Book Review: Death in Advertising by Laura Bradford (Tobi Tobias Mysteries #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong cast of characters in a strong mystery

Cons: No cons to advertise

The Bottom Line:

Killer ad slogan

Starts promising new series

Delightfully fun

Don’t Advertise the Body in the Closet

It is always a delight to see a new series come out from a favorite author.  I didn’t need to know anything about Death in Advertising other than the fact that it was written by Laura Bradford to know I had to give it a try.  And the fact that I loved it wasn’t really a surprise either.

This book introduces us to Tobi Tobias who is trying to open her own advertising agency in the St. Louis area.  She’s having just one pesky little problem – lack of clients.  That’s why she is working at a friend’s pet shop part time so she can try to pay her bills.  Naturally, she is ecstatic when a potential new client walks into her office.  The Zander brothers own a closet company, and they are looking for a slogan and a campaign that will stick out since they are already at the bottom of any alphabetical listings.  Tobi comes up with a real winner, and it catches the city by storm.  It’s looking like a win for Zander Closet Company and Tobi’s agency as well.

Then the unthinkable happens.  While shooting a closet for the brochure, a dead body falls out of a storage space.  The media immediately connects it to Tobi’s slogan, and what looked like a win suddenly turns into a nightmare.  Now, Tobi has to find the real killer to save her business.  Can she do it?

As motives for an amateur getting involved in a murder investigation, this one is a winner.  Naturally, as Tobi begins poking around, she finds out secrets and motives, but she also finds that the victim was a sympathetic man.  The author walked a fine line in making us like the victim without making the book too sad, and I appreciated that.  Naturally, things come together for a logical climax.

One thing you can count on in any of Laura’s books is a strong cast of characters who truly care for each other.  Tobi has a wide and varied assortment of friends, neighbors, and family who all support her throughout this book.  I already love this cast of characters and can’t wait to see them all again.  The suspects are just as strong as the series regulars.  And I wouldn’t mind if one or two of them popped up again in future books.

If you are already a fan of Laura Bradford’s books, don’t hesitate; you’ll love this new series, too.  And if you haven’t read one of her books yet, Death in Advertising is the perfect way to fix that.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm review this book as part of a blog tour.  For more checks, check out the tour page.