Wiped Out: Murder is a Beach (Beach Bound Book Cozy Mys… (2024)

The Pros:
1. Carefree Black woman living her best writing life in the land of Aloha.
2. Accidental sleuth-iness.
3. Supportive group of women friends - plus one for Bechtel list.
4. Mystery wrapped up nicely though I pretty much knew who the culprit was.
5. Two potential love interests - one grumpy, the other Mister hang ten.
6. Black girl surfing.

The Cons:
1. Too damn short.
2.Needed some serious editing.
3. Not enough description of characters. I couldn't quite envision them

Overall, I definitely want to see a longer book in this series.

I would have enjoyed this story so much more if there had been another round of edits and proofreading. The plot itself was sound, but there were a few moments where I was thought it could have come together a bit better. There was a distracting amount of typos. I can usually handle a typo here or there, but there were multiple ones in each chapter. It just needed some line edits and a final read-through, I think. I enjoyed the mystery, and the main character is likable enough. I like supporting self-pub authors, and I would give this one another try, I'd just like to see some sharper editing.

This book has a lot of potential, but I don't think it quite lived up to that potential.

Wood does a great job of transporting the reader to Hawaii and fleshing out the setting of the mystery. There are a number of interesting storylines outside of the mystery such as Fraya trying to find her way as a divorcée and the brewing love triangle she finds herself in.

The book also features a Black protagonist and several other characters of colour who are all written in a non-stereotypical fashion, something that's unfortunately still rare for cozy mysteries. I really appreciated this.

However, I would've loved to have seen Fraya do even more investigation than she did in the book. It felt as if the mystery would've been solved at some point by someone else, even without her active involvement. It's as if she stumbles into the answer to the mystery. I realize that this book is a novella (only 97 pages), but I still think there could've been more of a mystery within.

I also think this book would've benefitted from some more editing. There are numerous typos and mistakes throughout the novel, to the point where it may become distracting for the reader. For example, a character is referred to as Gamilla Kim on one page and Gamilla Lee on the next.

It's a decent introductory novel for a cozy mystery series, but there's also room for improvement.

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Freya is trying to enjoy her new life as a divorcee and a writer in the paradise of Hawaii. She came to escape the drama of her ex-husband. But tragedy falls as she finds a famous surfer dying in front of her beach house as a mysterious male figure rushes away. Freya feels guilty that she did not get to the dying woman in time. In the search for closure, Freya starts to investigate the case — just to give the cops a hand.

Really, I only found two cons in Wiped Out By Tamara Woods:
One: There were a few errors but not much more than one would find in a mainstream published book.
Two: It could have been a bit longer to delve into the characters or the world of surfing more. I did care about Freya and her friends. But the victims did not get much book time. Since this is a series, it was not too disappointing that the book was shorter and still has some character development to come out in future books.

Pros:
By far, this is a very enjoyable book. It promised and give me exactly what I needed at the time, a cozy summer mystery with a bad as a woman writer of color (Freya and the real writer Tamara Woods) plus a touch of possible romance. Most importantly, I had a great reading experience. It was soothing murder mystery! And I am rooting for Freya to get her groove back and dating some of the male lead, especially the mysterious writer-surfer Keith.
I was very impressed that this was an indie book with an excellent cover, good plot, and interesting characters. I would highly recommend writers check out Tamara Woods’ channel on YouTube where she and other authors share tips and host write ins and even virtual writing retreats.
All in All, I give this book a 4 out of 4 starts. If you looking for a diverse cozy mystery, this is it!.

Interesting characters, fun setting, intriguing plot but...

The main character and her writing group was a lot of fun. The different romance potentials also added a lot of playfulness and intrigue to the story! I guessed wrong on the killer, but I almost wish I would have been right. The reveal felt a bit rushed to be honest, it came out of left field and felt unsatisfactory to me. And who it was felt a bit disappointing, to be honest. I would read the next one for the characters and setting, though! They were a lot of fun. I will also say that the editing on this book felt rather lacking, there was quite a few glaring issues on almost every page, so if that bothers you, take that into account beforehand. Missing punctuation, incorrect spelling, characters popping in and out I did not recall seeing before (Cam) etc. Most of the time they were annoying but didn't confuse the story too much, except for one sentence that started in the middle and so I had no idea what was trying to be said. However, if that sort of thing doesn't bother you too much, you will enjoy this story nonetheless, I did. I am looking forward to the next one because I see a whole lot of potential in this series and characters!

My first book by the author. The series has potential but needs a little editing. A few missed words, misspellings, etc.

Fraya is an author living on the beach in Hawaii. While working on her latest book, she hears a scream and runs outside to see a man running away and a young woman lying on the sand. When she reaches the woman, she realizes she is dying and calls the police. Haunted by the dying woman's last words, she becomes determined to find out who killed her and why. With the help of her best friend and a guy from her writer's group, she enters the world of competitive surfing, where jealousy, greed, obsession, and love all playing a part as motive for the possible murder of Gamilla. When another surfer is killed, Fraya realizes that she must be getting close and that if she isn't careful, she might find herself caught in the killer's sight.

I picked this up because I was in the mood for a good cozy mystery, and the idea of being in Hawaii was too much to pass up. I adored the story from the first page, Fraya was amazing, well rounded and a perfect character to go along the journey of solving a murder with. I was so sure I had the killer picked out, but then I was surprised at the end which is always a good feeling. I love Woods’ way with words and the way she tells the story. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in this series, and will be reading others by her as well. Overall, highly recommended and a new favourite!

This was in desperate need of an editor, but in general it was a perfectly adequate book. Both the Hawaiian setting and having a black (& divorced) leading lady felt like fresh takes on the genre, so I enjoyed those aspects. The mystery was not super engaging & while I really liked her cast of friends, I found myself mixing them up from time to time because I didn't have enough time to establish each character independent of the others. All in all, not a bad introductory book to this series, but I'd love to see the author up the ante in the next one.

A cosy, short and fun read.

When Fraya’s voice comes through, she is hilarious.

For me, there is a bit too much of “am I ready to date” while trying to choose between two guys (one of which doesn’t even seem to be interested as far as I can tell from his behaviour). I think the book doesn’t go deep enough into the surfer scene the murder is set against and the whole murder mystery feels like a set up for future books/the romance parts that I expect to see in the next book.

So good! Full of suspense, humor and a good mystery! Also, her pop-culture references were so perfect I loved every one lol! The MC Fraya was so relatable (I love that with one look you know exactly what she's thinking hahaha!) and three-dimensional.

And that ending! I don't want to give it away but I need to read the next one now! Can't wait for the sequel!

First time cozy mystery reader here

This was the first cozy mystery I read and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I usually prefer more romance, but the mystery of whodunit kept me turning pages.

A murder in your own back yard. That's kind of what happened but the back yard is the sandy beach on one of Hawaii's Islands. The caracters are vibrant , bold ,and full of humor . The mystery of who done it is full of intreage .A two 👍kind of read.😉🙄Kat

An Absolute Must Read

Wiped Out is my first Cozy Mystery. I enjoyed every moment of this story, and found myself reading through the night to find out who done it. I look forward to coming out what happens next in Fraya's world.

A fun cozy mystery with a Hawaiian vibe! A quick entertaining read.

Excellent.

I really enjoyed the characters. Neat plot. The killer took me by surprise. I'm looking forward to the next book.

I enjoyed meeting all the interesting characters in the story and the beautiful setting of Hawaii. Can't wait to read more about Fraya in the future. Quite the cliff-hanger at the end!

The amount of typos in this book was maddening.

Enjoyable summer read.

I really enjoyed this short mystery set in Hawaii. The characters were interesting and I would really like to know them better.

Fraya moved to Hawaii to leave the drama of her mainland life behind. Now, she lives on the beach, writes novels, brainstorms with her writer group, and hangs out with her new bestie. And then a championship surfer is murdered on Fraya's beach, and her life in paradise gets turned upside down in the world of competitive surfing, promoters, money, and possible romance.

This was a cute, quick reading cozy mystery. The author lives in Hawaii, so the setting feels authentic with nice local touches that make it realistic. Characters are perhaps a bit light but fit the cozy genre well. There are touches of humor throughout that keep the tone from getting too heavy. The mystery is decently plotted with several believable suspects. There is some romance, but it is not a focus.

There were some issues with the e-book, however. It could have used at least one more editing pass. There were sentence problems, extra words, and other errors that could have been easily caught and corrected if the book had been edited before publishing. There were a few times when the mixed-up sentences seemed to be the result of a revision where words were left in- or cut out- that should have been edited. At times, it had me pulled out of the story to sort things out.

All in all, this was a decent read. It's one that could be read in a few hours. The plot was good, and characters engaging. The only downside was the number of errors in the text.

No matter how many brain cells it’s reputed to destroy there’s a certain magic to television. My entire repertoire of jokes ... if I could actually remember them, comes from sitcoms. Mmmm that’s not a good example.

Though I’m convinced nearly two decades of watching Grey’s Anatomy were not wasted on me. I’ve a whole litany of medical jargon I can spout at the drop of a hat ... or a scalpel ... or a cranial drill for craniotomies

That said, Tamara Woods’ Wiped Out and specifically the character Fraya hold a special place for me. I feel a kinship with Fraya. In places where I might feel compelled to perform an emergency tracheotomy, Fraya is equally compelled to play detective.

Fraya throws herself into the thick of it, taking the skills obtained from years of watching Law and Order, not to mention the extensive training she’s sure she’d garnered from watching NCIS. And though the method to her madness is ... madness, there’s just something about her slightly over the top, barely under the radar demeanor that just talks to me.

Tamara beautifully juggles these moments of amateur sleuthing with a hint of love in the air.

So okay, maybe I’m not ready to walk into the nearest hospital and demand surgical privileges but I’m still right there with Fraya as she puts the pieces together to solve a series of murders and find a killer. And maybe she’ll find romance along the way. And maybe one day Fraya will make her way to the television and we can all watch her exploits as we flex those brain cells to help her catch killers.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8HGFNoX/

This fun cozy is a quick and easy read. Great for a nice low-key afternoon in the sun!