Did Skip Witness a Murder?
This is the day long in the making. I started Don Bruns’s Stuff Series well over a decade ago (probably close to a decade and a half ago), but I let it just sit for a long time before finally getting back to it. And now, I’ve finished it with Reel Stuff, the seventh entry in the series. Sadly, it left me less satisfied than I’d hoped.
The series features best friends Skip Moore and James Lessor. They are twenty-somethings just trying to survive. Yes, they are dirt poor, but James has a habit of getting them involved in some side project to earn them a bunch of money. Unfortunately, those side projects then turn deadly. After a few of these situations, they became PIs, which has only made the danger quotient worse.
As this particular book opens, Skip and James have taken jobs as private security of a TV show that is filmed in Miami. It’s an even bigger deal today since Academy Award winning actor Jason Londell is on set filming as a guest star. Skip is on the set with Jason is filming a stunt he is insisting on doing himself that involves him jumping off a scaffolding. However, he goes early and hits the ground instead.
Jason’s girlfriend, the star of the show, is certain that it was murder and wants to hire Skip and James to find the truth. But Skip knows what he saw and doesn’t want to take the case. However, a little poking around makes Skip question what he thought he saw. When the trail leads to Hollywood, Skip and his girlfriend, Emily, head to Los Angeles, going undercover as a wannabe actress and her manager. Can they figure out what happened to Jason?
I have a feeling this wasn’t written as a final book in a series. But, since that’s what it was, I have to judge it as a series finale. And, as such, it falls flat.
Usually, I do enjoy it when a book takes place in Los Angeles since I live here. In this case, I found I missed Miami and the southern Florida vibe we usually get from the series. Mind you, I might have felt the same way if the series didn’t end with much of the action taking place in LA, but it didn’t help that we didn’t spend much time in Miami for the final book of the series. Granted, it’s not like we have a large cast of regulars or even locations they frequent that I missed.
What was worse was the ending of the book. While not a true cliffhanger, it also didn’t wrap things up. In fact, it left a few things dangling. Since the book came out thirteen years ago, I don’t think we are going to get the next chapter in the character’s lives, but it would be nice to have something other than the non-resolution we got.
Then there’s Skip and Emily’s relationship. While I’ve always rooted for them to make it work despite their differences, I really got frustrated with them in this book. Yes, the conflict they were having made sense and I could see both sides. But we just went round and round about it, which was frustrating.
Especially since James wasn’t really around in this book. The series has always been about James and Skip and Emily, a bit more on the guys than on Emily at times. As annoying as he can be, I did find I missed him. And, again, it was a bit of an odd choice for the final book in the series.
So, what did I like? The look behind the scenes in the entertainment industry is always fun. Yes, I know what I said earlier about missing Miami. Two things can be true, right?
And the mystery was great. I was caught off guard by several of the twists, yet things made sense when we reached the climax.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a cozy, as the first few chapters will show you.
This series was never a favorite, and I’ve found it to be uneven. Reel Stuff was another mixed bag. Only pick up this book if you’ve read the others in the series and you want one last case with Skip, James, and Emily.
Here’s the rest of the Stuff Series.
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