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Candidate For Murder by Lauren Carr Book Review and Book Tour Giveaway

I  am a fan of mystery writer, Lauren Carr, and of her Mac Faraday book series.  After reading a reviewing other books from this series in the past, I really looked forward to reading her latest, Candidate for Murder.  I am excited to share my review and offer my readers the opportunity to enter to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!

I received a complimentary copy of this book for use in my review.  All opinions are my own.

Quick Summary of Candidate for Murder by Lauren Carr. It’s election time in Spencer, Maryland, and the race for mayor is not a pretty one. In recent years, the small resort town has become divided between the local year-round residents who have enjoyed their rural way of life and the city dwellers moving into their mansions, taking over the town council, and proceeding to turn Deep Creek Lake into a closed gate community—complete with a host of regulations for everything from speed limits to clothes lines.
When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees on the town residents, Police Chief David O’Callaghan decides to make a statement—by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s German shepherd, to run as mayor of Spencer!

What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight Gnarly becomes the front runner—at which point his political enemies take a page straight out of Politics 101. What do you do when you’re behind in a race? Dig up dirt on the front runner, of course.

Seemingly, someone is not content to rest with simply embarrassing the front runner by publicizing his dishonorable discharge from the United States Army, but to throw in a murder for good measure. With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang—including old friends from past cases—dive in to clear Gnarly’s name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!

Carr creates an entertaining book centering around politics, murder, corruption--and a dog.  I have mentioned in the past that Gnarly the dog is always one of my favorite, supporting characters in Carr's books.  This book puts Gnarly in the spotlight as part of both an amusing plot as he runs for mayor--and as the target of all too serious malicious actions.  While the plot is rather serious--Carr lightens the mood a little as she puts Gnarly into a "human role".  

Candidate for Murder is a stand-alone novel--but....Lauren Carr introduces a lot of characters in this story--and she brings back a host of past characters as well.  Reading (and re-visiting) the cast of characters and their descriptions at the beginning of the book will help readers keep the characters sorted; but, I think reading the earlier books of the series gives the characters and their actions more depth and meaning.  Readers won't be left hanging by loose ends at the end--and the characters are introduced and re-developed as needed in this book--but, I felt stronger connections to characters I had previously met in Carr's other books.

Readers will need a little focus for this book.    There are a few separate situations at play as readers move through the storyline.  This book isn't as easy to follow at times as some of Carr's previous books--but, with a little focus and closer attention--readers will find that the subplots and actions really do complement each other toward the book's resolution.

Would I recommend Candidate for Murder by Lauren Carr?  I enjoy this series and the many characters met throughout the books. Dog lovers) will especially enjoy this particular mystery. 

Buy the book:   Amazon


Meet the Author:

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries. The twelfth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series, Candidate for Murder will be released June 2016.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.


Connect with Lauren: Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook


Enter to Win the Book Tour Giveaway!


Win a Fire Tablet, 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 16 GB (Open internationally) 
Winner will be person to use #Vote4Gnarly most often!



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1 Comments

  1. Hello, Angela! Thank you for the fabulous review of CANDIDATE FOR MURDER. So glad you enjoyed it and enjoy Gnarly. Here's wishing you and all of your followers luck in the giveaway! #Vote4Gnarly and someone could win a free kindle.

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