Uncle and Ants
A Silicon Valley Mystery Book 1
by Marc Jedel
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Mysterious attacks. Mischievous nieces. Can a clueless uncle catch a tech-savvy killer … and be home before bedtime?
When a freak accident hospitalizes Marty Golden’s sister and condemns him to babysitter duty, he thinks it’s just another case of hardwired bad luck in Silicon Valley. Until a suspicious murder suggests the mishap was no mere coincidence. Something must be done.
Too bad this quirky, fashion-backward uncle isn’t exactly hero material.
Convinced his sister is in mortal danger, this amateur sleuth follows clues to an oddball array of suspects. Armed with nothing but an eye for detail and powers of self-delusion, Marty tangles with gangsters, a cantankerous school secretary, and a perplexing woman he can’t help but fall for. Glitches in his investigation seem like a piece of cake compared to dinner-prep and bedtime stories with his two precocious, pre-teen nieces.
Can Marty catch the culprit, save his sister, and get his life back in order before he gets unplugged?
Uncle and Ants is the first novel in a refreshingly modern mystery series set in Silicon Valley. If you like clever humor, sassy side characters, and average Joes facing extraordinary circumstances, then you’ll love this twisty mystery.
Buy Uncle and Ants to login to a fresh, funny mystery today!
4 stars!
Uncle and Ants is the first book in Marc Jedel’s Silicon Valley Mystery series. This is the author’s first book – what a great start! I’ve mentioned in many of my reviews that the first book of a series can be the hardest to read because it’s information overload as the author sets up the series. I did struggle at first with the start of this book, but soon settled into the bumblings of Marty.
Marty is the absent-minded engineer. He has a lot on his plate and struggles to juggle all of it. Marty is forced to care for his nieces when his sister is injured, and as smart as he is, I don’t know what his sister was thinking trusting him with her girls! It’s not that Marty doesn’t like children, he just was a busy working man and wasn’t involved in the raising of his kids so he’s pretty clueless. Marty is a smart guy, but his nieces outsmarted him at every turn.
His sister’s accident appears suspicious and gets Marty’s bring whirling. When no one takes him seriously, he decides to “investigate” the accident. That leads to a lot of craziness, bumbling and many embarrassing situations. Marty is not what anyone would call stealthy. Despite everything, his sister improves, he does manage to get involved in solving a crime, and somehow (thanks to a neighbor) his nieces manage to survive.
Overall, I found this an enjoyable book and would definitely read the next. As I said above, it took me a little while to get into the story because there was just a lot. I hope with the second book the author is settled into the story and I can just focus on Marty’s bumblings, and whatever mystery he’s going to try and solve. I definitely look forward to seeing more from the side characters who provide some great interactions and dialogue.
**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**
Chutes and Ladder
A Silicon Valley Mystery Book 2
Can super-agent (in his own mind) Uncle Marty solve not one, but two mysteries without becoming a victim himself? Will he ever be forgiven for bringing Buddy, the Labrador, into his sister’s house?
All your favorite characters from Uncle and Ants are back in a crazy, new adventure. Plus, introducing a new member of Marty’s family!
Coming Soon!
Marc Jedel writes humorous murder mysteries. In his high-tech marketing roles, he's also written fiction. These are just called emails, ads, and marketing collateral.
In his family, Marc was born first — a fact his sister never lets him forget, no matter what milestone age she hits. For most of Marc’s life, he’s been inventing stories. Some, especially when he was young, involved his sister as the villain. As his sister’s brother for her entire life, he feels highly qualified to tell tales of the evolving, quirky sibling relationship in the Silicon Valley Mystery series.
Family and friends would tell you that the protagonist in his stories, Marty Golden, isn't much of a stretch of the imagination for Marc, but he proudly resembles that remark.
Like Marty, Marc lives in San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, where he writes within earshot of the doppler effect of the local ice cream truck. Unlike Marty, Marc has a wonderful wife and a neurotic but sweet, small dog, who much prefers the walks resulting from writer’s block than his writing.
Visit his website, marcjedel.com, for free chapters of upcoming novels, news and more.
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