Between The Lines

Author: J.L. Simpson

Published: Taliesin Publishing July 2014, sold by Amazon Digital Services

Category: Mystery

'Daisy Dunlop loves a challenge but heir hunting is supposed to be easy. She can deal with anything her new job throws at her, except the bullets, bombs and working with P.I. Solomon Liffey. Her husband’s best friend is supposed to be looking out for her, but when she uncovers Solomon’s biggest secret he’s the one who needs protection.'

I was given a copy by the author in return for an honest review.

Daisy Dunlop is a heroine like no other, at least none that I’ve been introduced to. She’s very happily married to Paul, smart, sassy and acts on impulse which very often lands her in hot water. After Daisy’s several doomed career attempts Paul enlists the very reluctant help of his best friend, Solomon.

Now Daisy has a new job opportunity which Paul hopes will keep her out of trouble. With her eclectic taste in clothes and red spiky heels she hasn’t quite got the hang of dressing suitably as she finds out in short order. Heir hunting quickly morphs into something else entirely and Daisy manages to get herself and her new boss into all kinds of troublesome situations. Combined with Solomon’s investigation into insurance fraud they uncover much more than either of them could have imagined. As the plot unravels, the mysterious and handsome Solomon and the madcap that is daisy deal with dead bodies, shootings and bombs.

It’s non-stop action all the way in J.L. Simpson’s witty and very amusing debut tale of mystery solving. The interaction between Daisy and Solomon is extremely entertaining as he struggles unsuccessfully to keep her out of danger. Daisy is her own woman though, and woe betide any man who thinks otherwise.

It’s a really nice twist to have the passionate romance between our heroine and her husband, who are madly in love and have a teenage son. A son who can’t cope with the thought of his parents having sex…

'Daisy squealed and tried to shove Paul off. He looked over his shoulder towards the closed door. “No, Sherman. We’re kind of busy in here. How about you go and look harder? Your mum’ll be down in twenty minutes.”

He glanced down at Daisy and she grinned at him. “Twenty minutes? Someone’s feeling ambitious.”

Sherman banged on the door. “I heard that and I don’t need to know you’re busy. TMI, man. TMI. I was left on the doorstep by aliens and you never do that sex thing. You go to bed to sleep. End of.”'

And there are laughs galore as Daisy and Solomon’s rocky relationship develops into a deepening platonic friendship and eventually, as Daisy pieces together his big secret Solomon can drop his guard…sort of.

About the author

Diminutive English rose, JL Simpson, was stolen away by a giant nomad and replanted in a southern land filled with gum trees and kangaroos. She quickly adapted to her new life, learning the meaning of G’day and mate whilst steadfastly refusing all attempts to convert her to Vegemite.
A hunger for exploration awoken by her new surroundings, she traversed the land seeking knowledge and adventure. Despite the trials and tribulations along the way she stood fearless in the face of calamity and embarrassment. With a joyous laugh, and a boundless supply of scones with cream and jam, she stood tall, all fifty-eight inches of her, and shrugged off the humiliation of falling in a freezer and reversing into her own mailbox.
Always ready to accept a challenge she embraced the double headed beast of accounting and taxation and wrestled the monster into submission, placating it with spreadsheets and double entry bookkeeping.
Her desire to experience the world led her to embrace a life of crime. Seeking the higher knowledge shared by the great minds of the detective world, she took to worshipping at the altars of the Crime and Investigation channel and Sherlock.
A dive into family history and heir hunting soon followed, where she discovered not every family has roots back to English nobility but they all have their fair share of ne’er-do-wells.
She loves sharing tales about the land of her birth along with the unexpected twists of fate that can befall all of us. Holding on to a steadfast belief every obstacle can be overcome, and that you can be more than you ever expected, she spends her moments of solitude creating adventures where mystery and mayhem collide.