural on the radio, but she’s still learning how to play the ratings game. Her big guest star is self-proclaimed oracle Madame Chantel, whose on-air “chats” with the dead are the talk of Cypress Grove–until Chantel makes some grim predictions at a séance and one of the town’s most beloved citizens is found murdered.

Meanwhile WYME is busy promoting the opening of a fifty-year old time capsule. But the more Maggie learns about what might be unearthed, the more she suspects that the timing of the murder was no coincidence. The appearance of another body has Maggie rushing to find the killer–and wondering if there might be something to Chantel’s ghost stories.

The first thing that draws you into this series is the characters. Maggie is believable – even her urge to put herself into the middle of investigations. Her mom is so over-the-top, you’ll wish she were your mom. And Rafe, Maggie’s semi-boyfriend and local cop, in this book, isn’t on-scene much but when he is you can feel the heat between him and Maggie. As for Mary Kennedy, the author, she is a practicing clinical psychologist so she brings credibility and realism to Maggie.

In Stay Tuned for Murder, you get to meet quite a few of the townfolk. Kennedy keeps the pace moving. Maggie is either on the air or sleuthing around the town. While Chantel the psychic swoops into town and creates havoc, the people in town are like most residents of a small town – they all know each other right down to the good, the bad and the nutty.

 Stay Tuned for Murder
By Mary Kennedy
ISBN: 978-0-451-23235-9
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Even though Kennedy keeps you reading with twists and unexpected turns, for me, it’s the characters who stick in my head. I give Stay Tuned for Murder by Mary Kennedy a Hel-Yeah.

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FTC Disclaimer: Mary Kennedy sent me this book. That did not influence my review. As I said, I like the people living in Cypress Grove. It’s a small town where people know each other and nothing ever happens. Except murder. Because of that, I’m hoping two things. One, no one begins to notice that the murders began after Maggie arrived in town. Two, Cypress Grove doesn’t suffer the Murder, She Wrote effect and run out of live people. I’m waiting on the book where a hurricane hits. I’ve already got a plot in mind and a title. I see Maggie hunkered down at the radio station when a body flies past the window. It’ll be called Passing Wind. If you want the details, just call me, Mary. And if YOU want to hear from Mary Kennedy, come back tomorrow when she’ll be posting here on Straight From Hel.