The Green Pearl Caper

Damien Dickens Mysteries, Book 1

By: Phyllis Entis

Narrated by: Tom Lennon

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Celine Sutherland is dead - her body half-hidden under the Atlantic City Boardwalk - and Damien Dickens, P.I. killed her. Detective Lt. James Holmes found Damien's gun and wallet near the crime scene, and discovered Celine's cash-filled, emerald-studded evening bag hidden in Damien's apartment. Sylvia Sutherland, Celine's older sister and CEO of the family's tobacco empire, insists that Dickens pulled the trigger. And the Sutherlands carry a lot of influence in Atlantic City. Even Damien's secretary has deserted him - gone to work for the Sutherlands. Only Celine's younger sister, Susan, believes in his innocence.

After Susan bails him out of jail, Damien follows his gut and a series of clues in order to clear his name. His quest takes him to several Atlantic City landmarks, inland to Everettville, a small New Jersey town, and north to Vermont, where he confronts Celine's killer.

The Green Pearl Caper, set in the summer of 1979, is the first in a series of Damien Dickens mysteries.

©2015 Phyllis Entis (P)2016 Phyllis Entis

Atlantic City in the 40s.. er.. I mean 1979

Set in and around Atlantic City in 1979, private investigator has been arrested in connection with the murder of Celine Sutherland, one of three adult daughters of a local well-connected and rich family. Now he’s been bailed out by the youngest daughter, Susan, and he has to work hard to clear his name.

Parts of this book felt like they were set in the golden age of black & white movies and noir detective stories (perhaps the 40s or 50s) and some parts definitely feel solidly centered in 1979. The blend worked well with this story since our hero, PI Dickens, is a bit of a stereotype. It’s this well-known stereotype that let me slip into Damien’s life easily and pick up on the mystery right away instead of worrying about what he was all about. The cliche is complete with beautiful, efficient, and single secretary Millie Hewitt, who has a thing for her boss. Which brings me to the part that didn’t work so well with this 40s mashed up into 1979 – gender roles. I would have been happier with a bit more depth to the ladies in this tale.

Many years ago, Damien saved a young Celine Sutherland, and it’s a bit of a tragedy for Damien that she is now dead by his gun, with him neatly framed for it. With big money in play, there’s a list of potential culprits. Tracking down clues is a challenge in 1979 without computerized records, the internet, or cell phones. I quite enjoyed watching Damien and Millie do their best to dig up info without getting on the bad side of the law or a solid beat down from questionable parties interested in the case.

I did get a little chuckle out of some of the character names. Like Damien Dickens made me wonder if the author is a Dickens fan. Then we have Detective James Holmes, who makes me wonder if the author is a Sherlock Holmes fan as well. It was fun to see these little potential nods to other great authors.

The mystery itself was pretty good with enough hints to guide me in the right direction but not so many as to narrow down the choices to one person over the rest. At least, not until the big reveal near the end.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Tom Lennon did an OK job. First, he’s perfect for Damien Dickens. He sounds like a hard used PI who’s down on his luck. His female voices could use a bit more femininity. There were a few times where the volume of the narration changed, and while these variations weren’t enough to damage your hearing, I prefer a smooth recording.

Family deception

This book was about three sisters. A business owner has a son and three daughters by two different wives. Upon his death he leaves the business to all his children. When one of the sisters decides to run the business into bankruptcy to sell it without telling anyone else. When one of the sisters decides to investigate strange financial transactions she hires a PI. It is at this point that she turns up dead and the PI is framed for it. The entire book is about the PI and sisters trying to prove that he is not the guilty party and determine what is going on.

This book is exciting and a very interesting read. The narration is good and very understandable.

This book was provided free of charge with the expectation of an honest review.

Interesting story

Would you listen to The Green Pearl Caper again? Why?

No I did not care for the narrators style and there was a blip around chapter 24 or so.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

It was a little slow for my taste. You could also hear background noises like pages turning etc...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No due to its length.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Good old-fashioned detective work

Would you listen to The Green Pearl Caper again? Why?

I don't typically listen to our read books more than once, only because my to-read list is too long, but I'm anxiously awaiting the release of book two.

What other book might you compare The Green Pearl Caper to and why?

I think what comes to mind is something along the line of a J.P Beamont mystery. Both of these characters are a no frills guy with a kind heart, who's determined get their man. Phyllis Entis has written a likeable, old-fashioned character, not to mention the loveable Millie.

What about Tom Lennon’s performance did you like?

Outstanding performance. Tom has just enough difference in his character variation so as not to sound phony, and It's easy to tell the female from male characters. I'd previously read the Damien Dicken's series, and this was just the voice I had in mind.

Any additional comments?

This book gave me a nostalgic feel for some of the old-time detectives like Columbo. These guys were smart, but cleverly disgusted by their simplicity. Bad guys think they can walk all over them, but that's not the case with these tough detectives. Don't hesitate to listen to this one.

Think Mike hammer or Colombo

This is a wonderful detective novel that takes place in 1979. The narration was fabulous however the production had some issues. It was very easy to tell where the novel had been spliced together. That took away from the book for Me . Saying that I loved every other aspect of the book. Will definitely be reading more books in this series. This book was provided to me by the author narrator or publisher free of charge for a honest review

very entertaining

Wow!!! Bitter jealousy and greed knows no bounds! I enjoyed following along with this suspenseful mystery. I had no idea who the villain was until it was revealed in the story
I enjoyed how the author wraps all the loose ends up at the end. Sad and intriguing. This was a great mystery that kept me on my toes. The teaser for the next book sounds great. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job bringing the characters and story to life.

Book 1

What did you like best about this story?

The Green Pearl Caper provided an intriguing and suspenseful mystery. The readers / listeners of the audiobook soon find themselves smack in the front office of a modest detective agency where they are introduced to Damien and his trusty receptionist, Millie. And so the mystery begins. It is a very entertaining story and a good narration.

Extremely good

I found this audiobook to be extremely good. It has a great combination of murder, mystery, suspense and drama. The narrator does a wonderful job of reading this book.

Dickens is on the Case

Damien feels all kinds of guilt. He didn't believe his client was in danger. Now Celine is dead and her son needs Damien's help. The only problem is that Damien is framed for killing Celine and this is severely hampering his ability to investigate the murder. Will he be able to clear his name or will he end up in prison for a crime he didn't commit?

This story reminded me of an old PI pulp fiction dime novel. Damien is a good guy though and didn't seem to have any skeletons in his closet and no tragedy in his past to haunt him. Maybe we'll find out more in future books. The pace was slowish and the characters somewhat innocent. I enjoyed it. The plot unfolded clearly and there weren't a lot of surprises along the way. But it was charming and pleasing just the same.

The narration was on the good side with the females fairing worse than the men. It wasn't enough to take me out of the story but it was a little slow even on 1.5 speed. Lennon's voice was right for the material, I just believe his performance wasn't nuanced enough to bring out the best parts of the story.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

Good read

Kept your interest. Not so deep that you couldn't keep up. The reader has a good voice for listening. Will be listening to more in this series.