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Max Fried Mystery #1
Life's a Beach Then You Die
Max Fried is a former computer forensic examiner who devotes his time to swimming, drinking and bathing in the hot Florida sun, but today… it’s a real killer. A murderer is coming his way. When a smooth-talking lawyer persuades Max to find a deceased client’s estate assets, Max takes the job, thinking it will be a snooze. Instead, an old killer with a new identity breaks into his home and steals the client's computer. Max doesn’t know the computer contains clues to a 20 year-old murder but then, the murdering thief doesn’t know Max stored a copy of the stolen computer on his iPod. Too bad for the bad guy, the copy contains evidence that could get him the death penalty. Now, Max is the last one alive who knows why people are dying. If he can outwit the killer, he can return to his bar stool on the beach. If not, he’ll be victim number five.
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2013
140 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Falafel Jones
13 books6 followersFalafel Jones was named for a Mediterranean sandwich Mom craved while pregnant. While this name may have been a burden growing up, it provided a distinction from all of the other Joneses in town. In fact, things could have been worse. Ask Falafel's brother, a construction worker named Sweet Pickles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
April 10, 2020
Very good private detective novel. Max and Ed are a private detective and a lawyer who end up involved in a series of burglaries and deaths that seem to be related. Max and his wife have retired to Florida where Max got his PI licence to keep his 'hand' in while retired. I enjoyed the complexities of the crimes and the relationships between the characters. The story moves fairly quickly with a good amount of action. The puzzle is interesting and the humor is witty. I eventually found the descriptions of the food a bit boring so skipped them. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the story.
This story reminds me a bit of the Private Detective shows on TV. Fast and entertaining with a good conclusion.
This story reminds me a bit of the Private Detective shows on TV. Fast and entertaining with a good conclusion.
July 13, 2015
A good light story
Straight forward and simple, but thoroughly enjoyable. A good amateur detective story, the lead character is likable and feels real.
Well developed story that would have benefited from a little more editing. A couple of minor editing errors, that in no way take from the story, could have been easily solved.
Other than that, a good, enjoyable read. Great for afternoon pool side reading and relaxing.
Straight forward and simple, but thoroughly enjoyable. A good amateur detective story, the lead character is likable and feels real.
Well developed story that would have benefited from a little more editing. A couple of minor editing errors, that in no way take from the story, could have been easily solved.
Other than that, a good, enjoyable read. Great for afternoon pool side reading and relaxing.
October 15, 2013
Pleasantly surprised by this book, I had downloaded free copy not sure what to expect. The characters were well written, building the mystery. I liked the story and the mystery as it unraveled. I really enjoyed this authors voice in this book.
August 27, 2013
Enjoyed every page. Just when I thought I figured out the character something interesting would come out about them. Great read!
January 28, 2019
"More than a beach"
Where Max Fried lives in supposed retirement is incidental to this story in some ways. What it turns out to be is an honest-to-goodness authentic murder mystery. Bags of intrigue, characters that come and go in such a fashion that you can't decide whether they're guilty or innocent and a story line that keeps you interested throughout. I could get to like reading Max Fried stories.
Where Max Fried lives in supposed retirement is incidental to this story in some ways. What it turns out to be is an honest-to-goodness authentic murder mystery. Bags of intrigue, characters that come and go in such a fashion that you can't decide whether they're guilty or innocent and a story line that keeps you interested throughout. I could get to like reading Max Fried stories.
January 20, 2015
Cute, punchy with acerbic wit thrown in to make the story wiz on by
Retired Investigator from 'up north' turned private PI 'down south' sounds like an old dried up, tried-and-true detective novel. But turn the old PI from a trench coat wearing, cigar smoking wiseacre into a savvy, athletic and sexy 60-something curious husband with a wife for an equal, and you have a great premise for a new type of detective. This reminds me of another older detective from another book I reviewed earlier, however, this is a husband only detective, not with the wife involved.
Jones does a decent job moving the story along, introducing both character and place with equal aplomb. There weren't any dry paragraphs that I glazed over. He used place effectively, moving along when the plot needed it. I found the characters three dimensional and even the plot-point people were short and sweet, doing something while giving some much needed information. The Lawyer/friend, Cop and PI worked well together and at times the reader doesn't know who is friend or foe.
Jones has a great talent for writing and am looking forward to other books. I give 4 stars.
Retired Investigator from 'up north' turned private PI 'down south' sounds like an old dried up, tried-and-true detective novel. But turn the old PI from a trench coat wearing, cigar smoking wiseacre into a savvy, athletic and sexy 60-something curious husband with a wife for an equal, and you have a great premise for a new type of detective. This reminds me of another older detective from another book I reviewed earlier, however, this is a husband only detective, not with the wife involved.
Jones does a decent job moving the story along, introducing both character and place with equal aplomb. There weren't any dry paragraphs that I glazed over. He used place effectively, moving along when the plot needed it. I found the characters three dimensional and even the plot-point people were short and sweet, doing something while giving some much needed information. The Lawyer/friend, Cop and PI worked well together and at times the reader doesn't know who is friend or foe.
Jones has a great talent for writing and am looking forward to other books. I give 4 stars.
October 9, 2013
First let me say I know this author from an online group. I wanted to give it three and a half stars but rounded up to four.
When Max retires to Florida with his wife, he plans to spend his time swimming, sunning, and drinking.
Then a lawyer talks him into checking out the computer of a deceased client, looking for hidden financial assets. That was Max's specialty, you see. Doing forensic analyzing of computers. Max agrees. To his regret.
Almost as soon as he takes the computer home, bad things start happening. His home is broken into, the computer taken. Luckily, Max had made a backup.
Then people start getting killed. Max doesn't know what's going on but he'd better find out. His wife, alarmed at the break-in and fearful for her own safety, has left.
Personally, I'd have let her stay gone but...
Anyway, this is a nice light read. A shame it doesn't show off more of Jones's humor, but the plot is solid.
When Max retires to Florida with his wife, he plans to spend his time swimming, sunning, and drinking.
Then a lawyer talks him into checking out the computer of a deceased client, looking for hidden financial assets. That was Max's specialty, you see. Doing forensic analyzing of computers. Max agrees. To his regret.
Almost as soon as he takes the computer home, bad things start happening. His home is broken into, the computer taken. Luckily, Max had made a backup.
Then people start getting killed. Max doesn't know what's going on but he'd better find out. His wife, alarmed at the break-in and fearful for her own safety, has left.
Personally, I'd have let her stay gone but...
Anyway, this is a nice light read. A shame it doesn't show off more of Jones's humor, but the plot is solid.
May 31, 2013
For being a free kindle book, I wasn't expecting much from this. However, I actually really enjoyed it. It was light reading, enjoyable, reasonably suspenseful, and overall a good story. I enjoyed the private investigator viewpoint of the story since I haven't really seen that before. The only downfall was the editing. The writing was good, but the punctuation and grammar errors were too abundant. If it wasn't for the editing, I would have given this five stars. Overall it was well worth the read!
June 1, 2013
I got this book because I liked the title. I'm really glad I did because I liked the book even more. If you are just looking for a straight forward mystery, this is it. There were no sex scenes and complicated romances. There were no over the top heroes. The main character is just a computer forensic investigator that went private when he retired and doesn't even carry a gun.
At the end of the book, one or two events in the story were not explained as to why they occurred, but it did not take away from the mystery or the book.
At the end of the book, one or two events in the story were not explained as to why they occurred, but it did not take away from the mystery or the book.
November 3, 2018
Entertaining
The plot was good, as were the characters. 5 stars for this. There were some odd examples of grammar use and typos, which can distract. Also, the book's cover is cute but juvenile. I almost didn't read it because of that. So I gave 2 stars for these issues. But ... the author is talented and with better proofing and editing, I think he has a shot at developing a successful series. I recommend that he clean up the errors, develop a more appealing cover, and keep promoting the book. I will read his second book and hope it is as good as this one.
The plot was good, as were the characters. 5 stars for this. There were some odd examples of grammar use and typos, which can distract. Also, the book's cover is cute but juvenile. I almost didn't read it because of that. So I gave 2 stars for these issues. But ... the author is talented and with better proofing and editing, I think he has a shot at developing a successful series. I recommend that he clean up the errors, develop a more appealing cover, and keep promoting the book. I will read his second book and hope it is as good as this one.
September 28, 2013
A little overdone in some of the details that didn't feel necessary to keep the story going, but I have enough background in computers and cleaning up other people's bookkeeping problems to actually relate to the protagonist. Not sure a 'normal' reader would find it so interesting, even for less than 200 pages. Fortunately I was listening via text-to-speech, so I didn't even notice most of what others found as typos and formatting errors. It needs some work, but it is fixable.
June 8, 2013
Liked the book because I could relate to the area and was easy to visualize where the story takes place. A few parts dragged and I found myself skimming every now and again but in general, this was an easy to read, easy to follow story. Would read something else by this author if the opportunity presented itself.
December 31, 2013
A predictable, light-weight cozy mystery. I found this to be a quick read with no real surprises but pleasant none the less. The story moved and the characters did not act stupidly. This is not a book for someone looking for a "can't put down" hard core mystery but if you are in the mood for a cozy mystery, this one will be entertaining.
May 30, 2014
I didn't expect much from a Kindle freebie, but Jones can write. Good plot surrounding a married detective who's overall happy in life, and hits the bottle moderately. No horrible scenes to avoid, no awful dark alleyway scenes of grime and decay - just a good mystery. Happy to read it again, and I think that Jones should confidently charge more for her work.
November 17, 2014
Volusia County Florida
I used to like in the area and could imagine this really going on there..Also the more I read the more I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night just to see what would finally happen.
I used to like in the area and could imagine this really going on there..Also the more I read the more I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night just to see what would finally happen.
June 15, 2013
I thought this was a really fine detective story and would make a good tv show.
February 24, 2014
Very good book set in New Smyrna Beach FL. Looking forward to reading Payback's a beach.
March 22, 2014
Great
this murder mystery had many different avenues of theft and different murders.the lawyer and private investigator were very involved with the investigation.
this murder mystery had many different avenues of theft and different murders.the lawyer and private investigator were very involved with the investigation.
August 8, 2014
A fun, entertaining read. Enjoyed it immensely!
December 17, 2014
Loved the book and it kept you guessing. It was extremely descriptive and detailed which made you want to skip the details to get to the mystery itself. I would read the 2nd one though.
April 27, 2015
Good characters, fast paced, kept me guessing... I really liked it! Can't wait to read the next book!!
August 25, 2015
Retirement Excitement
Another fun beach read - newly retired couple have their idyllic life disturbed when he takes a job as a PI.
Another fun beach read - newly retired couple have their idyllic life disturbed when he takes a job as a PI.
November 12, 2016
3 1/2 stars
Fun, light trading with enjoyable characters.
Fun, light trading with enjoyable characters.
June 9, 2017
very good
August 6, 2017
Eh?!
Unfortunately, I had a great deal of trouble getting into the book or caring about the characters or the events. Too much of the book was spent on characters getting dressed or using cigarettes. All i can say is i'm glad i finished it. However, i truly enjoyed the many ways main character's name was mangled by others.
Unfortunately, I had a great deal of trouble getting into the book or caring about the characters or the events. Too much of the book was spent on characters getting dressed or using cigarettes. All i can say is i'm glad i finished it. However, i truly enjoyed the many ways main character's name was mangled by others.
August 16, 2018
Well this was a book I was unsure off, But then I was like ok who names a kid Max Fried, I was ok so he gets robbed, then he goes all out and brings the trouble to his home, Ok this is a good start, I was really enjoying it, was good the way the cops has issues with the way a PI works, almost better as Mr Fried pushed, and wanted answers, I enjoyed this book, well written so I rated it 5 stars.
September 4, 2023
Good read slow
Personally found it hard to keep interested , once got half way stopped but with two kids house and husband I do it a lot
Will try again in future really liked the story and details
Enjoyed it just couldn't stay in it :(writer has style
Perfect for those who don't have distraction
Personally found it hard to keep interested , once got half way stopped but with two kids house and husband I do it a lot
Will try again in future really liked the story and details
Enjoyed it just couldn't stay in it :(writer has style
Perfect for those who don't have distraction
January 20, 2017
This one is a great read. Entertaining and funny! Can't wait to read the next one in the series.
This one is a good read. Entertaining and funny! Can't wait to read the next one in the series called Life's a Beach!
This one is a good read. Entertaining and funny! Can't wait to read the next one in the series called Life's a Beach!
August 10, 2017
Good read
Very interesting story from beginning to end. Was a little confusing to keep up with all the different characters names. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a fast moving, good PI story!
Very interesting story from beginning to end. Was a little confusing to keep up with all the different characters names. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a fast moving, good PI story!
October 18, 2018
Good reading!
Author ' s delivery of the story is interesting. Once you've read it and your mind goes back to analyzing it, the entertainment dose not hold up. Police procedure any one?
Author ' s delivery of the story is interesting. Once you've read it and your mind goes back to analyzing it, the entertainment dose not hold up. Police procedure any one?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews