Singles Titles Reviewers’ Choice Award
Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, doesn’t think so. The 34-year-old half-Latina, half-WASP, and 100% detective has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve.
Set in the present, the reader meets a family of detectives living in the Bay Area, The Alvarez Family. The Series centers around the quirky thirty-four-year-old daughter, Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. Completing the family is her Never-Had-A-Bad-Hair-Day aristocratic mother, Lila; computer genius brother, Richard; beloved uncle “Tio;” and her energetic orange and white cat, Tugger. Seemingly light and frothy on the surface, the novel explores familial love, the good, the bad and the annoying.
When this group is not solving murders, they run Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that normally deals with the theft of computer software. The love, humor, and camaraderie shared between this half Latino/half Palo Alto blueblood family is what, I believe, sets this series apart from others. Also, they represent the ingredients of today’s mixed and unique family, which is a far cry from the traditional mother, father, and 2.4 kids of the past.
Chapter one of Murder is a Family Business is excerpted here, so please take a look. I can promise you a few laughs!
Praise for Murder Is a Family Business
“After reading Murder is a Family Business, I couldn’t wait to read A Wedding to Die For, and I was not disappointed. Ms. Haven has created a wonderful ensemble cast in the Alvarez Family Murder mysteries. Liana (Lee) Alvarez is smart and funny. The book is well-paced, building the tension from the first page to the last, as she and her family stalk the killer and almost become the next victims. You’ll go from edge-of-your seat suspense to rolling-on-the-floor laughter. Hang on to your derriere. If you have not read either of Ms. Haven’s books, please do so. I highly recommend both.”
Rochelle Webber, author
“Wonderfully fresh and funny!”