Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Fair Market Value by Hailey Edwards Narrator: Candace Joice
Series: The Body Shop #1
Published by Tantor Audio on December 10, 2024
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 8 hours, 44 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
Mary Frances Talbot—Frankie—is a necromancer, probably. Hard to say since she never met her parents. She can see the dead, talk to the dead, and a few other things that aren’t strictly legal. It’s fine. No worries. As long as she doesn’t get caught.
The whole not getting caught thing was going well until Samuel Harrow blew back into town wearing a Savannah Police Department uniform. He might be a witch, but he hates magic. He’s not a fan of Frankie either. Which explains why he’s her ex.
When Frankie’s less than legal side gigs result in dead vampires, she knows she’s in trouble. Big trouble. And that’s before Harrow offers to help. With him waving a Get Out of Jail Free card in her face, Frankie doesn’t have much choice but to accept.
But that doesn’t mean she has to forgive. She’ll certainly never forget him breaking her heart or turning her over to the police or... Yeah. They were doomed from the start. Something tells her this investigation will be too.
An interesting start to The Body Shop series when Harrow, Frankie’s first love shows up. Frankie works to keep the bills paid, and her siblings safe, as she has done for so many years. She is a necromancer, sort of. Harrow is law enforcement who turned her in before he left town.
Now Harrow is back and wants her help with an odd set of murders. Harrow is in law enforcement now. It doesn’t help that she looks like a prime suspect. Frankie wants to know who is killing those close to her. There is even an attempt to kill her!
There is a good amount of world building as we go along seeing witches, vampires, ghosts and shifters. And there are gods too.  Harrow and Frankie’s past comes out as they work this case.  They obviously have feelings about each other. Harrow isn’t too pleased with Frankie’s attraction to another.
The action is exciting as they try to protect people and search for the killer. The pacing was steady. I will be interested to learn more about the capabilities of both Harrow and Frankie. And maybe they will get together eventually? Next up is Amber Gambler which is already out in print but not yet available on audio.
Narration:
The narrator was new to me. I appreciated her voices being appropriate for males and the females. The males were deeper, or stronger. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Hailey Edwards
Hailey Edwards writes about questionable applications of otherwise perfectly good magic, the transformative power of love, the family you choose for yourself, and blowing stuff up. Not necessarily all at once. That could get messy. She lives in Alabama with her husband, their daughter, and a herd of dachshunds.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Writing |
 |
| Characters |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz @gregghurwitzbooks.bsky.social @ScottBrick @macmillanaudio.bsky.social @stmartinspress.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks @GreggHurwitz@MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress @MacmillanAudio - February 11, 2025
- Sunday Post – 9 February 2025 @caffeinatedreviewer.com @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - February 9, 2025
- Series on Saturday: Jill Shalvis Edition @JillShalvis #SeriesOnSaturday - February 8, 2025
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
Great review, Anneđź’ś I wondered what this was about.
Thanks Jonetta. It is part of the Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy but I didn’t realize that while reading it. So it’s not tightly connected as I have read all those.
Great review. I’m listening to this now on Hoopla.
Thank you. I didn’t catch the link to the Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy world but it’s set in that world.
That is what I hear. I haven’t seen any connections except the talk about the Necromancy higher arci and rules.
I didn’t even catch that but I’ll watch for it more in the next book.
I’m adding this one to my wish list. I think I would like it.
I’ve enjoyed Hailey Edwards series and this one is off to an interesting start.
An interesting set up between this pair for the new series. I can see why you’re excited to have the next book handy.
Well it’s available in ebook but not audio yet and I may go for the audio.
I loved this one too and share my review on release day. Great review Anne!
Thanks. I enjoyed your review!
I have an audio of this one as well and I’m looking forward to diving in. It sounds like a neat setup!
I hope you like it. Apparently it’s the same world as Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy but I didn’t catch that while reading.
I really liked the premise of this one, which loosely reminded me of the Soul Charmer books by Chelsea Mueller. I really liked the Mary’s and the idea that Frankie will be sort of a supernatural PI or something. I do enjoy mysteries!
yes! I like the mystery aspect, too.
This reminds me I need to keep chipping away at a different series by this author. I’m curious too about this, but I need to finish what I started haha
I have that problem. I have a list of 10 series I wanted to read in 2024 and I’m still chipping away at Joe Pickett.
I’ve seen a few reviews of this one around the blogosphere and it looks good! Thanks for sharing your review.
I’ve read many of her series and enjoyed them. I think this one will be interesting.