Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Silencing Sam (Riley Spartz #3)
by
Julie Kramer (Goodreads Author)
IN THIS TOWN, GOSSIP KILLS . . .When a widely despised gossip columnist is found shot to death, Riley Spartz must secretly investigate a case in which she becomes the prime suspect. In the wake of the brutal murder, our heroine discovers that news and gossip have more in common than she ever imagined. Trouble begins when Riley publicly clashes with newspaper gossip writer...more
Hardcover, 335 pages
Published
June 22nd 2010
by Atria Books
(first published May 26th 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
570)
Riley Spartz is a young woman who is an investigative reporter for Channel 3 in Minneapolis. Riley is heading up an investigation of a gruesome murder. A young lady has been heheaded but the only thing the police have to on is the body - the head is missing.
Riley's troubles begin when she finds herself being upstaged and outmaneuvered by Clay Burrel. Clay has just been hired by Channel 3 from a rival station in Texas. Clay seems to be getting the best of Riley by scooping the major stories. Rile...more
Riley's troubles begin when she finds herself being upstaged and outmaneuvered by Clay Burrel. Clay has just been hired by Channel 3 from a rival station in Texas. Clay seems to be getting the best of Riley by scooping the major stories. Rile...more
Nov 13, 2010
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-audio-books,
2010-mysteries
Silencing Sam, Book 3 in the Riley Spartz series, by Julie Kramer, B-plus, narrated by renee Raudman, produced by Tantor Media, downloaded from audible.com.
TV reporter Riley Spartz publicly clashes with local gossip writer Adam Lorenzo and throws a drink in his face after he implies in his newspaper column
that she cheated on her dead husband. When the gossip colunist is found shot to death, she is shocked to be charged with murder. Though the victim was widely despised,
police seem unwilling to...more
TV reporter Riley Spartz publicly clashes with local gossip writer Adam Lorenzo and throws a drink in his face after he implies in his newspaper column
that she cheated on her dead husband. When the gossip colunist is found shot to death, she is shocked to be charged with murder. Though the victim was widely despised,
police seem unwilling to...more
Riley Spartz—Kramer’s daring heroine—is the first to admit that things haven’t been going her way recently. As a female reporter at the Twin City’s very own Channel 3 news station, she watches, open-mouthed as her new, male, chauvinistic, in-house competition saunters in. Handsome and knowing it, his Texas drawl is lost on her from the start. Little did she realize the barrage of questions she received and ignored—about her new nemesis—earlier in the day by viper-penned, gossip columnist, Sam Pi...more
Riley Spartz is no stranger to the territory of breaking news: as an investigative reporter for Channel 3 Minneapolis, she has done her fair share of delving into a variety of cases, each of which has its own particular outcome. But the latest newsworthy incident in Minneapolis has an outcome that might prove a little more personal. After all, she is the prime suspect in the case of Sam Pierce's murder. In the eyes of many people, Sam, the star of the newspaper gossip column, deserved every part...more
This review applies to the audio version.
#3 Riley Spartz mystery set in the Twin Cities, MN. Riley, a TV reporter, is herself a suspect in the shooting death of a newspaper gossip columnist who had thrown some nasty tidbits about her in his column. They'd been seen arguing--she threw wine at him--and she had no alibi. To make matters worse, a new reporter from Texas was stealing all the good stories and annoying Riley to death with his condescending attitude, calling her "little lady" even after...more
#3 Riley Spartz mystery set in the Twin Cities, MN. Riley, a TV reporter, is herself a suspect in the shooting death of a newspaper gossip columnist who had thrown some nasty tidbits about her in his column. They'd been seen arguing--she threw wine at him--and she had no alibi. To make matters worse, a new reporter from Texas was stealing all the good stories and annoying Riley to death with his condescending attitude, calling her "little lady" even after...more
An very entertaining audiobook for a road trip. Riley Spartz is an investigative reporter for channel 3 in Minneapolis. Then Clay is hired from Texas and keeps getting the inside scoop on a headless body investigation. A local gossip columnist, who had a public spat with Riley, turns up dead and Riley is charged with the murder. All this sounds heavy but is handled in a lighthearted manner for this book. There are fun side stories, like the professional basketball player who keeps trying to prov...more
Sep 25, 2011
William Bentrim
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-for-swap
Silencing Sam by Julie Kramer
A nosey reporter finds herself more immersed in her stories than she had ever feared.
This was a good mystery with clues evident at the conclusion but totally masked by plot and subterfuge. Riley Spartz was likeable as the somewhat ditzy protagonist. Her character was very real including her ineptness in personal relations. I particularly enjoyed her interaction with her parents.
This was not a figure it out on the first page mystery. Ms. Kramer kept you thinking thr...more
A nosey reporter finds herself more immersed in her stories than she had ever feared.
This was a good mystery with clues evident at the conclusion but totally masked by plot and subterfuge. Riley Spartz was likeable as the somewhat ditzy protagonist. Her character was very real including her ineptness in personal relations. I particularly enjoyed her interaction with her parents.
This was not a figure it out on the first page mystery. Ms. Kramer kept you thinking thr...more
Similar to Kramer's previous two books in the Riley Spartz series, this had a pretty interesting plot line, but ultimately it ended up falling short of what it could have been. I did appreciate that Kramer reduced the amount of references and extraneous explanations of Minnesota landmarks, traditions, quirks, etc etc that permeated the last two books to a distracting and annoying degree. Also I listened to the audio edition of this books which has a different narrator who though sounds similar t...more
After a disappointing second entry in the series, Julie Kramer gets back on track with the third Riley Spartz novel.
This time, Riley finds herself the target of a newspaper gossip columnist. After a verbal altercation in a bar ends with Riley throwing a glass of wine in his face, the columnist ends up dead and Riley's the prime suspect. Add in new competition at the station in the form of a uber-reporter Clay and Riley's assignment on a story about windmill farms coming under attack and you've g...more
This time, Riley finds herself the target of a newspaper gossip columnist. After a verbal altercation in a bar ends with Riley throwing a glass of wine in his face, the columnist ends up dead and Riley's the prime suspect. Add in new competition at the station in the form of a uber-reporter Clay and Riley's assignment on a story about windmill farms coming under attack and you've g...more
Don’t tell the mayor, but Minneapolis is ‘Murderoplis’ again. Julie Kramer’s newest thriller, Silencing Sam, brings murder to your front door with wit and a fresh take on current events Minnesotans will secretly relish.
Ambitious television reporter Riley Spartz is back in Julie Kramer’s third novel, having moved to Minneapolis after the recent attempts on her life in White Bear Lake. Yet Minneapolis doesn’t seem much safer, once a headless female corpse is found in Theo Wirth Park. It's sick ho...more
Ambitious television reporter Riley Spartz is back in Julie Kramer’s third novel, having moved to Minneapolis after the recent attempts on her life in White Bear Lake. Yet Minneapolis doesn’t seem much safer, once a headless female corpse is found in Theo Wirth Park. It's sick ho...more
I didn't read the first 2 books in the series (first, because I didn't know the books were a series.. second, because I won this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaway.) So I was annoyed when Kramer would go back to other books without going into detail..
I thought Silencing Sam was boring, I had no desire to keep reading the book, but since it was only 332 pages long, I decided to finish the book anyway.
The main character Riley Spartz was unlikable, and very stupid, to say the least. it m...more
I thought Silencing Sam was boring, I had no desire to keep reading the book, but since it was only 332 pages long, I decided to finish the book anyway.
The main character Riley Spartz was unlikable, and very stupid, to say the least. it m...more
Silencing Sam is an okay book is you are stuck in an airport with a couple of hours to kill that would have been wasted people watching. It wasn't a bad book, it wasn't a good book either. Maybe it's because I never read the first two books in the series, but I just didn't get the feel of a senior investigative journalist out of the title character. The murderer was obvious, and the subplot was ridiculous. If you really feel the need to read this book check it out from the library.
This is my favorite Kramer novel to date. Riley Spartz, a Minnesota based news reporter, finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation, this time as the prime suspect. In the meantime, she tries relentlessly to interest her newsroom boss in what could be the next big sweeps piece, about wind turbines and bats. Riley's parents are a charming addition to this story and other secondary characters that play a big part in Riley's life return as well.
Another interesting plot with some revelations about the hidden dangers of wind turbines technology. Riley does some time on the anchor desk, which is fun, but not for her. She continues to butt heads with her bosses, and finds the investigation into Sam's death to be heightened since she is the primary suspect. No white knight rides to her rescue, she does it all herself. Atta girl Riley!
Good reads really needs to give me more stars in its rating system. Not sure it's a 4, but it's definitely better than the last couple of books I rated 3.
Set in the Twin CIties, it's another installment in the Riley Spartz series. Love reading about the local haunts - and political situations.
Well written fun mystery.
Set in the Twin CIties, it's another installment in the Riley Spartz series. Love reading about the local haunts - and political situations.
Well written fun mystery.
The newest thriller from award-winning author Julie Kramer finds intrepid heroine Riley Spartz charged with the murder of a despicable gossip columnist.
Listen to Silencing Sam on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Listen to Silencing Sam on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Julie, Julie, Julie!!! can I tell ya I love your books! You are a favorite local author of mine, I love and watch the calendar for the next Riley caper! so...when is the NEXT book coming Julie? (I already read killing kate) hahaha...:) Oh, by the way I finnished this book in one glorious day!
I really liked the mystery solving in this book. The main character's tendency to put work before relationships drives me crazy, somehow she needs to almost die to figure out what is really immportant over and over. I did have the killer pegged, but the victim was a surprise.
I went back and read my reviews of the first two books in the series and feel the author continues to improve, as much of my issues with the writing style of the first two books have been resolved.
Riley is hitting her stride and continues to be an interesting character to follow.
Riley is hitting her stride and continues to be an interesting character to follow.
Another solid entry for Julie Kramaer. Sam is an obnoxious gossip colomnist for a Minneapolis newspaper. Riley is the series protagonist, a television reporter, who is accused of murdering him. We also learn about wind farms & meet some truly memorable characters.
I am really enjoying books by a local MN author, Julie Kramer. I am reading all her books-in order.
Light reading-murder mysteries. Stories are based in Minnesota/Minneapolis area so author makes reference to local news events and places.
Light reading-murder mysteries. Stories are based in Minnesota/Minneapolis area so author makes reference to local news events and places.
Another quick and good read in the Riley Spartz series. I agree with Courtney that the ending seemed rushed. I would have liked a little more resolution and explanation, especially with the main "mystery". Overall, though, a good read.
I really enjoy this nascent series. Julie Kramer followed that great adage to "write what you know", and her background as an investigative reporter in the Twin Cities has clearly helped her create a realistic protagonist (an investigative reporter in the Twin Cities). Her MN setting has always come across to me as realistic and not cliched. A reporter is also a good option for a believable detective that still takes us away from the traditional police department setting. The action scene at the...more
I love Riley and I love this series. I felt this one was a little more predictable than the others, at least as far as 'whodunnit'. some of the side stories were pretty interesting though. still a great fun read.
Enjoyable mystery although sometime main character is a little annoying in her thought processes. Ending was predictable and a little too abrupt.
This is the first of the series that I read, but did not feel like i was jumping in mid story.
This is the first of the series that I read, but did not feel like i was jumping in mid story.
Another solid mystery in the Riley Spartz series. However, my complaint is that it felt like too many mysteries were happening at once. The ending happened very quickly, with the shortest of epilogues. I thought one plot point was a little too far-fetched as well.
Fun, easy read. While the mystery and other story lines are great, a little tired of the main character being accused of the murders.... Overall though, it was very enjoyable.
3rd book in the Riley Spartz series. Seriously took me 2 days to finish. I picked up the audio cd's and listened every chance I had (even while working)...had the hardcover on hand too, finished it up tonight. Looking forward to reading more from this series!
1 like · like · see review
view 2 comments
I got this because the author was at the library, and I liked her. I read the first 2 so thought I'd try this one. It's ok, actually liked all the info about the wind turbines and the bats better then the story line.
Fun to read. Author is from White Bear Lake and this series takes place in the Twin Cities.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Julie Kramer is has moved from journalist to novelist. She writes a mystery series set in the desperate world of television news—a world she knows well from her career working as a freelance news producer for NBC and CBS, as well as running the acclaimed WCCO-TV I-Team in Minneapolis.
Her thrillers, STALKING SUSAN, MISSING MARK, SILENCING SAM, KILLING KATE and soon to come - SHUNNING SARAH (Aug. 7)...more
More about Julie Kramer...
Her thrillers, STALKING SUSAN, MISSING MARK, SILENCING SAM, KILLING KATE and soon to come - SHUNNING SARAH (Aug. 7)...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
