Killed in Escrow by Jennifer L. Jordan

Killed in Escrow by Jennifer L. Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Two reviews for the price of one, or something like that - first review on here is the one I originally wrote. Then, for reasons, I wrote a new review (no I didn't reread the book immediately after completing it, I just wrote a new review).

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Before a certain year, 90% of what I read fell into some category I'll call 'not-a-romance' book. Oh, there might be a romance sub-plot somewhere in there, but the book didn't focus on the romance, but on other things (like mystery, science fiction, fantasy, etc.). I'd read somewhere around 15 romances in the 20th century, and, roughly, a billion other books that weren't romances. Then somewhere around 2010, I started switching the percentages to the point wherein I now probably read about 90% romances.

I mention all of that above because my rating for this book may be impacted by my reading history. For it was quite satisfying to dive into a book in which something other than romance was the focus, and there wasn't even a romance sub-plot. And, to top things off nicely, the lead character is my own age (give or take a few months), and a lesbian.

So - as the author's note indicates, the author wrote this book in 2004 when the real estate was booming, though there were signs of stress for those in the know. But she didn't publish the book until a long time after the fact when someone pulled the manuscript out of the dust, dusted it off, and published it in 2014. To a certain extent that information is important because the real estate industry isn't the same now in 2017, nor in 2014, as it went all bust like, and the technology in use today isn't the same as in 2004 (one of the big things in the story is a victims PDA - and how the lead character didn't know what that was, but teenage assistant did and . . . are PDA's still even around? I think smart-phones have taken all the functions that you could get through PDA's (music, spreadsheets, notes, etc. etc.) plus more). So if you read the book, and I strongly recommend people reading the book, a reader would need to know they are reading something set and written in a particular era that isn't 'today'.

Lauren Vellequette has spent 20 plus years working in real estate - as an agent. She's 42 bored and dislikes how corrupt it is/has become in the real estate business, and has turned to a new career as a private investigator (while still working as a real estate agent - since that pays for stuff). She's working several cases, both real estate cases (as in, selling places), and private investigator cases. There's the hit-and-run victim who the cops haven't invested a lot of time in (since it's a low priority case), and the employee embezzlement case, and the hole-in-one case. All quite interesting to read, though the hit-and-run case is the front-and-center plot-line, the 'A' story.

But first I need to note: The story opens with Lauren in front of a class-room giving a speech about working in real estate. It's quite negative and strongly suggests people not work in real estate. This is important as it gives an idea of the character, but, even more importantly, adds a second character. One of the teenagers in that classroom turns up at Lauren's office offering to work for her, for free. And no, not for her real estate stuff, but for her private eye stuff (that came up briefly in Lauren's Q&A section). Lauren's deeply reluctant but let's the young woman, Sasha Fuller, work for her.

As the book unfolds we learn more about Lauren, Sasha, and the corrupt world of real estate. Oh, and about the various cases unfold as well. There's mystery, family dynamics (Sasha's biological family are assholes), the rotten nature of the foster situation (Sasha's foster family are religious assholes), bits of humor, and more. It was really fun to watch both Lauren and Sasha morph over the course of the book. And no, the 42 year old doesn't date the 17 year old - in case anyone was either a) worried, b) hoping for that. Neither character dates anyone over the course of the book (one, because of reasons, other because . . . of reasons). Though we do learn something about the various relationships Lauren has had in the past.

I'm going to dive into the sequel shortly. Won't be next work I read since I've already read a short story in between the end of this book and . . . this review here.

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The author note indicates that the author had originally written the book in 2004, stuffed it away somewhere, only to have it dusted off and published in 2014. That's important to note as both the real estate market and the level of technology seen in the book seems to reflect more 2004 than 2014.

Lauren Vellequette is a 42 year old real estate agent with 20 plus years in the business. But is tired of the business, both the corruption, and the boom/bust cycle. The death of her parents, and her own brush with a life-threatening illness pushes her to try something new with her life. So, as the book opens, Lauren is still a real estate agent (it pays the bills), but also a, relatively, newly licensed private investigator with a lot of hours of studying and training under a fella Lauren refers to, a lot, as 'that SOB'.

The book opens with Lauren giving a speech in front of a room full of students at a high school. She's basically quite negative of the business and suggests people not pursue a real estate career. Somewhere around the question and answer time, Lauren mentions that she's also a private investigator. Important because later that same day one of the students in that classroom turns up in Lauren's office. Pleading for the opportunity to work for Lauren, for free, specifically for the private investigation side of things. Very reluctantly Lauren takes on the 17 year old Sasha Fuller.

The book is a single point of view book that follows Lauren on several cases, several real estate gigs, and attempting to manage a teenager. That teenager in question has a case of her own to pursue, given to her by Lauren (after much pleading). The reader doesn't directly watch the 'hole-in-one' case, but does get kept up to date through Sasha's reporting to Lauren.

Lauren, meanwhile, has many cases. Two are larger than the others, while a third is a request from an old girlfriend that fell through before Lauren had to do anything. The first two cases involve: 1) the mother of a young woman wishes Lauren to investigate the fatal hit-and-run accident that left her daughter dead on a jogging path (only now does it hit me that I read this book at the same time that, just a few blocks away from me in real life, a man ran over several people on a bike path - both instances involved an automobile moving off the road and onto a pedestrian path) - the police 'did their job' but it's a low priority case and haven't gone out of their way to find the driver of the vehicle; 2) Rollie Austin, Lauren's 65 year old friend (or, as is mentioned in the book, a woman who has celebrated her 45 birthday 20 times), mentor, and real estate client, has Lauren work on a case for her, or more exactly, for her own private investigator firm - a businessman has noticed that various items have gone missing and suspects that one or more of his employees have been robbing him - Lauren's on the case.

I indicated three cases, so I'll note the third involves someone robbing open houses while real estate agents are distracted. An old girlfriend asked Lauren to look in on it, but as noted, that's case that solved itself.

In terms of girlfriends and the like - I can't say that no one in this book dates, since one of the cases involves girlfriends/boyfriends, but I can say that none of the important characters - as in Lauren, Sasha, and Rollie, are shown dating. Each other or anyone else. Over the course of the book, though, the reader learns both why Lauren is not currently dating anyone, and a little something about her various past relationships.

The mystery, and the various plot-lines, are quite enjoyable and satisfying. I rated the book a rather high mark of 4.45 stars, though I noted in the spoiler-ed review - I might be overrating the book due to sheer happiness to actually be reading a book that did not focus on or include romance. Which is something I've accidentally spent a lot of time reading recently - romance.

Rating: 4.45

November 2 2017



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