This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
Gay Yellen has been sneezed on by an elephant, held at gunpoint and survived a killer California earthquake, which may explain her penchant for writing cliffhangers. She began working life as a stage and TV actress, then happily moved behind the camera at The American Film Institute (AFI) as Assistant to the Director of Production. A former magazine editor and national journalism award winner, she was the contributing book editor for Five Minutes to Midnight, an international thriller. Her Samantha Newman Series of mystery novels includes The Body Business (2015 RONE Award finalist) and The Body Next Door (2016 Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Finalist).
Gay lives in Texas. She loves connecting with book clubs and community groups in person and online. You can contact her through her website, GayYellen.com
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Body Next Door: A Samantha Newman Mystery is a contemporary mystery novel written by Gay Yellen. Samantha was planning to raid the refrigerator and then collapse in the Houston condo her mysterious new love interest had loaned her when she finally got home from her all-nighter road trip. She was still reeling from the sequence of events that had led to the loss of her last job and the undue and unwelcome public exposure she was subjected to, but even more so, she was shattered by the loss of yet another loved one. She was on her way back from attending her friend's funeral in Nebraska. Yes, she should have made it a two-day trip or at least pulled over at a rest stop and indulged in a snooze, but she needed the security and sanity of home. She was dodging eighteen-wheelers on the highway when her phone lit up. It was nearly 5 a.m.; an odd hour for anyone to call her -- unless it was an emergency. Pulling over to the side of the highway, she took the call and was surprised to hear Gertie's voice on the other end. Gertie wasn't quite sure what to do with Samantha's neighbor, Brandy. She was drunk and hysterical, and she was also covered in blood.
Gay Yellen's contemporary mystery novel, The Body Next Door: A Samantha Newman Mystery, Volume 2, is an entertaining and fast-paced novel about a woman whose midlife crisis is prematurely and unexpectedly forced upon her, and the hazards she must get past to reach the next phase of her life. Samantha is fierce and determined, and she has the ability to put away an incredible amount of ice cream if the situation warrants. Yellen's plot is finely woven, and her characters are vividly portrayed, from the strange elevator companions Samantha seems doomed to spend time with to the folks on her boyfriend Carter's ranch. Yellen also admirably addresses the difficulties those coping with loss may experience in forging new relationships. Armchair sleuths will appreciate the clues and red herrings judiciously scattered throughout this breezy and romance-laced mystery. The Body Next Door: A Samantha Newman Mystery, Volume 2 is highly recommended.
