Killing Rosa

A Kell Digby Crime Novel #2

by Lynn Kear

Killing Rosa is the sequel to the award-winning crime novel, Black-Hearted Bitch. Former hit man Kell Digby, eager for a distraction after her girlfriend Gretchen dumps her, is hired by ex-boss Rosa to take out a business competitor in Miami. The simple hit turns complicated, and Kell is forced to match wits with a dangerous foe.

228 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2014

About the author

Lynn Kear is an award winning biographer and novelist who has spent years chronicling the lives of others before deciding to dismantle the Regency era herself—a task she feels entitled to, as Jane Austen is supposedly her seventh cousin, six times removed. A teacher and writer by habit, her personal and professional archives are housed at Georgia State University in the Women and Gender Collections. She resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in a writer’s garret of her own making. Her next book, inspired by Austen, is PRETENCE & PRETENTIOUS: A REBELLIOUS REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL.

Reviews

[J.L. Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killing Rosa – A Kell Digby Crime Novel by Lynn Kear, has a lot going for it. The second book in the Kell Digby series picks up where the first book left off. The author laid down enough of the history between Kell a lesbian hit man, Rosa her ex-boss/ex-lover, and Rosa’s lover Valerie, who was also Kell’s ex-something, so it works as a stand alone too. (I have not read Black-Hearted Bitch the first book in this series.)

Kell is working with her brother-in-law, Larry, as so-call security consultants. They more or less run sting operations for their clients, during the job Kell goes to bed with the client’s wife to keep her busy while Larry plants a Trojan on the computer. Kell’s live-in girlfriend finds out about this and things get ugly.

Rosa calls just at the right time and makes Kell an offer to come and stay with her and her girlfriend. It seems innocent enough, a friend helping a friend in her time of need, but soon after she arrives in Miami, Kell is pulled into a murderous plot. Rosa’s real estate business is a washed in murderous plots.

I had a hard time rating this book. The plot was good and there were enough twist to make it worth reading. The characters were well developed, and as I stated, their history was told throughout so as not to leave you with gaps. The one draw back is the author did too much telling of the story and not enough showing. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I would have liked to read those words. In some places her telling was really thin, a love scene that is covered in three lines: The three of us were on the sofa. We made love. It was fantastic. (I’m paraphrasing but it was that thin.) And her description of the fallout between Kell, Rosa, and Valerie was equally none climatic for such an important plot point.

It is an interesting story, with an interesting cast of characters. The author warned that the language would be offensive and the lesbian angle off putting. I’m from New York where the F word is by law every third word in a sentence, and a person’s sexuality is what it is. I was waiting for the book to take off and it just fell a little short. I give the book 3.5 stars.

[Terry Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequel to Black Hearted Bitch.

A Kell Digby Crime Novel

Kell Digby is a former hit man. Her girlfriend Gretchen has just left her and she’s devastated. Being at a loose end and in between assignments, when Kell’s ex boss, Rosa, calls her for help, Kell drives down to Miami from her home in Georgia. Rosa needs Kell to come out of retirement and to kill a business rival.

What should have been a simple, straight forward hit, turns out to be anything but. Kell needs all her wits about her to out smart a dangerous enemy.

Another well written, great story in the Kell Digby series. It’s full of ups and downs and twists and turns throughout, ensuring a gripping, thrilling, exciting and steaming hot read.

Kell is a whacky, multidimensional character, who under normal circumstances should not be liked and her actions abhorred. But, I really like her. Having said that, I don’t agree with all the things she does, although I can well understand, but not condone, why she carries out some of the hits. Kell is backed up by a great cast of secondary characters, some good, some bad, but all essential to the progression of the well laid out plot.

In this book, Kell finds herself embroiled in a world of scams and murderous plots. It’s really a case of her protecting her friends or sitting back and watching them get killed. The plot is written with a tongue in cheek sense of humor and like Black Hearted Bitch, cannot be taken too seriously. It’s for entertainment only, not true to life. It certainly amused me and I enjoyed the story. It’s light hearted and a black crime thriller/comedy with a raunchy bit of action thrown in for good measure.

I’m hoping there will be more adventures with Kell soon.

[RoseMary author · Rating 4 out of 5]

I"m going to include this part of my review of "Black Hearted Bitch," so you know I've read these two novels in sequence. "In email exchanges with the author, she warned me that I wouldn't like the language, violence or sex scenes, so I was prepared. She's spot on about the language--I hated the use and overuse of the f-word. I hate it in every novel from John Sandford to Michael Connelly and truly think authors can get their point across without it. But hey, that's just me." That said, the sex isn't graphic, so let's move on from there.

These characters are enticing, just enticing. I want to know what they're going to do next because frankly, I've got no idea!

The premise--that Kell cheated on her lover on a bit of a lark and is now paying consequences for it, so heads to Rosa (and Valerie's place) to recover a bit only to be faced with Rosa being framed for murder, Rosa thinking Kell did it, Kell knowing she didn't...well, you get the idea--this mystery is complex! Ms. Kear's writing is quite simply: clean and well done. It is obvious that her words are well-chosen and highly edited--she has taken the time to make her stories meet the standards of discerning readers (I think I'm one of those!).

I love the character, Larry. He's larger than life and a fundamental kind of guy who makes things happen.

The mystery winds and weaves and leaves you thinking: huh, I didn't see that coming!

A PS: This book was one of the runner ups for the 2014 Rainbow Awards Lesbian Mystery/Thriller category.

[T.B. Markinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynn Kear’s latest release, Killing Rosa, is the sequel to Black-Hearted Bitch, a book I enjoyed. I was curious to see what would happen next in the series, and Kear didn’t let me down. Kell Digby is a cheeky, intelligent, and stubborn character. She’s flawed and she knows it. I love a fantastically flawed character that’s still lovable.

The sequel starts off fast, slows down some, and then the action picks up the pace again. What I find intriguing is how Kear sucks me into the lives of her characters. The suspense of what’s going to happen is coupled with character development. At times I became so engrossed in Kell, I forgot about the mystery.

This is a smart thriller with excellent characters. Now I can’t wait for the next installment.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.