Pretty sure this is the first mystery I’ve read for the blog. It was nice to change the pace a bit. Judge Me When I’m Wrong is the fourth installment of the Charlie Mack Motown Mystery series but it also works as a standalone. I haven’t read the first three books but had no trouble keeping up with the plot and characters.
Here’s the premise-
Charlie is the owner and head investigator of Mack Investigations. While Charlie is stuck in jury duty, her partner, Gil, investigates a college gang rape for a client who has been accused of taking part in the vile act. As that investigation unfolds Charlie tries to stay awake while fulfilling her civic duty. The boredom doesn’t last long though when suspicious activity starts to occur in the court room and seeps into the jury box. Charlie rounds her team to check it out and things get personal when she faces off with some pretty dangerous people.
I liked Charlie as a character. She is comfortable and confident in her role, she’s passionate about doing what’s just, and isn’t afraid to admit fault when her ego inflates. The dynamic between Charlie and the team is full of trust, compassion, and humor. I enjoyed watching how everyone operated together and found myself wanting to work for Mack investigations.
I’m going to give this author credit for making jury duty entertaining, but the story was kind of hard to get into. After the first half I was invested, but the beginning was a little slow. However, I appreciated the attention to detail given to the side characters earlier on that made me feel like I wasn’t walking into a book ill prepared.
This book gets an A+ in terms of diversity and for the fair and accurate representation relating to the hungry appetite of young men and teenage girls. So. Much. Eating! All jokes aside, we need more books featuring minorities and I’m happy there’s a whole series that follows Charlie’s investigations.
https://www.amazon.com/Judge-Wrong-Charlie-Motown-Mystery
Follow Cheryl A. Head on Twitter: @cheaddc