Never Buried

Never Buried is the first book in the Leigh Koslow mystery series, a series of five books written and set in the late 90's/early 2000's. The thing that's hilarious and unique about this series is the fact that the author took a decade long break before deciding to check back in with Leigh and the gang (also ten years later) and has proceeded to write a further six books. I had never heard of the series before but when the author started writing again, the first book was offered for free on Amazon and it came to my attention. I'm really glad it did because this series has become a bit of a favourite.

In Never Buried, Leigh Koslow, 29 year advertising guru, has just moved in with her pregnant cousin, Cara, while Cara's husband Gil is away show more working. But the first morning there Leigh proceeds to find a dead body in the hammock and somehow, Leigh, Cara - their police friend, Maura, Maura's mother, Mary, Leigh's other mate, Warren, all get caught up in solving the mystery.

I really enjoyed this. The mystery was good. I like when there's old cases to be investigated. And I enjoyed the mix of trying to figure out how it impacts the present. The investigation was slow and steady and maybe won't be for everyone but I rated it. I worked out some parts and was surprised by others. It was logical and the reasons behind everything made sense which is always nice.

Leigh was hilarious. I liked her wit and sarcasm. She reminds me a lot of Kinsey Millhone with her curiosity and being self-proclaimed wimps. Although Kinsey has training to back herself up so...maybe not. But there's definitely something very similar.

I loved the rest of the cast of characters. Maura was hilarious. And her mum, Mary, was epic. Mary catching Leigh when she falls off the roof! And I love that Maura's heavy duty police work is really just her mum telling her the goss. Charlotte (Maura's aunt) tricking Leigh into being the one to wake Maura where she ends up with a busted nose and crushed toe was pretty good too. I love when old women get the best of others. Cara's neighbours the Rhodis' are pretty funny too. Adith Rhodis was a card.

And I loved Leigh's dad, Randall - I liked the laid back attitude - he seems to take all things in his stride. It was amusing to see that Leigh knows people based on whether or not they own a pet and visited her father's veterinary.

Overall it's a strong mystery with lots of humour and heart. 4 stars. show less

I enjoyed this little mystery. Leigh is staying with her pregnant cousin Cara while her husband is away. Then she finds a body with a warning. The two race against time to find what happened to the previous family that lived there.

This mystery will make you think that you know what is happening and then twist it all around. You will be left guessing all the way to the end.

A nice little surprise of a cozy. I enjoyed the story and the characters and it didn't feel just slapped together like some (most) of the kindle freebies I've gotten. Nothing earthshattering, but I thought it was a very good example of the genre.

The truth about what happened in 1949 went to Paul Fischer's grave... Too bad his body didn't!

Advertising copywriter Leigh Koslow doesn't pack heat--just a few extra pounds. And she doesn't go looking for trouble. When she moved into her cousin Cara's refurbished Victorian house, she wasn't planning on discovering a corpse--certainly not one that had been embalmed ten years before. But as anyone in the small Pittsburgh borough of Avalon could tell her, her cousin's house has a history attached. A history dating back to two mysterious deaths in the summer of 1949.

Someone wants Leigh and Cara out of the house--someone who has something to hide. But that someone doesn't know Leigh's impetuous cousin, and when Cara digs her heels in, Leigh show more looks to her old college chum, local policewoman Maura Polanski, for help. But the answers the trio find only point to more questions. Were the scandalous deaths of fifty years ago really an accident and a suicide? Or were they murder?

The nearer the women get to the truth, the more desperate someone becomes. Because some secrets are better off kept. Especially when they hit close to home! Leigh Koslov #1 show less

I thoroughly enjoyed Never Buried. Leigh and her cousin Cara were a wonderful pair of ( dare I call them) heroines.
Cara is having a tough pregnancy, so Leigh decides to move in and help. The next morning she finds a corpse in the hammock out back. It is the previous owner who has been dead for 10 years. The girls figure, why not play detective and figure out who he is and why he was left there. The laughs never stops. Leigh's mother ,best friend Maura, and school mate Warren all bring their own fun to the story. Along with Cara's neighbor Adith.
The body isn't the only mystery to solve in the book, I won't reveal the other you can read the book to discover that. I was slightly surprised at who the culprit was.
Growing up in the show more Pittsburgh area, I could relate to the backdrop of the story. I've been to The Point, Neville Island, and The Beaver Medical Center.

I recommend this book to anyone who like a good mystery and a laugh. show less

This was an entertaining book, and I didn't pick the suspect until he was revealed at the end, always a good situation in a murder-mystery. The characters were well-written, but I must admit I found the heroine a tad annoying at times, mainly because she was so obsessed with the mystery surrounding the house her sister and brother-in-law owned, and I couldn't quite make the connection as to why she was so intrinsically determined to solve it. Besides that small problem, overall the book was quite entertaining and I would recommend it.

Eh. Not bad, but it took me 3/4 of the book to get interested - mostly because I don't really like any of the characters. There's a lot of backstory we aren't given (relatives and friends and enemies, all with established relationships that we only get the current endpoints of), which means I spent a lot of the story watching strong reactions to mild actions and feeling disconnected (why is she so obsessed with the psychic poodle? the owner mentions it once, the protagonist mentions it (to the reader) at least 4-5 times). It's more realistic, but I'll take fiction style, please (I spend enough time trying to figure out what's going on and why in the real world). The mystery is unpleasant and the solution is even more unpleasant. There's show more a happy ending (not a romance), which leads directly into "why you should read the next book"...I don't think I will. show less