Book Review: Dead.com (The Samantha Darling Mystery Series) by Sarah Browne

Published by Scrivener House Digital

Samantha is up to her neck in trouble. Call it a sudden atmospheric and/or culture shock, but she is about to be transformed from a dinosaur of the Computer Age into a somewhat savvy Dotcom California fledgling quickly learning the lingo. If that weren't enough, she has a fear of heights and is sent to California's coast along the Pacific Highway resulting in terrifying cliff driving, and Carey Wells, the Isis CEO she is to interview not only lives on a cliff, but has a glass floor at the edge where one can look down at the ocean below and watch the sea otters. All this because the nice paper magazine “Real Life” has been taken over by a Japanese digital conglomerate and will now be operating strictly on-line as “E-LIFE”. Joining the cyberworld has her editor in a panic for a groundbreaking story from Sam.

Sarah Browne writes with tongue-in-cheek (and often cheeky) humour, this ebook is fascinating and funny reading. Sam's first encounter with the CEO is breathtaking since she finds herself interviewing a very distracting hunk in a hot tub. But it isn't all daydreams and wishful thinking, oh, no! There is quite a cast of characters in this book ranging from the mysterious and missing ex-galpal Lily, the old friends from Carey's hometown, Jake and Danny, who are also dotcom literate and technical, and Ben, the good friend but also technically the competition CEO.

The evening of her arrival in Carmel coincided with the eve of a marathon which she was definitely not planning on running. She was, however, destined to be at Carey's pre-marathon party. By the next morning, Sam discovers her first dead body. With pressure from her editor, pressure from the police, and pressure from her vertigo, Sam finds herself without a story and stuck in California. Who can she trust? Who is killing off dotcom bigwigs? This is a story with lots of detail, descriptive and peopled with unique characters. Fun, rich in cybertalk, and a compelling murder mystery. A very entertaining read.