Cash Kills

An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery

Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
Kindle Edition
Reviewed on 09/24/2014
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Nanci Rathbun is a lifelong reader of mysteries – historical, contemporary, futuristic, paranormal, hard-boiled, cozy … you can find them all on her bookshelves. She brings logic and planning to her writing from a background as an IT project manager, and attention to characters and dialog from her second career as a Congregationalist minister.

Her first novel, Truth Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery, was published in 2013. Cash Kills is the second book in the series and was published in November of 2014. Both novels are available in paperback and ebook formats. Readers can enjoy the first chapters of each on her web site or on Goodreads. The third Angie novel has a working title of Honor Kills, with plans to publish in spring of 2018.

Nanci is a longtime Wisconsin resident who now makes her home in Colorado. No matter where she lives, she will always be a Packers fan.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Cash Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery is a private detective story written by Nanci Rathbun. Angie was a librarian, homemaker and mom until she got tired of dealing with her husband’s infidelities. She sold the house and became a private detective, and she’s good at what she does. Angie shares her offices with her friend Susan Neh, an accountant who asks for her help with a client of hers, Adriana Johnson. Adriana and her parents were refugees from Bosnia. They lived simple and frugal lives here in Milwaukee until one evening, when Adriana was out with a friend, her parents were shot and killed in their small hardware store. Her attorney, an old friend of her parents, Herman Petrovitch, has informed her that she’s inherited vast sums of money from them, in bank accounts all over the globe. Adriana is confused by this as there had never been any money to spare. She’s concerned that the money is not legally hers and asks Angie’s help in finding out the story behind the millions.

Nanci Rathbun’s private detective story, Cash Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery, is a quirky and entertaining mix of hard-boiled crime noir, police procedural and just a bit of chick-lit. Angie’s a super sleuth who has to compensate somewhat for her diminutive stature and white hair, and she does so brilliantly. She reminded me at times of Parker’s Spenser in her detecting, her sense of humor, and her flamboyant sartorial style. I enjoyed following her investigation and watching how she and her love interest, Officer Ted Wukowski, kept their personal and professional roles in the case separate -- most of the time. I was also very impressed by the author’s presentation of the security details entailed in keeping a witness safe. Cash Kills is a first-rate mystery that combines police procedural with private detection and it features a compelling lead character and a marvelous cast. It’s entertaining, fast-paced and suspenseful, and is highly recommended.

Sandra Balzo on Goodreads

I read this book toward blurbing it for the author, a fellow Milwaukeean. But the book's setting, much as I loved recognizing the references, wasn't what I enjoyed the most. Angelina Bonaparte grabbed me on the first page, much like Sue Grafton's P.I. Kinsey Millhone did so many years ago. I'm hoping Angie will be around as long!