The Side Hustle (The 509 Crime Stories, #1) by Colin Conway

The Side Hustle (The 509 Crime Stories, #1) Reviews

• 
  Colin Conway

  Okay, since I’m going to review my book, The Side Hustle, we should probably get some things out of the way.
  
  First, it’s obviously a five-star review. There’s no question about that, right? I mean, how could I not give my own book the best rating possible? I’m not even going to feel embarrassed about it. Will you feel bad about it when you give this book a five-star review? No. Therefore, why should I?
  
  Besides, this isn’t a job interview where the boss asks you that totally b.s. question, “Tell me what you could have done better this year.”
  
  “Nothing,” should be everyone’s immediate response. “I did perfect. Now, give me a raise.”
  
  Next, this is a crime fiction novel unlike any you’ve ever read. Seriously. I mean, this is mine and it’s new. The words are completely different than what appear in anyone else’s book. Therefore, it literally is unlike any novel you’ve ever read. That is not hyperbole. It’s the truth.
  
  Also, this review is not to be taken too seriously. I’m mean, I’m reviewing my own book. That would be like grading my own mid-term in college. I would have given myself an ‘A’ and then told my friends and family I rocked the Casbah. By the way, anyone who thinks they would have graded themselves objectively was obviously the dork who wanted to be a hall monitor in junior high school. That guy. Sheesh.
  
  By the way, just as a reminder, The Side Hustle is a crime fiction novel. The tag line is ‘Hard Work Can Be Murder.’ A personal finance blogger was murdered, and the cops must figure out what happened. That’s my moment of serious, grown-up behavior here. Think of it as a mental intermission.
  
  Anyway, if you like podcasts and want to hear a short interview about the book, check out episode #23 of
  Wrong Place, Write Crime. Its like an earful of crime fiction love. Actually, it’s authors talking about their books, but I like saying an earful of crime fiction love. That just sounds cooler.
  
  I’m almost done, but I want to say, in all seriousness, I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this non-review review. I’m not sure if it will be helpful, but I had fun writing it. I also hope you’ll read The Side Hustle and let me know what you think.
  
  If you’d like to learn more about me, my writings and what’s on the horizon, stop by my website,
  www.colinconway.com. You can always drop me a line.
• 
  Rich

  This was the first book that I have read by this author and it was not bad. I thought the story was pretty good. It did however it did get bog down for about 30 pages or so about a third of the way into the book but besides that it flowed at a pretty good pace. I liked the main characters and the secondary characters as well. I did get a little frustrated for awhile about the tension between the two main detectives for a while but that played it's self out in a good way. I liked that he story took place In the Pacific North west where I live. I am not sure if it is going to be a series or not but in any case I say go ahead and give this book a spin.
• 
  Jennifer

  I really enjoyed the characters in this book. A young person that was money savvy and an older cop that was most definitely not. The mystery was well done. The interactions of the characters was entertaining. The education about real estate deals and finances and blogging all added depth to this story. A very enjoyable book and I will definitely read the next in this series.
• 
  Frank Zafiro

  Full disclosure: I've written a couple of books with Colin, so I am partial to his style and his storytelling.
  
  That said, THE SIDE HUSTLE is a solid procedural with believable characters and a realistic mystery that will keep you guessing in a fair way. The profession of the victim and the amateur sleuth alike is a little different than your usual mystery, and that is fresh. So are the personal problems afflicting one of the lead detectives.
  
  This book is an excellent introduction to Conway's 509 Crime Stories series, which will have an ensemble cast taking turns as the main protagonist. It's also a great intro to a writing style you're almost certainly going to like, if you like your story lean.
• 
  Filip

  I got this book from amazon for free, never heard of the author before so had no expectations. What can I say? I really enjoyed it. The characters were really well-written (with some slightly cringy moments), the mystery was really good with a plenty of plot twists and what can learn a bit about finance while reading it. My main gripe was that the detectives, despite being interesting and me liking their banter a lot, were hilariously incompetent both in professional life, private life as well as it came to combining the two. If not for the victim's friend they wouldn't have achieved anything.
  
  I'll gladly read another volume of this series and then maybe check other books by this author.
• 
  Helen

  Compelling Read
  
  Wasn't sure what to make of this book at first, but the more I read, the more I liked it. Realistic mystery that keeps you guessing, likeable characters with great entertaining interaction. Will definitely be reading others in the series.
• 
  karin whitehead

  The Side Hustle
  
  I received this book through another authors promotion in exchange for an honest review. Well defined characters, twists to confuse you, and a great story line. To understand a death, you need to know his story, what brought him to the end. It's not all forensics, it's history. The written version of CSI programs. Enjoyed the story!
• 
  Paulette

  It took me awhile to get into this book but then characters and plot took off and I quite enjoyed it. I'd read another in the series.
• 
  Jane

  when a young man is found dead at the bottom of his stairs, Major Crimes Detective Quinn Delaney and his partner Marci Burkett are called in to investigate
• 
  LORRIE

  Fantastic
  
  This was a exciting, complicated and thrilling mystery. Each time you get close to the answer, the story changes. It was gewa4
• 
  Lynda Kelly

  I downloaded the first two in this series free by a new author to me, thankyou Mr Conway. I did struggle through this a little, however, and it was mainly due to his INCESSANT describing of how red a person's face was !! You may laugh but it happened many, many times, certainly enough to catch my attention and then to drive me to utter distraction !!! I did get a bit bogged down by some of the financials as well, which started to make me glaze over a tad.
  I have read he's going to use differing characters in each story which is a shame as I really liked both Quinn and Marci and also 'Kirby Kirby' very much. The second story was the one that initially caught my attention but I always read a series in order and now I've met these characters I'd love to see them again.....I know, no pleasing some people, is there !! I liked the humorous little asides peppered throughout as they appealed to my sense of humour, too.
  It has quite a lot of nitpicky errors throughout, though. Missed speechmarks, question marks and fullstops, many misplaced apostrophes (especially when writing detective's and not detectives', which he would then get right all of a sudden so seems to know the difference). He wrote other not other's, and also did that American thing of writing how they speak there by using gotten as opposed to got, an odd error was wom*en suddenly written just as I've typed it there. Jam was used not jamb, flip-flips not flip-flops, peddling not pedalling, blues not blue, exam not examine and effect not affect. There were odd missed words from sentences as well. All things that should be picked up prior to whacking the old publish button.
  BUT 'his face warming' and 'his face was beet red' and 'you're blushing now' and 'his face burned red' and 'his face felt warm' and 'his face reddening' and 'her cheeks flushed' and 'Marci's face reddened' and 'Madison's face reddened'......see what I mean ?? Maybe it's just me as it does seem a daft criticism as I read it back here but I can only relate my own experience and what I liked or didn't like.
  I'll be reading the second story, though, and hope he has got himself a Thesaurus since he wrote this instalment.
• 
  Barbara Gillan

  This was an enjoyable read. I've never read anything by this author before, so I was pleased to have found it. Good story-line, good mystery, and there were many twists to keep the reader engaged. The characters were likable - though I could have done with a little less Macho Marci, but I found the Quinn character really engaging. I already have the second in the series on my TBR.
• 
  Cecilia Van Der Merwe

  Not bad for a free book. Easy reading.
• 
  Bonnye Reed

  TheFussyLibrarian
• 
  Allison

  I had no idea there were so many books with the title Side Hustle, many of which are nonfiction, addressing secondary income streams. It is a great name for this story which centers on the untimely death of a young man with lots of financial irons in the fire. Anxious to solve the homicide are a pair of somewhat dysfunctional detectives as well as a friend of the deceased, a young blogger who soon comes to the realization he really didn’t know his so-called friend at all.
  The narrative really zips along — I read it all in one insomniac night — and the story actually makes having a budget and financial goals seem like a good idea. Some of the money talk veered into lecture land and read as if it had been copied and pasted from Dave Ramsey’s website, but when the author stuck to the quirks of the main characters it was a fun read. This book is part of a series taking place in eastern Washington State. I plan to read some of the sequels, wondering if they will include some of the same characters and if they will continue to champion the cause of good financial planning.
• 
  Steven Howes

  I found this to be an enjoyable read. The story is set in the Spokane Valley of eastern Washington (Area Code 509). Although a murder mystery, it deals with intrigue surrounding the world of personal finance and real estate development. Given the dollar amounts involved, there is plenty of motive for a number of individuals to engage in murder.
  
  Trying to make sense of the murder of a well-known personal finance guru is a pair of Spokane Police Department detectives - one a male with personal and financial issues of his own, and the other a brash but well-qualified female trying to make it in a male-dominated department. Complicating matters is the involvement of the victim's close friend in trying to solve the mystery.
• 
  Carôle Ceres

  Slow Moving
  
  Fortunately for me, I started this series with ‘The Suit’ and the characters of the 2 detectives had been bedded in. As it is, they both don’t come across very well here and I would have given up quite early into the book. However, by chapter 24, we’re made aware of the reason for Quinn’s annoying habit, although we never get an explanation (or understanding), for Marci!
  
  However, the lot, though a slow burner, was interesting and plausible.
  
  But it took longer to read than it should have.
  
• 
  Jean

  For me it is a tossup whether The Side Hustle is four or five stars. I am going with five because it caught and kept my interest throughout the read. Also it had just enough suspects to keep me guessing, but not so many I became confused about who was who. On the four-star side, I felt a few paragraphs were repetitive. Conway writes quite well, but occasionally his spellchecker couldn’t keep up with him.
  I recommend this book especially to people who like police procedurals/mysteries. I will definitely keep reading books by Conway.
• 
  Becky Holder

  Money's dirt
  
  I really enjoyed this book. I haven't read Colin Conway before and am extremely impressed with his writing style. His characters came to life quickly, but with a complexity that kept me turning pages. The plot, although led to distasteful emotions, was deep and scary with realism. The main characters are very entertaining, but also struggle with normal, everyday issues. I recommend this book, and will be looking for more by and from this author.
• 
  Richard Aseltine Jr

  Good read, unique
  
  This book was about two detectives trying to solve the murder of a finance blogger. Not a setting is ever run across before.,but it was interesting he two detectives are joined by a friend of the victim. He gets involved and both helps and complicated the situation. I found the female detective to be irritating. I'm a woman and I still found her whining annoying. Still I enjoyed the book.