Review of Roseland: Volume 1

Blurb: Secret Societies, Serial Killers, and a Seriously Snarky PI.

When Ginger Mitchell finds out her mother committed suicide, she packs up her life as a Vegas "dancer" (hey, somebody's gotta do it) and drives her cherry-red SUV straight home to Portland. Without a disapproving mom to rebel against, what was the point?

When she arrives back in her hometown, she finds a lot more going on than fancy food trucks and put-a-bird-on-it hipsters.

Murders are being passed off as suicides.

College-aged women keep going missing.

And then there's the troubling spate of mobsters who keep inviting her out to eat.

With a pile of cash saved from her last job and no one around to tell her not to, Ginger decides to become a private investigator, to find out exactly what's gone wrong in the City of Roses. First up: Her mother's "suicide."

Review: Ginger Mitchell is an exotic dancer in Vegas, rebelling against her controlling mother. Yet when she gets a call that her mother committed suicide, she returns home to Portland and leaves her previous life behind to do something she's always dreamed of doing: being an investigator. She doesn't for a second believe her mother killed herself, and her mother's angry ghost is no help in trying to solve the mystery. Ginger takes on smaller cases and starts to attract the attention of the bigger criminals in the area. Dirty cops, handsome mobsters, and an ex-Marine roomie turned partner. Ginger may have bitten off more than she can chew, but she isn't running from this.

Next book in my summer of mystery! I had picked this one up as a freebie. I was a little hesitant as the blurb isn't that great, but the readers were ranting on about it in the reviews. Thankfully, they were not wrong. This is the first book in this thrilling mystery series, and it's a big read. Be prepared to donate a lot of time to reading this one. Ginger is a smart woman as she's had a lot of experience dealing with handsy and manipulative men. She has a weakness for expensive cars, though. Her mom was a homicide cop and has the attitude to go with it. I love the relationship between Ginger and her ghost mom. It's the only paranormal part of the story, and it's nicely done. I adore Ginger's roomie, Rhino. He helps keep her focused and in line, most of the time! The book is in sections with different cases (like several novellas in one book), but the overall storyline connects them together. It ends on a cliffhanger, so be prepared! I'll definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

You can find Eric Ugland on his site and buy the book here.