Counterfeit Lottery By S. A. Stolinsky

by Sandra Murphy

Details on how to win a copy of this book at the end of the review.

Lily (that’s with one L, not two at the end) Handy is an actor. Unfortunately, her big break into a television series went down the tubes when the show was cancelled. And she had a speaking part! Grunting counts as speaking, right? What would you expect from a show about cavemen?

Well, nothing to do but make yourself feel better after a blow like that so Lily is off to the big department store to buy a bit of makeup. After all, you get a bonus gift when you do.

The store is running a promotion for the fine jewelry department. They’ve got a huge diamond on loan from the Smithsonian to display. There’s purple smoke, then a panic as people rush from the store and in the crush, someone hands Lily a cookbook of all things. Believe me; Lily can’t cook, even with the help of a good book.

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In spite of extra security, the stone disappears and when found, is in Lily’s pocket. She manages to return the stone (with a little help), get caught about the cook book, be a suspect in the diamond heist, get involved in murder and still keep her husband, George, happy.

The investigation moves from Los Angeles to Vegas and back before the case is solved. Be careful to pay attention to names as there are a lot of characters to keep track of—Lily’s acting class, the suspects, the staff at the store and the people (and mobsters) she meets in Vegas. Some use their correct names but some don’t. Some use both.

Image source: S. A. Stolinsky

Lily is as ADD as you can imagine. While investigating, she thinks she might give up acting and become a police officer, provided you can skip the academy and patrol parts and just start as a detective. She also gives some thought to becoming an FBI agent, or being in a movie. Usually, I read a book straight through but Lily wore me out. I had to take several breaks, just to keep up with her.

I hope Lily and the gang are back in more episodes but want the next book to have been edited more. There were places where it was hard to follow who was talking because of the page layout. There were also wrong words which implies a reliance on Spell-check. It’s a shame to be distracted from a good story because of such things.

To enter to win a copy of Counterfeit Lottery, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Lottery,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 17, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.

Use this link to purchase this book and a portion goes to help support KRL & it supports an indie bookstore:

Counterfeit Lottery

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes two mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble. You can also find several of Sandra's short stories on UnTreed Reads including Bananas Foster.