Hotline to Murder

by Alan Cook

"I like the characters...as well as the Hotline for the setting. This is a great mystery." Tony Schmidt joins the Central Hotline in sunny Bonita Beach, California to improve his listening skills. Shahla Lawton joins the Hotline to fulfill a volunteering requirement for her high school. Neither one expects to get mixed up in a murder investigation. But that is before Shahla's best friend, Joy, also a listener, is murdered. Tony and Shahla discover that they are able to uncover information that the police can't. Information about the "inappropriate" callers who haunt the Hotline, and information about other people with a connection to the Hotline who may have hidden motives to kill the beautiful Joy. Questions arise. Will the murderer strike the Hotline again? And if the murderer does strike again, will Shahla be the next target? Although he has been out of college for years, Tony still lives with his college roommate, Josh, and his lifestyle might be described as extended fraternity. Faced with the responsibility of taking calls from people who range from disabled to obsessive to abused to suicidal, and also of helping to solve a murder, Tony finds he has to mature fast. Since this involves admitting that girls like Shahla can be smart and dedicated, and not just underage sex objects, as Josh sees them, the relationship between Tony and Josh may suffer. Tony and Shahla have harrowing adventures in venues ranging from Southern California to Las Vegas, as they try to distinguish the annoying-but-harmless callers from the dangerous, and figure out whether the murderer might just be somebody not connected with the Hotline.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Alan Cook is an author of mystery/suspense novels and young adult/Children's books. However, his latest novel is a comedy, ROCKY ROAD TO DENVER, set in 1968. His novella, DEATH AT MONKSREST, takes place in England in the 1960s and is the third book of the Charlie and Liz series. EAST OF THE WALL takes places in East Germany in 1963 when the Berlin Wall was up. It is the second book in the Charlie and Liz series. TRUST ME IF YOU DARE, the first Charlie and Liz novel, takes place in 1962 in the U.S. and Cuba. YOUR MOVE is the seventh Carol Golden book. A serial killer is on the loose. FOOL ME TWICE is the sixth Carol Golden book. It deals with scams, and we've all been fooled. GOOD TO THE LAST DEATH is the fifth Carol Golden novel. It deals with junk science. HIT THAT BLOT, with a backgammon theme, is the fourth Carol Golden novel. DANGEROUS WIND is the third Carol Golden novel. It takes place on all seven continents. RELATIVELY DEAD and FORGET TO REMEMBER, the first two, are about a young woman who loses her memory and calls herself Carol Golden. His short story, "Checkpoint Charlie," is in the anthology, MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS ICE COLD: TALES OF INTRIGUE FROM THE COLD WAR, edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson. PICTURELAND, is a Young Adult novel that takes place in a dystopian world. DANCING WITH BULLS, his first children's book, takes place at Knossos Palace on the island of Crete 4,000 years ago. YOUR MOVE is he seventh Carol Golden book, in which Carol is asked to help track down a serial killer. RUN INTO TROUBLE has won a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Pacific West book by Reader Views. It is about an ultra-marathon along the California coast in 1969, during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? HONEYMOON FOR THREE, has received a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Mountain West book by Reader Views. WALKING THE WORLD: MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES has been named one of the "Top 10 Walking Memoirs and Tales of Long Walks" by walking.about.com

Reviews

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying, mystery action and adventure. Tony Schmidt is a new volunteer listener for the Hotline. Shahla Lawton is, initially, his mentor. Interestingly, she's a high school student while he's a college graduate and a successful salesman. When one of their colleagues is murdered, Shahla convinces Tony to help investigate as she doesn't trust the police.

The story is slow as the setting is established, but the dynamics pick up reasonably fast. The interactions between Shahla and Tony were well done, especially their budding romance (which is on hold until she reaches eighteen, a few months after the conclusion). Detective Croyden was portrayed as a positive and competent individual. Overall, this seems to be an effective detective novel.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Romantic. Scary. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Wonderful characters.

I received a review copy of this book from a third party. This is my honest review.

[Anne-Marie McDonagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent murder mystery, with twists.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The is the very first book that I have read by Alan Cook. The book started off slow but didn't remain that way. It was a good fun read. I had issues at certain parts. 1)Tony is a mid 30's male that sometimes is lusting after a soon to be 18 years old female. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Even though their relationship was platonic, her mother not knowing him pretty much allowed him to have free rein with her. 2) What appears to me to be the gratuitous reference to 911. 3) Having a character who has never spoken with, had history or experience with the "nanny" in this story allude to a nanny in California being a Spanish speaker. Not all nannies are Spanish speakers. Not all nannies speak Spanish. These are a few of the instances where I shook my head.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty bad, actually. I skimmed vast portions. The author couldn't seem to figure out if he was writing some kind of documentary on Hotlines, a romance novel, a story of one man's trials and tribulations with his lack of social skills or a mystery. He tried for all of the above and came out lacking.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was probably a third of the way through the book when I realized I had read it before. I enjoyed it this time as much as last time; it's a wonderful mystery without all the gore and blood! Good way to slowly move on into good thrillers! The book is well written, well plotted, quick to read, enjoyable and entertaining!

[Elaine]

99

[kramox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. First book to read with Kindle and it was a good one.
Fast to read, couldn't put it down.
Looking forward to read more from the author.