A Cutthroat Business

This feels like a first novel - horribly edited, painfully obvious mistakes, no ability to discern between romance and violence, and use of stereotypical dialect to convey a certain place.

Gallagher introduces her main character badly, unless of course, Gallagher *meant* for us to dislike Savannah. Or perhaps that is just me - I tend not to like people who are willfully stupid and cluefree about most of life, despite (and especially) if they have allegedly "lived" some, yet have learned nothing. Savannah appears to be of the mind that if a person was raised with no advantages in life, very little opportunity for education, quality health care, and nutritious food, then they are of "low class" and she should not associate with them. show more Savannah is amazingly ill-informed about a family who lives close to her family (I think in the book she says it is five miles from her family home. Which brings up another problem - her family home is sumptuous, deserves to be on the Historical register-caliber and an atrocious trailer park is less than five miles away from it? Seriously?) This family that she knows so little about? She went to high school with the guy from this family, whom I can only assume the author meant to be the romantic interest for Savannah. And it's a small town where *every*body knows *every*body. Large gaping plot points such as that exist throughout the entire story.

There are continuity problems throughout as well. For example, the house to be sold is sometimes a quarter of a million dollars and sometimes it's half a million. And either sum is suppose to be believable even though the house is in a "bad" and "undesirable" neighborhood.

Additionally, Savannah is sometimes "week-kneed" (page 211). Does this mean she feels her knees weekly? Other times, she is actually weak-kneed.

The romance aspect, such that it is, is horribly 1970's Harlequin-esque. Meaning that women cannot possibly be interested in their own sexuality if they are "good" girls and therefore if a man is interested in them in a sexual way, he must force her to have sex with him. For example, "It took a few seconds for my thoughts to switch track from romance - or sexual assault - to murder" (page 275). Really? When I think about sexual assault (or the potential of someone I am dating forcing himself on me and therefore committing a CRIME, as Savannah is doing in this scene) versus romance - that is, something wanted, healthy, fun, and enjoyable, my mind is completely in two different places. But perhaps that is just me.

Completely obvious "mystery", amateurish writing, horribly edited, trite, and stereotypical and static (no growth) characters - all in all, not recommended. show less

A Cutthroat Business works well enough as a murder mystery. The writer definitely has talent as a storyteller and it was easy to stay up late finishing the e-book. Reading an e-book is never going to be as pleasurable as holding a paper and ink copy in my own hands, but people who apply for pre-release review editions have to accept the adage that 'beggars can't be choosers.' It is a good thing, however, that the edition I read has not yet been released to the public because it needs help in the editing department. First of all, how much is the house listed for? First, the reader is told is a quarter of a million dollars and that that figure is much higher than average for Nashville. A page or two later, the asking price is a show more half-million, even though the property is located in a "bad area." It is disconcerting to find this kind of inconsistency in the opening chapter of a book because it says that at least two people -- author and editor - have not been on their toes. As I continued reading, I never escaped the hunch that this must be a first book. It just had that feel: not a bad effort at all, but not quite as polished as it should have been. The Rafe character is too much of a stereotype. Savannah's reaction to him made me think at times that I was reading a 1970s era Harlequin romance. Likewise, Savannah's instantaneous relationship with the Alexandra character did not quite ring true to life. After finishing the book and going to the author's website for a little background, I discovered that, although Ms. Gallagher has written and published several books under another name, _A Cutthroat Business_ was indeed her first book. Thus, my sense of it being not-quite-ready-for-prime-time was justified. According to the web site, a second Samantha Martin mystery is scheduled to be published in 2011. I won't be waiting with bated breath, but I would certainly give it a careful examination. I have a hunch that this author and this Savannah Martin series is only going to get better with practice. show less

I gotta say I liked this one. Bente has that tongue-in-cheek humor that I love. While "A Cutthroat Business" is a murder mystery based around a real estate agent, I think we can all relate with the main character in some way. It always makes me happy when I read a story I can connect with. G.R.I.T.S. anyone? You Southerners know what I'm talking about, but for anyone who doesn't....Girls Raised In The South. Bente really got across that southern flair in this book.
I really liked the storyline itself. I thought it was different and interesting. I for one, have not read any murder mystery's based around real estate agents. There is a "colorful" cast of characters to keep you entertained. Of course there is also the bad boy we all end up show more rooting for! (I liked him!) There are lots of turns in the plot to keep you guessing.
To summarize, I really enjoyed myself while reading this one. It was different and didn't leave me hanging (too much LOL) at the end. I will be bugging Bente on twitter though...I want to know more about the next book already! I think mystery/ cozy fans will enjoy this one! show less

I discovered A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS after I found the short story THE BODDY IN THE SNOWBANK by Jenna Bennett, and I wanted to read more of her books.

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS is a mystery involving Savannah Martin, a Southern Belle turned realtor, who gets mixed up with a bad boy, by the way of sexy Rafe Collier, and trips over a murdered colleague. What follows is fun and adventure as Savannah tries to solve the murder, before the murderer strikes again!

Before I start I have to tell my readers, that I have a long love/hate relationship with eBooks. I've had two eReaders and both of them were failed experiments. I just don't do well with the eReading phenomena. I like to hold a book and turn the page and yes *gasp* I like to crack the spine. show more I've all but given up the idea of reading full-length eBooks. However, after reading THE BODDY IN THE SNOWBANK, I connected with the author, Jenna Bennett, on Twitter and she convinced me that A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS was that good, and I just had to read it.

So I abandoned my beautiful paper books and I picked up the iPad and downloaded A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS from Smashwords.

Guess what I discovered? Jenna Bennett was absolutely right!!! A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS grabbed my attention from the very first page. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments, that at one time I almost coughed a mouthful of lemon gelato up all over the screen!! The sexual tension between good girl, Savannah, and bad boy, Rafe, had my toes curling repeatedly. After the first chapter, I was so immersed in the story and didn't even notice that I wasn't reading a paper book.

I simply adored Savannah. Of all the amateur sleuths I've read recently, she has climbed up to the top of my list and completely knocked Stephanie Plum from the #1 spot. She has all of Stephanie Plum's sass and need for adventure, but with southern charm and she's not silly at all. With her southern ways you would expect her to maybe be a little silly, but she's not. She's sweet and assertive and oh so wonderful...
“Top of the morning to you, Savannah!”
I smiled back, or more accurately, showed teeth. “Hi, Tim.”
“You look smashing today. Have a good weekend?” His bright baby blue eyes were malicious.
“Great,” I said dryly, knowing full well that I looked like death warmed over. “Stumbling over a bloody corpse, especially one I know, is definitely my idea of a good time. There’s nothing quite like a whole lot of blood to give a girl some color in her cheeks.”
I really enjoyed the mystery. It kept me guessing right up to the end, and it was full of lots of realtor knowledge. By the end I actually felt like I'd learnt something about realtors and their dealings every day. This made the story feel very well researched, and as all the pieces of the puzzle fell in place together it left me feeling like I'd read a well put-together story.

I give A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS five stars. If you enjoy your cozy mysteries with a good shot of romance, and a love triangle with a sexy bad boy and a Southern gentleman in the mix, then you will love this book. A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS is very reminiscent of the Stephanie Plum books, but the laughs are louder, the romance is sexier and there is a great murder mystery to top it off.

Don't hesitate to add A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS to your holiday reading. Readers, you won't be disappointed! show less

I ran through this book within 5 hours because it was hilarious.

All I can say is, this book surprised me. I am a variety reader so I pick any book to read hoping it is good. This book blew me away because it was full of southern charm and hilarious one-liners. The one thing that kept me entertained was the hilarious flirtatious moments between Savannah and Rafe. It is so innocent and cute but we are still reading a mystery and suspense novel here, so stick with me, kids.

This is a murder mystery, and it kept true to it.

The Realtor turned Nancy Drew haha.

Oh yeah, all the critical reviews on the grammars? I did not see too many to give it 3 stars. There was creativity in the way the book was told so if you were actually reading the story, show more you’d understand that the grammars were written as spoken. Southern accent.

I’ll be reading Savannah’s Murder Mystery #2: Hot Property.

Read More: http://kindlecorners.com/review/a-cutthroat-business-savannah-martin-mystery-1/ show less

This is a light and amusing read about a murder mystery in a house for sale. An interesting peek in the world of US realtor business with a bit of romance on the side. Very enjoyable!

Savannah Martin is trying to start a career in the real estate business so she jumps at the chance to show a house to a possible client when another realtor fails to appear. However, she is in for a couple of surprises - the person wanting to look at the house is the handsome but dangerous Rafe Collier and when she goes to show him the house she stumbles across the murdered body of her colleague. Rafe seems to be the chief suspect but Savannah isn't convinced he is the guilty one and she soon finds herself trying to solve the murder before she becomes the next victim.

“A Cutthroat Business” is a nicely done mystery/romance/suspense novel. Savannah is a great character - a Southern Belle who tries to do things the way her mother would show more want her to but not always succeeding. Her attempts to start a career as a realtor are nicely portrayed and there are some good behind-the-scenes glimpses into the real estate world. Her relationship with Rafe sizzles - the heat between them is palpable and I love the good girl/bad boy aspects of their relationship (although I thought he was a bit too mysterious. Parts of his life were revealed, but I still wanted to know more). The mystery aspects are as well-written as the romance parts. The mystery is well plotted with plenty of suspects and twists and turns along the way. There are a few things I didn’t like about the book: Savannah is the type of heroine who tells everyone everything without thinking that one of the people she is talking to might be a murderer. She is too smart to be that dumb. Also, the ending tends to drag on after the killer is revealed. In fact, I was waiting for yet another plot twist, but there wasn't one. The book easily could have ended pages earlier.

“A cutthroat Business” is a good mystery/romance novel. show less