Series Review: Jamie Quinn Mystery by Barbara Venkataraman

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Death by Didgeridoo (from Goodreads):

Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, still reeling from the death of her mother, is pulled into a game of deception, jealousy, and vengeance when her cousin, Adam, is wrongfully accused of murder. It’s up to Jamie to find the real murderer before it’s too late. It doesn’t help that the victim is a former rock star with more enemies than friends, or that Adam confessed to a murder he didn’t commit.

Series: A Jamie Quinn Mystery
Author: Barbara Venkataraman
# of Books: 4 (Find all Titles Here)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Adult, Mystery
Heat Rating: cold
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Dates: November 2013 – September 2015
Source & Format: ARC–eBook

**Please Note my review is only on the first 3 books of the series**

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

While I mostly read New Adult and Young Adult novels, I do enjoy Adult Mysteries and Thrillers. So when I’m asked to try out a new mystery series, I jump on board!

What intrigued me about the Jamie Quinn Mysteries was their page length. The first 3 novels are more novella length, each just shy of 150 pages. They’re quick mystery reads and I was eager to see how they would develop in a shorter time span.

The Concept:

There is something awesome about an amateur detective blossoming in front of your eyes. While professional sleuths are entertaining, it’s always fun to see someone try solving a mystery for the first time. It’s a different type of suspense and one that works well here.

The Plot:

Compared to other mystery novels out there, this plot seems really simple. Don’t expect intricate plotlines or twist upon twist to happen. That simply can’t happen given the page length of the novels.

But this doesn’t mean you can solve the mystery by the end of the first chapter. There is still a mystery to solve here and you can’t solve it until Jamie uncovers it as the story progresses. And the solution is still a great twist–it’s just not overly complicated and I really enjoyed it.

The Characters:

It took me awhile to get comfortable with Jamie. She’s rather quirky and I definitely wasn’t expecting that. But once I got used to her unorthodox commentary, it was easy to follow her adventures. She also grows as the series progresses as well through various plot developments.

The rest of the cast are entertaining as well. I thought Duke was a fun character for Jamie to work with and he made me laugh in all of his scenes.

The Romance:

This has a very minor role in the first book but builds up in The Case of the Killer Divorce (Book 2) and into the third. I thought it was really cute and I like how it was integrated into the plot of the story. It works well to balance out the plot and character development.