I started reading with the thought that this would be a change of scenery. Within minutes I was laughing and hungry for more. Mowgli Town, India, is famous as the setting for The Jungle Book. No tourists or truckers visit, as the main road has bypassed the town and now everyone is impoverished. Anu Shankar, having accepted the job of hotel manager at the impressive Noor Mahal, finds that like the town, her workplace has seen better days. A permanent guest suggests she start a cookery vlog on YouTube. Within days this becomes HIT SUBSCRIBE FOR MURDER.
The first ‘Viral Vlogger Mystery’ introduces a young lady who already has an impressively shady past, which she is working hard to escape. Why she then seeks fame on YouTube doesn’t make a lot of sense, as the city lowlifes can potentially find where she is staying. But that’s for another story. The drowsy small town in the middle of a jungle which still has tigers, snakes and jackals, holds danger of another sort.
A lottery win, an argument. The hotel security guard vanishes and doesn’t turn up until Anu is recording her second cookery video in a beauty spot. The ten year old kid who appears to know more about film production than Anu, spots something and trains the camera on what turns out to be a dead body. Without intending it, Anu gains a viral following who are keen on crime solving. Can a comfortably built, food loving lady in a sari please her audience and clear a new friend of a murder charge? Even asking questions in the area is risky.
To get the most from this escapade, hear the Indian voices as you read, especially the wife of the deceased guard and the one-upping ladies of the Mowgli Ladies’ Club. Yes, the women definitely have the best parts. I could see this series taking off and being televised like The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. The youth Silsila, who could have been modelled on Kipling’s Kim, provides many helpful tips on making vlogs, as does the hotel guest Oscar Fernandez, who vlogs about makeup and does Anu’s actual film production work. The great characters keep coming, from corpulent cops and a pesky salesman to a dreamy biker. Bollywood might make better dance films, but it can hardly make better cosy mysteries. HIT SUBSCRIBE FOR MURDER is by Noah Alexander, who has previously created the Detective Maya mysteries, set back in Colonial India. The updated look is sure to be a winner.
"A small town full of eccentrics, a cat who is too smart for her own good, and an amateur sleuth on a quest to become a social media celebrity. This hilarious cozy mystery has it all…"
Anu Shankar has decided to start over. It's kind of hard for a 35-year-old who is stone broke and has no particular talents.
But she has a plan.
Or at least she thinks she has. Anu has decided to move to a small Indian town and start a cooking channel on YouTube.
Fun right?
Well, it is, until a dead body makes an unexpected guest appearance on her first video and drags her smack dab in the middle of a murky murder investigation.
To make matters worse, the video goes viral. And that is an issue because her viewers are not interested in learning the delicate art of cooking Indian food. They merely want to find out more about the murder. So, what can poor Anu do but retire her ladle in favor of a detective hat, and jump straight into the mystery?
Does she succeed in solving the mystery? Well, only time will tell that. What can be said, though, is that there are two ways a murder investigation ends. Either the detective finds the killer, or the killer finds the detective…
Hit Subscribe for Murder is the first book in the Viral Vlogger Mystery series. Perfect for readers who enjoy a clean cozy mystery with a big dollop of humor and dash of murder.
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