Book ~ ""A" is for Actress" (2015) Rebecca Cantrell and Sean Black

From Goodreads ~ After a decade spent in the glare of the Hollywood spotlight as the star of kids’ TV show "Half Pint Detective", Sofia Salgado has had enough. Desperate to build a life outside showbiz, she quits acting to do something that everyone around her - including her family - thinks is plain nuts. Get a real job.

They think she’s even crazier when she announces that she’s going to become a real detective, instead of playing one on TV. She’s convinced the technical consultant from her TV show, Brendan Maloney, to take her on in his detective agency but can accident-prone Sofia hack it?

Sofia was a child actress who wanted to do something different with her life so she quits acting and joins a detective agency that is run by Brendan, the technical consultant to the show she was in, Half Pint Detective. She is being trained by Brendan and his son, Aidan, who is her age and teases her all the time.

The agency is hired by Melissa ... she wants to know if her husband, Nigel, is screwing around on her. Sofia puts her acting skills to work and goes undercover and tries to see if Nigel will put the moves on her at a bar or if he is meeting someone else. He basically ignores her but he obviously has a lot on his mind and rushes out. The next day he is found murdered and Melissa is the suspect. Her lawyer retains Brendan and his team to find out who murdered Nigel before his client is sentenced to prison for a murder she didn't commit.

This is the first in the Malibu Mystery series and I liked it. It is fairly light and amusing. It is written in third person perspective and focused on Sofia. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Innocent" (2014) Sean Black

From Goodreads ~ When college basketball coach Malik Shaw goes missing after a family tragedy, it looks like just another retired athlete gone off the rails. But Malik's childhood friend, private security specialist Ty Johnson, quickly begins to suspect that there is more to it. 

Chasing the truth, Ty, along with his business partner, Ryan Lock, begin to uncover a sinister conspiracy of silence in a sleepy Minnesota college town.

Malik is a former NBA player who is now a coach at a university in Minnesota.  He gets a text to head to the university gym late one night and sees a car speeding away and finds a naked boy in the shower.  As a father of two, this bothers Malik and he follows up about it with the university chancellor and local police.  It's "dealt with" but Malik isn't satisfied.  Despite the bribe offer of a better job at the university, Malik refused to back down which ends tragically for him and his family.

Ty is a bodyguard for wealthy people. He and Malik were high school friends.  They grew up in a rough neighbourhood where drive-by shootings were the norm ... Ty wouldn't have hesitated to take a bullet for his friend.  When Malik reaches out to Ty for help, Ty and his partner, Ryan, head to Minnesota find out what's going on.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  The story was interesting.  I liked the writing style and thought it flowed well.  Some of the chapters are short and snappy, which I like.  It's written in third person perspective with the focus on wherever the action is.  Despite there being primarily male lead characters, I didn't find it a masculine-focused read.  The ending started coming together after the first half of the book and I was satisfied with the "whodunnit" and why.  As a head's up, there is some swearing and violence.

I liked the characters.  Malik had come across something that was morally wrong and despite being pressured to let it go, he put his and his family's safety on the line when he kept pushing.  His anguish came through once the consequences were realized.  Ty is the kind of friend that everyone should have ... he'll drop whatever he is doing to be there for you  Ryan too was a good friend and stepped up to help when Ty asked him, no questions asked, even though he didn't know Malik.  Ty and Ryan both used their professional experience and knowledge in various situations but I didn't find it over the top.  The characters we were supposed to dislike were easy to hate.

Though this is the fifth in the Ryan Lock series, it works as a stand alone ... I didn't realize it was part of a series until I was almost finished it.  I hadn't read the previous ones (though they are now on my to-be-read list), I never felt confused as to what was going on since there was enough information provided.  I look forward to reading future books by this author.