THE CHINESE MURDER
OF EDWARD WATTS
Covey Jencks Mystery, #3
By Shelton L. Williams
Publish Date: December 8th, 2020
Pages: 233 pages
Categories: Mystery / Humor
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Covey and JayJay travel to China and then return home to deal with shady characters, spies, gangsters, and other tough customers. In an exciting last act, they solve a murder most foul.
A murder, a possible ghost, and a side of espionage in a compact fast read! The Chinese Murder of Edward Watts is an entertaining, fast-paced, and fun mystery for any reader.
Mr. Williams’s writing is visually descriptive and delightfully entertaining. From descriptions of locations as varied as Taipei, Beijing, and Notrees, Texas, I had a real sense of where Covey visited in this novel. In addition to solving the titular murder of Edward Watts, JayJay takes us on a side journey involving the death of a teenage girl, decades earlier, which still resonates with local high school students.
The audio narration by Dave Clark was impressive. The narration is both engaging and enjoyable to listen to. As Covey’s voice in the story, Mr. Clark shines. The Texas accents are splendid (at least for this non-Texan!). The voices of the other characters are also distinct. Especially that of Randal “Randy” Jordan, tour guide, pilot, and VERY LARGE personality. I was also thrilled that Mr. Clark did well narrating the female characters, like JayJay and Maggie. I often struggle with male narrators’ attempts at female characters, but not in this case. I haven’t listened to books narrated by Mr. Clark previously, but I will certainly be exploring other books he’s narrated. The production quality of the audio book was excellent; it is clear and accessible listening to the novel. Mysteries (unlike romances!) lend themselves well to audiobooks. Granted, you can’t go back and re-read passages looking for clues, but you can always rewind!
Humor and mystery are great genre descriptors of The Chinese Murder of Edward Watts. They sum up my feelings perfectly! Many scenes had me giggling while I was listening in the car. Two that really stand out are a scene where Covey is being compared to Joey Callo or Joey Gallo from My Cousin Vinny! Now I’m picturing Covey as Joe Pesci. (And the grits!) The second scene involved Randy Jordan and some iconic Hitchcock aerobatics. I’ll leave you to read that one on your own!
All the characters in Mr. Williams’s novel are fully developed and well-written. We learn more about Covey’s life before meeting JayJay. The secondary characters, like Maggie and the Chinese delegation are also fully formed. Here’s an example of a description of from the first time we meet Randy Jordan out on the oil field:
Randy had zinc oxide slathered on his nose for protection from the sun, and he was wearing cowboy boots of the raggedy-ass variety. They were old and dull brown, or was that caked-on mud? That’s not what we noticed first though. Above the boots were his thick, brownish, hairy legs. He had no pants on. No, he was not naked; he was wearing blue, torn running shorts.
COME ON! That whole passage had me busting out laughing! From the precise description, I can clearly picture good ol’ Randy as he interacts with the Chinese diplomats he’s escorting. I don’t know that I’d want to hang out with Randy, but he’s certainly memorable.
And do remember, dear reader, this book is set in 1998. Not 2021. There are some hilarious callbacks to Covey and JayJay learning how to text on their phones. Have you even thought about what it was like BEFORE you texted or interneted on your phone? Let me tell you, I have not!
While The Chinese Murder of Edward Watts is the third in the Covey Jencks series, I do think you could read it without having read the others in the series. The characters are introduced enough to follow along with the plot. And the mysteries involved are separate from the other stories, with a few call backs where necessary. But you should certainly check out the first two in the series. They are just as great as this one! (Read my reviews of Book #1 here and Book #2 here.)
5 Stars for both the novel and the audio narration!
I received The Chinese Murder of Edward Watts free in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to author Shelton L. Williams, narrator Dave Clark, and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity.
Shelton L. Williams (Shelly) is founder and president of the Osgood Center for International Studies in Washington, DC. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies and he taught for nearly 40 years at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He has served in the US Government on four occasions, and he has written books and articles on nuclear proliferation. In 2004 he began a new career of writing books on crime and society. Those books are Washed in the Blood, Summer of 66, and now the three books in the Covey Jencks series. All firmly prove that he is still a Texan at heart.
International Studies and he taught for nearly 40 years at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He has served in the US Government on four occasions, and he has written books and articles on nuclear proliferation. In 2004 he began a new career of writing books on crime and society. Those books are Washed in the Blood, Summer of 66, and now the three books in the Covey Jencks series. All firmly prove that he is still a Texan at heart.
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Love this review and 100% share your opinions — such an excellent book & top notch narration. Thanks for the post!
Thanks, Kristine!
Many thanks for the review. I agree with you that Dave did a great job. He read it better than I wrote it!
Thanks, Shelton!