Book Review – Academic Curveball by James J. Cudney
My Book Review – Academic Curveball (Braxton Campus Mysteries #1) by James J. Cudney.
My Review
Academic Curveball, by James J. Cudney, is the first of six Braxton Campus Mysteries. I have both the eBook and audiobook. I listened to the audiobook.
The story is told in first person from Kellan Avrwick’s Point of View. Kellan works in Hollywood for the TV show Dark Reality. He returns home for his father’s retirement as the president from Braxton College. He expects to meet with a professor, Abby Monroe, who did some research for the next season of Dark Reality. Toward the end of the retirement party, through Lorraine Candito, his father’s assistant, he finds Abby’s body in Diamond Hall’s stairwell. Upon the initial examination of the crime scene, Sheriff April Montague declared that Abby was hit in the head before falling down the stairwell.
After Abby’s death, his father asks him to take over Abby’s class. He accepts the invitation to stay longer to do his own investigation. By checking out the grade book in Abby’s office, he discovers a grade change in one student. Over the course of two weeks, he meets with people such as his sister, his nana D, a former Braxton friend Connor Hawkins and other people who give him hints on the suspect. He also runs into Lorraine’s brother, who is Abby’s husband in getting a divorce with Abby, and some male and female students who might be suspect. One evidence even puts his father among the category. Kellan has a way to get people talking and give him information he was seeking.
He reports to his boss Derek and Sheriff Montague on every hint he discovers. In between teaching classes, meeting with people and going to the gym, he visits nana D for delicious desserts.
The story is full of fast-paced twist and turn throughout the chapters. I love mystery, especially murder mystery. I follow every hint and make my guess of the murderer. Even though there are many characters, the author makes every character distinctive so the reader can easily keep track of them and their relationships to other characters. Each character’s action is revealed in a seamless and engaging dialogue. In the end, Kellan cleverly assists the arrest of the least expected murderer. This is a lighthearted read. I highly recommend this book.
About the Author
James is my given name; most call me Jay. I grew up on Long Island and currently live in New York City, but I’ve traveled all across the US (and various parts of the world). After college, I began working in technology and business operations in the sports, entertainment and media industries. Although I enjoyed my job, I wanted to re-focus on my passions: telling stories and connecting people through words. In 2017, I published my debut novel, Watching Glass Shatter, a contemporary fiction family drama with elements of mystery, suspense, humor, and romance. From there, I wrote another family drama novel, Father Figure, and created the Braxton Campus Mysteries, a light investigation series about a humorous guy dealing with murders and the drama of a small town. Many of my books are available in print, electronic, and audiobook formats, and we are beginning to release foreign language translations. To see samples or receive news from my current and upcoming books, please subscribe with your email address at my website: https://jamesjcudney.com.
Outside of writing, I’m an avid genealogist (discovered 2K family members going back about 250 years) and cook (I find it so hard to follow a recipe). I love to read; between Goodreads and my blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, I have over 1,000 book reviews which will give you a full flavor for my voice and style. On my blog, I share several fun features, including the Book Bucket List, Tips & Advice, Author Spotlights & Book Alerts, and the 365 Daily Challenge, where I post a word each day that has some meaning to me, then converse with everyone about life. You’ll find tons of humor, tears, love, friendship, advice and bloopers. Lots of bloopers… where I poke fun at myself all the time. Even my dogs have segments where they complain about me. All these things make up who I am; none of them are very fancy or magnanimous, but they are real and show how I live every day.
A bit of humor: Everything doubles as something else when you live in NYC. For me, it’s the dining room, my favorite space in the apartment, where more than just my cooking is on display! As I look out the windows onto a 12th floor terrace, various parts of nature (trees, bushes, flowers, bugs & animals) inspire me to write. Baxter, a two-year-old shiba inu, constantly tries to stop me from writing so I can play with him and keep him amused. How else can you pen the best story possible without these things by your side?
Contact the Author
The Showers of Blessings 
Great review, I’ve gotta read this!
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Thank you. I hope you enjoy it. It’ll be coming up on discount next month via Kindle too.
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You’d like it, Tami!
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Wonderful review for Jay’s book, Miriam. I have this one buried in my TBR pile, but currently enjoying Jay’s – Father Figure ❤
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Thank you.
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Welcome Jay 🙂
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I have Father Figure also, Debby. Hope to read it soon. ❤
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You will enjoy! ❤
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Yes, I’m sure, Debby. ❤
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I also enjoyed Academic Curveball too Miriam. Nice review. 🙂
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Thank you very much.
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It’s great to hear that, Marje. It was fun to listen to the audibook. 😊
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An excellent review, Miriam! Congratulations to Jay! I love murder mysteries too. I’m adding the book to my TBR list. Thank you! ❤ xo
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Thank you for your reading and comment, Vashti. You’ll like the book. ❤ 🙂
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Thank you. You’re very kind.
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A super review of Jay’s book, Miriam.
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Thank you, Robbie. I have a few more of his books to read.
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I am reading his latest one at the moment. The going is a bit slow because my boys want to talk to me all the time during my reading time. They are anxious so that has to take precedence.
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Makes total sense. Family first. 🙂
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I finished it last night. A great read, Jay. I will write up my review today.
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Aww excellent, thank you!
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Great, Robbie. I agree.
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Yes, Robbie. Many people work at home find it changeling. We watched TV reputed work at home with kids running around and dogs barking. They also have to interact with their spouses just because they’re there.
My daughter said Autumn is a little fussy before Nora was born. It could be wanting more attention or lacking of variety of activities. I asked my daughter to pay more attention to her. Yes, this is an unusual time.
You can think of giving the amount of commute time to your boys (I just made it up right now)!
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Yes, I am trying to do that, Miriam. It is hard for them as they are old enough to understand everything that is happening. I can’t shield them.
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Do they ask questions? What do you say to them?
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My oldest is a mini genius, Miriam. He averages over 90% for 9 subjects. He tells me things and corrects me when I try to make things look better than they are.
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It’s great to hear that, Robbie. What a joy to have a genius son to make you proud. He got it from his parents! Yes, they’re full time learners through fun things in addition to schooling.
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Excellent review, Miriam! Academic Curve Ball is on my kindle. 🙂
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Wonderful, Bette. Thank you for your comment. 🙂
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Thank you, Bette.
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Great review, Miriam! I added to my kindle:)
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Thank you, Denise! You would like it. 🙂
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Thank you!
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I enjoyed this one, too, Miriam. Lovely review!
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It was a delightful read. I’m glad you enjoyed it also, Jacquie. Thank you.
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Many thanks!!!
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Excellent review, Miriam. I haven’t read this one, but I’ve read one of Jay’s books with another on my Kindle waiting in the wings at some point down the road.
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Thank you, Pete. I have several of Jay’s book. I was a winner of this audiobook so I started with this one. Are you writing?
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I’m finally working on a blog post, and I hope to get back to my work in progress in the next day or two. Thanks for asking.
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I’m finally working on my WIP, writing a couple pages a day. It’s raining and I can’t walk outside.
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I just haven’t been feeling creative lately, but I think a lot of it has to do with the pandemic. I’m starting to feel more like myself. We also had to put our dog down about ten days ago. He was the best dog we’ve ever owned, and that was hard on both of us. My wife is still having a difficult time and will occasionally cry. I try to comfort her, but she still needs to grieve. Typically, we would spend time with friends to help us get through a sad time, but because of the virus, we’re home much more than usual.
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Oh, no, Pete. It was hard to lose your dog. How sad! Everyone griefs differently. Let her cry until the years dry up. I’m sure everywhere she turns, it minds her of your dog. Agree with her and go along with her thoughts. You may want to make a scrapbook or album of the dog with her. It may bring some happy tears to her. Don’t rush!
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I appreciate it… and I’m truly sorry to hear about your dog. It’s an awful experience to go thru that decision. I’ve been there before. May things turnaround soon for you.
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Miriam,
Hi. What a wonderful surprise to find your review this morning! I absolutely love the way you told the story about the book, dropping in your thoughts on the writing and the plot. I felt like I was discovering the story all over again, which made me smile. I’m truly grateful. Have a fantastic day.
J
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My pleasure, Jay. I love murder mystery. It keeps me alert while reading or listening or watching TV. It’s a way to tell how well I pick up the hints. Yeah, I have no problem following the dialogues and keeping track of the characters. Well done, Jay! Look forward to read the rest of the series! Stay well.
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