The Master Plan

Dana Sloan #2

by Carol Costa

Two wives suspected of their husbands' murders have investigative reporter Dana Sloan working to prove their innocence and at odds once again with her boyfriend, homicide detective Al Bruno. Dana quickly learns that one of the wives, a talented artist, was abused by her husband. The other wife, Dana's friend and employee Casey Jordan, admits that her recent wedding was part of a crazy scheme to marry into wealth. But Casey isn't the only one with secrets. Dana uncovers evidence that Casey's bridegroom has his own hidden agenda for marring. What Dana doesn't know is that the murders are all part of another plan, this one the most sinister of all, devised by a killer who won't hesitate to add Dana to the list of victims.

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Carol Costa has been writing professionally since 1980. She is a journalist and an award-winning playwright. Carol has worked as an editor, a newspaper correspondent, and has managed a literary agency. Her plays have been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, and in regional theaters across the country. Her television work includes segments for Beyond Chance (Lifetime) and Sightings(Fox). Carol has a number of books in print with two more scheduled for release in 2009. The list includes the following fiction and nonfiction titles:

Labor of Love, Avalon Books
Love Steals the Scene, Avalon Books
A Deadly Hand, Avalon Books
Under Suspicion, Publish America
The Master Plan, Avalon Books (2009)
Invisible Force, Champagne Books (2009)

Teach Yourself Accounting in 24 Hours,(1st & 2nd editions) Penguin USA
Teach Yourself Bookkeeping in 24 Hours, Penguin USA
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Surviving Bankruptcy, Penguin USA
Video Poker: Play Longer with Less Risk, ECW Press

Reviews

[Martha Cheves · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Master Plan – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts

Carmen and Cathy both stared at Casey. Finally Carmen spoke. “What is going on in that devious mind of yours Casey?” Casey laughed. “Forget it. It probably won’t work.” “Let us be the judge of that,” Cathy told her. “Okay. We pool our money and one of us joins the country club. Once she’s a member she starts socializing with the rich guys and snags herself a wealthy mate. She can also bring her two friends to the club for some of the activities and introduce them to her husband’s rich friends.” “That’s absolutely brilliant” Carmen exclaimed. “Let’s do it.” “Wait a minute,” Cathy said. “Where are we going to
get twenty-five thousand dollars?” “From your bank,” Carmen answered. “We’ll take out a loan and after we marry the rich guys they can pay it off for us. Only I’m not the one who is going to join the club. Casey has to do it.” And that is exactly what the ‘three Cs’ (Carmen, Cathy and Casey) did. They took out a loan to pay the application fee and Casey became the country club’s newest member.

It didn’t take long for her to hook up with Anthony (Tony) Hunter while Carmen and Cathy both found catches for themselves. It also wasn’t long before Tony asked Casey to run off to Vegas with him to be married, which she did. But all good things must come to an end so after returning home, Casey decided to tell Tony about ‘The Master Plan,’ which is what the 3 Cs had named their plan. While hoping for his understanding, Casey instead was asked to leave. Casey gave Tony some time to calm down and then went back to the apartment in hopes of talking to him and making him understand. What she found when she got to the apartment soon became her worse nightmare.

Dana Sloan is an investigative reporter who seems to find herself mixed up in more than the usual ‘who’s ripping off the consumer’ investigations. She seems to somehow stumble into a murder now and then. In The Master Plan she ends up being involved in three murders with a friend, Judy, and a co-worker, Casey, being involved in two of them. Her detective boyfriend Al Bruno is handling two of the cases and really doesn’t want Dana involved. He has his own plans for Dana and they don’t include risking your life to complete an investigation. His ideas for her are more on the line of her becoming a soccer/PTA mom.

The biggest conflict in their relationship is when Dana steps into Bruno’s investigations or when Bruno withholds information Dana needs for her investigation and she is now involved in two. From what Dana has learned, she has come to the conclusion that all three murders are related. Bruno can’t see it. He still feels that the wives of his 2 cases just might be guilty and since they don’t know each other, the cases have no connections.

So… are they related? Will Dana be able to solve one, two or all three without getting herself killed? Will Casey and the 3Cs be able to pull off their little plan without being discovered? These were questions I carried all the way to the end. I usually have a list of my own suspects but with The Master Plan, I had none. I was really surprised to find out who killed who and why. I think you will too.

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won't be reading another of these. First of all: Bruno made me want to throw the book. He was jealous, domineering, and belittling. Not my kind of guy. I realize that calling Dana 'Sweets' was supposed to be endearing, but it came off as obnoxious and condescending from him. I also realize that most private detectives need an 'in' at the police force. I have read many books where the 'in' is the cop/boyfriend, and none are as pompous as Bruno. Second: I realize that in any murder mystery, a certain amount of coincidence is to be expected, but when a book has the 'let-just-wrap-this-up' coincidence parade, it really drives me crazy. I did, however, like Dana. Besides the fact that she didn't tell Bruno (and his mother, come to think of it) to get lost, her character was pretty good. So were the other 'supporting' characters. But every time I got into it, here came Bruno with his 'Go be a baby factory in the kitchen' attitude, and I just couldn't get over that. Nope. Not for me.

[April Suter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reporter Dana investigates 3 murders while her detective boyfriend is either ahead or behind her.

[Aaron Polish · Rating 4 out of 5]

was good, but the ending seemed shocking as the killer was revealed. I thought the words were pretty good and I enjoyed it.

[Veronie Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book , love the way the story flow. Was very surprise who the killer was. Would be nice if it had end with the wedding of Dana and Bruno, let’s hope she writes a follow up

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dana Sloane continues to be a compelling mystery protagonist. The title here refers to more than thing going on in this story. Rather than just one crime, Dana Sloane and her team deal with three . . . and then some. Making things more interesting, one of Dana's team proves to be a little less than saintly. The tension between Dana and Bruno is even more fun here than it was in the fist book; and we get a little peak at a side of Dana Sloane that I wasn't sure existed.

[Ricci Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several people don’t seem to like Bruno but I thought he was a great counterpart to Dana. He shouldn’t expect her to give up her job but he deals with their conflict well. Better than she does most of the time. Loved his mom too. Great cast, great story. Would have been a 5 star if not for the kidnapping that I predicted but the end was better than I would have guessed which redeemed the book for the most part.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was mentioned in Booklist when they did a special section on mysteries. I like it. I didn't know there were other Dana Sloan mysteries - I can only find one other in the libraries around here - Deadly Hand.

[Tanya Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read, I've never read any of the other Dana Sloan books but in this one, I'm not loving Bruno... Can't tell why they are together... I kept waiting/ hoping for a break up scene so she can stop trying to justify keeping her job.

[Albert]

Good mystery novel.

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, interesting plot. Not bad character development. Slightly clunky writing.

[Christina Middle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts of the book are hard to read because the sentences don't make sense. But otherwise a good read and I didn't guess the murderer until the author chose to reveal the person.

[Gingerscot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a masterpiece