Loose Ends: A Private Investigator Crime and Suspense Mystery Thriller (California Corwin P. I. Mystery Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

VanDyke's prose is pleasant, fast, and breezy--but this novel is too full of gaping holes. The narrator ("Cal") tells us that dawn comes to San Francisco over the Coast Range Mountains, which seems like the sort of observation one might draw from studying a map. In fact those mountains can't be seen from Valencia Street, so the image took me out of the narrative and left me scratching my head on page 1 or 2. Dawn, in San Francisco, comes up over the roofs of whatever buildings happen to be across the street! Cal then enters her office with a gun on her hip. Why is she armed? She doesn't say: we're just supposed to take it for granted that all PIs heat. Not likely though, right? She doesn't bother to tell us what sorts of cases she normally works, so the whole thing just sits there. And, she is evidently able to hide this gun, while out on the street, by wearing a blazer over it. Can a blazer really hide a gun worn on a woman's hip? Maybe just barely, if she leaves it unbuttoned--but she tells us the weather is cold, so shouldn't she be buttoning it up or even clutching it tight--perhaps even wear a more plausible, heavier jacket instead? The details in short seem poorly thought out, and we're still only on about page 3. Sitting at her desk, Cal hears a moan from an adjacent room and "instinctively" she reaches for that gun--but then we're told that an employee of hers lives ("crashes") in that room, so it must be true that she's heard him making noises in there before, which means there's no justification for her panic. This failed attempt to generate unearned tension makes Cal comes off as paranoid and buggy. She telephones a potential client in Marin County and mentions that the client does not have a Valley accent. Well, California is a big state, so there's no reason for Cal to expect such an accent, any more than she might expect a Russian, French, or other sort of accent. The detail is rather odd and speaks to me of an author who has no actual knowledge of California. Cal promises to be at this new client's Mill Valley home in one hour. That journey might look possible as the crow flies it but wouldn't be possible in fact, due to city traffic. Cal, however, encounters only "light" traffic, which was simply not believable: five miles across a city full of hills and red lights? I don't think so. Cal's route across town takes her through the "old Presidio," but no San Franciscan ever says "old Presidio." It's just "the Presidio." VanDyke must be garnering info from a guidebook for tourists. Next, either on the Golden Gate Bridge or just across it, Cal rolls down the window of her car and can smell the refreshing fragrances of kelp and fish. But roll down your window in eight lanes of highway traffic here in the real world, and all you will smell are exhaust fumes. Cal arrives in Mill Valley and turns off her GPS--but why would anyone need GPS just to get from SF to Mill Valley? The GPS detail is stupid. Cal also mentions that, because of recent rains, the hills in Marin are green. But it's July, folks, so at very least she should refer to "freakish, unseasonal rains." VanDyke/Cal describes Mill Valley as a coastal town, but it isn't. Again, one might make such a deduction by looking at a non-topographical map, but MV is more of a mountain village and is in fact separated from the Pacific by, yes, an entire mountain. NO ONE thinks of Mill Valley as a coastal town! Cal tells us that the large houses in MV sell for 5 million each and that even the little ones cottages go for a million bucks apiece. However, upon entering her new client's house, she manages to deduce from observing the client's fancy coffeemaker that the client must be "comfortably well off." How is is possible that she couldn't figure that out until she saw a coffeemaker? Some detective! Cal also mentions that the client's house doesn't have a swimming pool, but if I- were to visit a house in Mill Valley that DID have a swimming pool, that might be worthy of mention. The absence of this pool is non-information and makes no sense. Why not also mention, for instance, that the house lacks a helicopter landing pad or a mini-golf course? In short, we now have a person living in northern Cal who doesn't, for some reason, have a southern Cal accent and, furthermore, doesn't have a typical southern Cal mansion's swimming pool. This all adds up to an author so unreliably unfamiliar with the territory he's trying to describe that he simply has no credibility left, and I've only taken you up to about Chapter 3. In sum, this book is unreadable. Why go on to Chapter Four when the author's so obviously faking the whole thing?

7/2005, San Francisco, CA (Valencia). California “Cal” Gale Corwin (f, PI, California Investigations) called & set up an appointment with Miranda “Mira” Almone Sorkin (35, mother, warehouse mgr., divorcee, nee Herndon, Stanford, Pharm D).Her daughter Talia Sorkin (10, latchkey kid) had been kidnapped & the kidnappers wanted a ransom for her return.Talia was not returned to mom.Cal went to the North Bay Distributors (Rankin pharmaceuticals) where Mira works.He spoke to Bill Clawson (security guard, retired Lieutenant, Chicago PD) about security & the layout of the place.There was a huge drug heist at the warehouse.Cal went to speak with several low life drug dealers.Back to Bill’s place because he did not show up for work.The landlady Ms. Gainer let her in.Bill had been dead for quite some time.Cal took Malcolm “Meat” Estridge & Mason “Manson” Estridge to talk to Phil Lattimer (security guard).Will Talia be returned?What about the drug heist?Haven’t heard this saying since me/adopted sister found out we were “latchkey kids.”I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written who-dun-it crime book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great who-dun-it crime movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.Thank you for the free ebooksdaily; Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas; Amazon Digital Services LLC; bookTony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

First book of a series I'd not heard of before and I was quite impressed. The writing is good and the story flows nicely. I did forget part way through that it was set in 2005 which caused a little confusion but that was my mistake. Despite getting this from Amazon's Kindle store I found that there were quite a few pages with highlights under the text, almost as if was a draft copy which seemed a bit odd.While I enjoyed the story I, like many other people found the title very fitting as the ending left a lot of loose ends, almost as if the author couldn't work out how to wrap everything up, which was a shame.The book also includes a novella, Off The Leash, which if I'm honest I actually enjoyed more then the main novel. It's short and well written and properly finished.I'm looking forward to the next in the series as I have a feeling it's going to be a great series.

It took me a little time to get into this book as it felt I was not starting at the beginning of the series but there is no information on whether this is the first or not.As I read on more and more of Cal’s (the main character) background was revealed which made the story more engaging. I wish the author had let on where Cal had got Molly (her car) from as it was a supercharged one when I had a WRX it was a turbo.This is what I describe as a gentle mystery with no graphic violence but a good solid plot which allowed me to try and find the clues as the story progressed, some I found, some I did not. Although Cal is portrayed as a hard person she did come over as having a human side to her character. I liked how all the characters were portrayed but would single out Mickey, Cal’s assistant and general IT expert.I found that a lot of the descriptive passages added to the atmosphere and made the story seem more real, one example is where a description of “crispy tacos” was given, a small example but it grounded the story.As the title implies there are loose ends at the end of the story which no doubt will be explained in the next of the series. Although part of a series it does work well as a stand alone novel.I will read the next one.

If you want an ending that ties things up then don't bother reading this book.I found I was really hooked and enjoyed the story but was very disappointed when the book ended with no "loose ends" , excuse the pun, tied up. It left it on possibilities and summaries where as I would've preferred a proper finish and answer.Would read authors other books but would check first if story was finished and not left open.The above is why I have only given 3 stars otherwise it would have been a 5 star book.

This story is set in 2005. For me it showed a lot of promise that never ripened.A young girl is kidnapped. Private investigator and former San Francisco cop California “Cal” Corwin is hired To find her. A straight forward case? It should be. But there are plenty of twists and turns on the way.On the version I had. It included the short story called Off The Leash. I have written review of it on it’s own individual page.

Ensure you have plenty of time available when you pick this up as you will not want to put it down. Cal ( short for California) is a good strong female lead. She is a PI after leaving the Police force, she would rather be back in the force but is making the best of what she does do. I do not want to say much about the plot or it will spoil it for you. Cal is trying to find a young girl who is being held to force her Mother to help a robbery take place, but all is not what it seems, and there are several things which will certainly carry over to more books. Read the book to find out more......