Mystery Review: Death in Advertising

 

 

It's another tour and review from Great Escapes--and this time, I have a guest post from author Laura Bradford as well!

Death in Advertising (A Tobi Tobias Mystery)
1st in Series
Cozy Mystery

Author: Laura Bradford
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (February 7, 2017)
Approximately 300 PAGES
ASIN: B01FBZXSFW

Synopsis

When Tobi Tobias decided to open her own ad agency, having to moonlight in a pet shop wasn’t part of her vision . . . of course, neither was murder.

Sometimes when opportunity knocks, the door you open leads to a closet. That’s certainly the case for Tobi, whose weekends spent cleaning cages in her best friend’s pet shop may soon be over. She’s just landed her first big break—Zander Closet Company needs a catchy campaign slogan ASAP, and Tobi thinks she’s got the right hook to knock ’em dead: “When we’re done, even your skeletons will have a place.”

But when a real dead body topples out of a showcase closet, she’s about to discover there is such a thing as bad publicity. To save her fledgling business and not get killed by the competition, Tobi takes on a new pet project: solving the murder. But with a stressed-out parrot as the only witness to the crime, Tobi will really have to wing it to put the cagey killer behind bars.

My Review: 
This book has strong characters and a fun story. I was quickly grabbed, and empathized with Tobi and her troubles. The mystery and romance aspects of the book were well balanced (i.e., more mystery than romance, but not by too wide a margin), and the writing is good.

As usual, I had a few quibbles. I thought too many of the characters (in particular, Tobi's friends) were too perfect. She expresses some aggravation with a few things, but mostly this batch of people is amazing and we should all be jealous that our friends aren't as constantly there for us. I also found that some of the plot elements on which the mystery turned were a little obvious to me (and somehow completely obscure to Tobi). I could have used a little more herring in the red herrings, I think.

All that said, I zipped through the book in a couple of sittings, and enjoyed the whole story. And I loved the parrots and their role in the story. I think the series has real promise, and Tobi has a real career in adverts ahead of her!

About The Author

While spending a rainy afternoon at a friend's house more than thirty years ago, Laura Bradford (a.k.a. Elizabeth Lynn Casey) fell in love with writing over a stack of blank paper, a box of crayons, and a freshly sharpened number two pencil. From that moment forward, she never wanted to do anything else.

Today, Laura is the national bestselling author of the Amish Mysteries, the Jenkins & Burns Mysteries, and the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (written as Elizabeth Lynn Casey). A new cozy mystery series will be added to the mix in 2016 with the release of The Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries. Laura is a former Agatha nominee and the recipient of an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award in romance. In her free time, Laura enjoys making memories with her family, traveling, baking, and visiting the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo. For more information and all the latest book news, visit her website at www.laurabradford.com.

And now, let's hear from Laura Bradford herself on advertising and Tobi Tobias.

It Takes A Really Good Slogan
By Laura Bradford
(Author of DEATH IN ADVERTISING)

            Let’s play a little game, shall we?

            I’ll give you the first few words of a famous ad campaign, and you see if you can come up with the company.

            Ready?

            Here we go…

1)    Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce…

2)    Two all beef patties…

3)    And they told two friends…

4)    The quicker picker upper…

Now, I’m going to bet you got at least half, if not all right, yes (you can check your answers at the end, when we’re done)?

That, my friends, is the power of a really good ad campaign—a jingle, a combination of words, a catch phrase that stays with you long after the commercial is over.  And that is what drew Tobi Tobias (the main character in my new series—the Tobi Tobias Mysteries) to the world of advertising as a career. In fact, she loves what she does so much, the whole slogan creating thing has a way of seeping into her regular life via a place she affectionately refers to as Slogan Land (don’t look it up, it exists only in Tobi’s brain).

But as wonderful as this imaginary escape is, it can’t shield her from the reality that her agency is going under. Bills are piling up, her ability to pay her one and only employee is waning, and she’s past due on her rent at her apartment.

Like it or not, the writing is on the proverbial wall for Tobi in DEATH IN ADVERTISING (book # 1).

She needs one campaign—one chance to show her stuff. If she can find that, other campaigns will follow. It’s how her business works.

And that’s when Andy and Gary Zander show up on her doorstep. Desperate to save their own fledgling closet company from obscurity, the mismatched brothers hire Tobi to put Zander Closet Company on the map once and for all.

It looks like a match made in Heaven until Tobi’s slogan becomes a blueprint for murder…

***

Curious to see if you’re right in my little ad game? Here are the answers:

1)    Burger King

2)    McDonalds—Big Mac

3)    Faberge Organics Shampoo

4)    Bounty Paper Towels

***

Author Links  
Website: www.laurabradford.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/laurabradfordauthor  
Twitter:  @bradfordauthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/laurabrad4d/   

Purchase Links:  
Barnes & Noble      
Amazon

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 Tour Participants
February 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW  
February 6 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
February 7 – Reading Is My SuperPower - REVIEW   
February 7 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT  
February 8 – The Book's the Thing – REVIEW  
February 8 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT  
February 9 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT  
February 9 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW  
February 10 – Shelley's Book Case – REVIEW  
February 10 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT  
February 11 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW    
February 11 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST    
February 12 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, INTERVIEW  
February 12 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT  
February 13 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – REVIEW  
February 13 – Carstairs Considers – REVIEW  
February 14 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW  
February 14 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT  
February 15 – The Ninja Librarian - REVIEW, GUEST POST  
February 15 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW  
February 16 – Varietats – REVIEW  
February 16 – Author Annette Drake's blog – SPOTLIGHT
February 17 – Girl with Book Lungs – REVIEW  
February 17 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW
February 17 – deal sharing aunt – REVIEW  
February 18 – Book Babble – REVIEW
February 18 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW  
February 19 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 19 – The Power of Words – REVIEW  

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