Book Review: 30 Second Death by Laura Bradford (Tobi Tobias #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong, fun characters

Cons: Mystery is a little weak

The Bottom Line:

A deadly favor

Fun with Tobi and her friends

Tad slow but still good

Framed for Murder Thanks to a Favor

No good deed goes unpunished.  It might be a cliché, but it certainly holds true for Tobi Tobias in 30 Second Death.

It all starts when Tobi’s friend Carter McDade finally snaps at Fiona Renoir, an actress at the theater where he works as a hairdresser.  Fiona is demanding and demeaning, and that’s on her good days.  But since Fiona’s uncle owns the theater, Carter is afraid he will lose his job, a job that he absolutely loves, as a result of his tantrum against the star.

That’s when Tobi gets the brilliant idea of casting Fiona in a commercial she is going to shoot for one of the clients of her advertising firm.  The commercial is for a spa, and Tobi is even able to get Carter a part in the commercial.  Things turn sour, however, when Fiona dies on set while in Carter’s chair getting her hair dyed.  Naturally, everyone assumes Carter did it, but Tobi knows her friend would never kill anyone.  Can she figure out who else had motive to kill Fiona?

I really loved the first book in this series, so I was looking forward to the sequel.  Unfortunately, I found the plot a little bit slow, choked out at times by a couple of sub-plots.  It does pick up in the second half, however, and the ending is perfectly logical.  One of the sub-plots didn’t quite work either, but it’s a sub-plot, so that’s okay.

However, I fell in love with the cast of characters in the first book, and that hasn’t changed at all.  Tobi is surrounded by a group of friends who are there for her.  In fact, they feel more like her family than friends.  In this book, she gets to return the favor of being there for her friends as she sets out to help a couple of them.  These relationships truly are wonderful.

Plus we get some fun and laughs.  This is especially true for the scenes involving Rudder, a parrot at the pet store owned by Tobi’s friend Mary Fran.  These scenes are guaranteed to make me smile if not laugh.  There are plenty of other fun moments along the way as well.

If you haven’t yet met Tobi, you really should fix that today.  While 30 Second Death isn’t quite the best of Laura Bradford’s books, it certainly still entertains.  With the way this book ended, I’ll certainly be back to find out what happens next.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.