Reviews

Viviana Valentine and the Ticking Clock by Emily J. Edwards

dondodd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

daniellelouise99's review against another edition

funny fast-paced

4.0

dollycas's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Dollycas's Thoughts

New Year's Eve doesn't go as planned for Viviana Valentine and Tommy Fortuna. Instead of celebrating the event with the masses, they are on the scene for a beastly stabbing. Viviana tries to save the man but fails. Tommy tries to catch the killer but he fails as well. When Detective Jack Lawson arrives he believes he has a mugging on his hands but after hearing the victim's final words Viviana and Tommy think it was murder. They don't have a lot of evidence to work with but they vow to get to the truth.

In addition to the murder, the private detectives have several other cases on the plates. An investment banker has gone missing and his boss wants him found. An old friend of Tommy's thinks his fiancee' is cheating on him and wants her followed. And another man is being blackmailed and all the demands are written in codes that need to be ciphered. The couple is also trying to plan their wedding while a place for them to live at the boardinghouse after the nuptials is being renovated.

Can "Dollface" and "Tommy-boy" juggle their personal life with all their cases? Or will their clocks run out?

______

We continue to get to know all the characters better in this book. Tommy's background was not only a surprise to me but to Viviana as well. How she reacts reveals more of her backstory too. The people at the boardinghouse are more involved in this story. Betty who lost her job as a nurse is Tommy and Vivana's new secretary. School teacher Dottie along with another teacher strive to solve the codes in one of the 4 cases Tommy and Viviana are working on. Mrs. K runs the boardinghouse with the help of her son Oleks. Both seem to have a heavy weight on their shoulders. I really appreciated the time the author took to give these characters more depth. I was engaged before but even more so now.

I was surprised by all the cases Tommy and Viviana were working and to be truthful at times it did get a little confusing, especially with all that was going on in the character's personal lives. At first, I thought there would be a string that would tie the cases together in some way but that wasn't the case. The murder mystery was my main focus and that was very well done. Two of the others were very interesting and I enjoyed seeing them come to their conclusion. The fourth case had me really intrigued but when it came to its end I was a little upset. I was looking for something really complex and it wasn't although the payment received was nice.

Ms. Edwards does a fantastic job of pulling her readers to 1950s New York. Her words set each scene vividly with descriptions of the place, the weather, and the fashions. The character's dialogues ring true. It is easy to imagine all three books in the series as old-time movies.

Viviana Valentine and the Ticking Clock
was a fun and entertaining read but I did enjoy the previous two books in the series more. That being said I am excited to see what happens next for Viviana, Tommy, their friends, and their new secretary.