Coached Red-Handed: 09/10/22

Coached Red-Handed by Victoria Laurie and Rachel Dulude (Narrator) (2022) is the fourth book in the Life Coach mystery series. Cat has a European vacation planned for her and Gilley, her way of cheering up as he faces life as a recent divorcé. Unfortunately, their last client before the trip ends up brutally murdered and they are persons of interest.

The murder victim is a very successful writer who had through her decades of writing been able to support her large extended family. Having felt they were taking advantage of her good will she had cut them all out of her will just before her death. Cat and Gilley are convinced one of her children or grandchildren is the murderer.

As a side plot, there's an iffy building project looking for new backers. It's set in an environmentally sensitive area and appears to being built without the necessary foundation to hold the weight on a sandy surface.

For the most part I enjoyed this latest book but the solution seemed so far out of the blue. It hit wrong in the same way that the ending of Clause of Death by Lorna Barrett (2022) does. Here's another example where the murderer just sit still and get away with it.

While Barrett's book relies on a character having above normal strength, this one requires equipment that borders on something from a science fiction novel. Yes, the world of Cat and Gilley has paranormal elements, but so far, science fiction worthy high tech hasn't been part of it.

Because the ending requires knowledge of imaginary things that have yet to be established in a world containing numerous books (if all of Laurie's books are included), I have knocked one star off the rating.

Four stars

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