Survival Can Be Deadly by Charlotte Stuart

Thanks to the author for an unsolicited ARC of Survival Can Be Deadly in exchange for an honest review. 

Survival Can Be Deadly by Charlotte Stuart

Genre: Amateur Sleuth/Cozy

Publisher: Walrus /Amphorae Publishing Group

Publication Date: September 10, 2019

Blurb

“When single mom and recent widow Cameron Chandler takes a much-needed job at Penny-wise Investigations, a detective agency conveniently located in a suburban shopping mall, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Her first case is to locate a runaway girl, something her predecessor had been pursuing before he disappeared. Following in his footsteps, the trail leads to a survivalist camp on a remote island in northern Puget Sound. Armed with only a Swiss Army Knife and her quirky on-the-job training as a suburban sleuth, Cameron uncovers more than she bargained for. She soon finds herself in a fight for her own survival in this lighthearted mystery set in Seattle and the San Juan Islands to the north.” (From Amazon)

My Thoughts

When Charlotte Stuart pitched the premise of her novel to me, I knew I needed to read it. A discount detective agency? An inexperienced private investigator? A survivalist camp? Count me in!

This was a charming mystery. Here’s a few reasons why:

Cameron

There’s Cameron, of course. A widow with a useless doctorate in the liberal arts, she’s been unemployed for a while. On top of that, she and her two tweens live with her mother, Stella, who keeps dropping not-so-subtle hints that Cameron should get remarried. (These hints include clipping news articles with titles like “Mid-life Crisis and the Single Mother” and posting them on the refrigerator.)

Cameron’s struggles are relatable. Wanting to strangle her well-meaning but meddling mother; wanting to strangle her tweens for being, well, tweens. Trying (and sometimes failing) to balance home and work. Bumbling and stumbling and finally finding her way through a new job. Being overqualified and still underqualified for other jobs. Wanting a fresh start.

She’s not a superhero or genius. She’s Everywoman (rather than Everyman), if only every woman had the same witty, honest voice and quick comebacks. I loved being in her head.

Quirky, likable characters

The staff at Pennywise Investigations was a terrific ensemble cast. They are odd without being too odd. Stuart makes them interesting, quirky, and memorable but doesn’t resort to caricatures or weird-for-the-sake-of-being-weird characterizations. They feel like slightly amplified versions of people we all might know.

There’s Yuri, her investigative partner, who has a flirtatious streak, tells jokes, and owns a jar of pickled fingers. He’s also a horrible, terrifying driver who’s never had a car accident. Will, the trench-coat wearer of the bunch, trains Cameron on karate moves and gives her a Swiss pocket knife. Blaine, Grant, Norm, Jenny, Adele, Megan are all unique and likable characters.

Then there’s the mysterious P.W. Griffin, the owner of Penny-wise Investigations. Her sense of fashion is . . . interesting and absolutely no one knows what P or W stand for. Or where she lives. Or whether she actually smokes that cigarette in the clean ashtray on her office desk.

Witty and light-hearted

Although there are moments of physical peril, they never overpower the narrative’s humorous tone. Even when she doesn’t see a way out of her circumstances, Cameron never loses her wittiness. And there are plenty of funny observations when she arrives at the survivalists’ camp.

The survivalists are doomsday fearers who want to survive the coming Apocalypse. Certain that the world as we know it will soon end, they come to the camp to learn the necessary survival skills. Of course, there’s one man who comes to meet single ladies, too!

Good-hearted

It’s a bit hard to quantify this. But the story is warm and good-hearted. In this way, it felt a bit like an Alexander McCall-Smith novel. (Here, though, the mystery was more prominent.) The characters have dark sides, to be sure, but they aren’t haunted or overwhelmed by them. They feel capable of caring about other people and finding joy in life.

And while they might roll their eyes at “Mrs. Cosmic Rays” (a not-quite-sane but harmless repeat customer), they pity her rather than disdain her. I cheered for Cameron and the others as they untangled the knotty problems at the center of Melissa’s disappearance, and rooted for them to survive and live another day.

Highly recommended

Survival Can Be Deadly is charming. Fun. Quirky. And best of all, it’s the first book in a new series, so we can rest assured that our heroine Cameron’s fresh start hasn’t ended. Will she find romance? A new husband? Where will her next investigation take her? Will Yuri ever learn to drive safely? And will the investigators ever learn P.W.’s real name?

Only time will tell. Let’s just hope the wait isn’t too long!

About the author: