Sunny Side Up

Li Johnson Murder Mysteries #1

by Daniel Stallings

For twenty-year-old Li Johnson, a job as a cruise ship waiter was supposed to be a way to get over his father's death and earn enough money to go back to college. Instead, Li is struggling to maintain his sanity while coping with the demands of a sadistic maitre d' and a boatload of entitled rich jerk passengers. Li just wants to keep his head down and survive his job from hell, but when he finds a passenger sunburned to a crisp on the Sunbathing Deck, something about the scene just doesn't add up. Before he knows it, Li is on the track of a murderer and if Li doesn't find the real killer soon, he might just get framed for the crime -- or worse, lose his crappy job.

A brand-new classic in the amateur detective genre, Sunny Side Up is a traditional murder mystery for the 21st century, with a glamorous setting, a gallery of suspects, clues that will keep readers guessing to the last page, and a delightful new hero in Li Johnson, the millennial minimum wage manhunter, who brings sleuthing to the service economy.

Genres: Mystery

211 pages, ebook

Published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Mark Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liam Johnson is thrilled to have landed a job on the prestigious Howard Cruise Line as a waiter. His family needs the money he will be making. However, he quickly discovers that his boss hates him and some of the customers he must deal with delight in making his life miserable as well. That doesn't prepare him for finding the body of one of the passengers dead on the Sunbathing Deck. The ship's doctor is quick to rule it an accidental death due to sunstroke, but Liam isn't so sure. Several things about the scene are off. Can he prove it was murder before the cruise ends?

I really thought this book sounded like fun, but it turned out to be much more somber than I was expecting it to be. Liam faces quite a bit of abuse and bullying over the course of the story, and I didn't find it that fun to read. Even his friends on the ship turn on him regularly. The mystery is well put together with plenty of clues. I did feel things were a bit overly complex, but the clues were all there when Liam explains things at the end. This books definitely falls on the traditional side of the spectrum with a smattering of language and talk about sex (but nothing on the page) that keep it from being a true cozy. This wasn’t' truly a bad book, but I did hope for something sunnier when I picked it up.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Pace Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

SUNNY SIDE UP by Daniel Stallings is a quick little mystery read and was very entertaining. This brought in a new kind of detective - a millennial with a minimum wage job. Li Johnson is only 21 years old and has a job as a waiter on a cruise ship. Something to keep him occupied and to save some money to go back to school. What he wasn't expecting was a demanding and sadistic maitre d' along with entitled passengers.

Everything turns upside down for him when he discovers a passenger that is sunbathing on the deck. Something isn't right about the scene. Before Li knows it, he's on the hunt for a killer before he can be taken down for the crime.

I don't want to give away too much more because this is a shorter novel. For those that want a lighter mystery read, then this is the perfect book to pick up. Definitely one of those beach reads or one to read all snuggled up for the night. I did like how different the investigation was. This isn't your typical police procedural for the simple fact that we're following the crime with a 21 year old waiter. New perspectives make for unique crime reads!

Overall, I give this one 3.5/5 stars - rounded up for rating! I would like to see where Li Johnson goes after this one - it would be fun to go along on another investigation with him!

[Missi Martin (Stockwell) · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Sunny Side Up by Daniel Stallings !!

First it is a cozy mystery written by a MALE.....not something you see very often. Second the storyline takes place on a cruise ship. Thirdly the person who dies is famous. Fourthly the main character is someone you can totally relate to....his name is Liam and he's mourning the loss of his dad while trying to just keep himself afloat financially even though no matter what he does it seems that he is sinking.....(see what I did there ? hee hee) Not to mention that no matter what Liam does, he cannot catch a break, everyone hates him.

I also have to say that when reading a mystery book, whether it is a cozy or not, the reader is always trying to figure out who did it. Sometimes the reader will just enjoy the story and let the author take them away which is what I would suggest when reading Sunny Side Up. No matter how hard you try to figure out who did it, you are going to be BLOWN away when it is finally revealed !!!

Sometimes you don't realize how close the main character actually is to the killer and with Sunny Side Up, even though they are all pretty close seeing as it is on a cruise ship, no matter how big the boat is, Liam cannot get any closer to the killer !!

I love how Stallings links some of the people together on the cruise.....you have a tightknit group of fashion world people.....from Charlegne, Queen of Fashion, who ends up dead from sunstroke, to her two very loyal assistants, to the sister of her deceased fiance, Rosemary.......and there are a few other guests on the ship that you have to pay attention too.

I thoroughly loved Sunny Side Up and reading the story through the eyes of a male main character for a change. It was nice to see that men actually think just as hard as women do .... especially when it comes to murder and clearing their name......

[Michelle | A Geek Girl's Guide · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read murder mysteries because they are not my favorite genre. But this has to be the one and only mystery that got me hooked and I've completed. Having a millenial main character made it unique as well as the cruise ship setting. The murder itself is mindblowing and the solution had me shouting "WHAT?" in amazement because I didn't catch it till I finished and it felt so clear. There are some triggering topics covered, but they are done respectively and do help make this mystery make sense.

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book had me guessing at every page. it was so thrilling

[Jessie]

This book is so bad I can't read another word.

[Reader]

A very interesting read. They are not kidding when they say this a mystery. Mystery it is for sure. You know what I mean.