A Murder on Long Island: The Last Advocate

A Joey Mancuso, Father O’Brian Crime Mystery, Book 2

By: Owen Parr, Claire Bloom - director

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Real estate developer Harold Longworth is facing life in prison for the murder of his wife in their Sagaponack, Long Island home. Just hired by the defense attorneys, former NYPD detective Giuseppe "Joey" Mancuso realizes that for a whole year before the trial, the attorneys have bungled the investigation. Was it on purpose? Are the attorneys covering something up?

Joey and his half-brother, Father Dominic O'Brian, have 10 days before the end of the trial to find the real murderer. The day of the murder, a year ago, Suffolk PD homicide detectives found Mr. Longworth, alone in the home, sitting by his wife's body after he called 911. Her blood was on his clothes. His bloody prints were on the murder weapon. Gunshot residue on his arms and hands.

The prosecution is on the last days of their presentation. They have proven opportunity on the part of Longworth. As for motivation, they are about to show that Mrs. Longworth, the victim, was asking for a divorce and settlement on a $75 million estate. Further, they uncovered that Mr. Harold Longworth suspected his wife of having an affair.

As Mancuso and Father O'Brian begin working the case from their center of operations, Captain O'Brian's Pub and Cigar Bar at the corner of Beaver and Hanover Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, they find that there could be a lot more to this murder. The Longworth Foundation, a $100 million nonprofit organization, is under FBI probe and IRS audit for potential tax schemes, money laundering, and colluding with foreign governments.

Mancuso, in his admitted Sherlock Holmes style, likes to look beyond the obvious. To observe things others looked at, but did not see. Can Mancuso and O'Brian save Mr. Longworth from a life sentence? Will they be able to unravel a possible fraudulent tax scheme being concocted by the foundation executives? Or, is it simply a case where the husband did it out of jealousy?

©2017 Skyboat Media, Inc. (P)2017 Skyboat Media, Inc.

May Be Better Than The First Book

The Boys are back for another murder mystery. This time they only have 10 days until the convicted murderer’s trial is set to begin. Fortunately for Joey Mancuso and Fath, r O’Brien they are up to the challenge. Everything appears to be stacked against their client, but Mancuso has a hunch that he didn’t do it. Now he has to prove it before the wrong person is sentenced for a crime that he did not commit.

This was a helluva book. I love Parr’s writing style, especially for this series. Father and Joey are the perfect dichotomy and provide a great back and forth. Sprinkle in Joey’s girlfriend and the bartender at the bar that they own and you’ve got a great cast of characters.

The way that Mancuso goes into a crime scene is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes (which he happens to quote a fair bit). And I love it. He just looks at things with such a different point of view that you really feel like you’re there with him as he is setting up his retelling of a crime.

I didn’t have any issues at all with this book and I thought it was a flawless piece of “who done it”/murder mystery with the added bonus of having the court case attached to it.

The first part of the book was all about trying to find out who did it. But the second part (which I wasn’t expecting) was all about the trial. As a reader, I got to witness the trial firsthand and listen to all of the ways that the investigation that Mancuso and O’Brien helped with the examination and cross-examination of everyone.

I blew through this story. I couldn’t put it down. I ended up staying up late one night and then getting up early to finish it. I think it took me 2 days to listen to this beginning to end. I couldn’t wait to get out of work to listen to more of it. Parr is up there with one of my favorite Mystery/Thriller authors. And I hope that there are much more Joey Mancuso and Father O’Brien stories in store for us.

Also, the addition of more back-story/more inner looking into Mancuso was really appreciated in this book. It made him even more human. He has flaws, and he gets scared. He’s deathly afraid of losing his girlfriend/fiance throughout and you really feel for him by the end of the book. When an author can get real emotion like that out of a reader, I would say that’s a pretty awesome book.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook. It has not affected my review in any way. If you liked it, please vote for it! If you'd like to see more like this check out BriansBookBlog DOT com.

Better than the First!

Owen Parr did an outstanding job writing this book with all of its twists and turns. I loved how he made the need to look beyond the obvious and think outside the box. Some of the characters in this book were endearing, while others I didn't like. This book was well plotted and is a standalone listen. I thought Stefan Rudnicki did a great performance. I enjoyed his Irish accent and his distinguishable voices. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. Time well spent listening to this book.

Another Great Story!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Well, the author did it again. I had the opportunity of listening to Book 1 in the series and was truly taken with the characters and their easy going personalities. It's always a challenge of following up with a good sequel, but the author did it.
Everything about this book was enjoyable: the storyline, the interpretation by the narrator, the writing. I kept thinking that these stories would make a wonderful TV series. All of the characters are well defined and leave an imprint, even the secondary ones such as Agnes. It's a book you will listen to with a constant smile on your lips. Arthur Conan Doyle might be the inspiration for the books, but Owen Parr makes them all his own.

Murder on Long Island

Excellent book. The reader is good. He sure does try to make each voice sound different and for some he does okay.

Excellent!

Do not think twice! Listen to this one. You will not be disappointed. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

This is an author to watch for...

I am so happy to say that the second book in this series is just as good if not better than the first. As with the first there are multiple reviews and I won't bore anyone by restating what's been said.
This book is another story with a single murder and many suspects. The husband is the one charged with the crime but the only one who believes him is Joey Mancuso and Father O'Brian.
This book is very well written with interesting characters. The characters are well fleshed out and the story is very detailed with a very clever plot. This actually has me guessing the whole way through.
Stefan Rudnicki does an excellent job narrating.
With kindle unlimited this book is FREE.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Book 2

With this book 2 in the series , Mancuso brothers are back to solve the mystery of a dead wife, a husband accused of the murder. Joey is approached by the daughter and lawyers of the husband – the brothers have days to solve the year-old murder mystery.

A little distracting but enjoyable

Narrator wasn’t good with different voices or accents and this was irritating. The girlfriend was not worthy but who knows the future for her? The priest does what for the business? This wasn’t an author I’d follow unless he has someone else speaking.

Another great listen!

There is just something special about the Joey Mancuso mysteries. This is a four-book series and I've listened to three so far. It never disappoints.

Joey and Father Dom are an interesting detective duo. Father Dom didn't actually do much in this listen but they work very well together in trying to figure out what's going on. I seriously liked the mystery. You knew the husband wasn't guilty but it was great to watch Joey's mind work to figure out who is.

Rudnicki is the narrator for two of the three books I've listened to. While I don't care for his female voices, I like his Joey!

Better!

Decided to continue on to Book #2 & I thought it was much better written, paced, with a very good mystery. Reader continues with solid performance. I’m gonna continue on to Book #3.