Official Review: Murder at the Million Dollar Pier

Okafor Prosper · Post by **Okafor Prosper** » 02 Mar 2020, 22:27

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Murder at the Million Dollar Pier" by Gwen Mayo and Sarah E. Glenn.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, by Gwen Mayo and Sarah E. Glenn, is a mystery story that follows retired army nurses, Theodora "Teddy" Lawless and Cornelia Pettijohn, accompanied by Cornelia's uncle, Percival, on their vacation in Saint Petersburg. What starts out as a fun-filled, exciting vacation soon brings up a dark time in Teddy's past, as she encounters her violent ex-fiancé, Ansel Stevens. Bad memories of her time with him and the lies he spread about her after their break up didn't help Teddy keep her composure, as she slaps Ansel in public. Things get worse when Ansel turns up dead by nicotine poisoning and all fingers point to Teddy.

The book is set in the early 1920s and features the unique features of Saint Petersburg, including Roser park, the Vinoy hotel, and the local newspapers. The amount of work the authors put into knowing more about Saint Petersburg was evident in this book from how well they brought the city to life through descriptive and detailed writing. It was just as if I was on a tour of the city as I flipped through the pages of the book, and this was the first thing I appreciated about the book.

The story moves at a steady pace, giving the reader ample time to get to know the main characters. The character depth in the story is another area the authors excel in. It was satisfying to learn about the characters' backgrounds, likes, and flaws, and I could understand their attitudes and decisions in different situations. Teddy's outgoing nature and a great sense of humor made her my favorite character, and it was no surprise to see her run into trouble several times. Cornelia's conservative nature perfectly balances the equation.

As I went deeper into the story, it was even more fun joining Cornelia and Percival as they attempted to solve the murder mystery. The authors did well to keep me guessing on who the killer was until the end. Changing the point of view at certain times was also interesting, misleading, and helped me understand how some characters think. However, I felt like the story fell short of the kind of suspense I wanted at certain times.

Furthermore, Murder at the Million Dollar Pier is very well edited. I am very impressed by the fact that I didn't find a single grammatical error throughout the book that spanned over 400 pages in my format. This ensured that my reading flowed without interruptions.

All in all, Murder at the Million Dollar Pier is an engaging book that took me on a tour of a fun city while I worked on solving a murder. While the book is the second installment in the Three Snowbirds series and kicks off where the first book left off, it can be understood and enjoyed without having to read the first book. I rate this book 4 out of 4. It isn't a difficult decision to make, as there isn't much to complain about. I would recommend this book to lovers of crime and mystery novels.

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Murder at the Million Dollar Pier
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NetMassimo · Post by **NetMassimo** » 16 Mar 2020, 02:56

This seems an interesting mystery well built, with twists and interesting characters. I'll look into this series. Thank you for your informative review!