Take the Monkeys and Run by Karen Cantwell -- Book Review

If you've been looking for a book that can make you smile, then Take the Monkeys and Run by Karen Cantwell, should be your next pick for a good read. I recently received a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for a review and the light, but engaging mystery was just what I needed ...not too heavy, not too light and a dose of exceptionally well written characters and action.

In Take the Monkeys and Run, the heroine could be your neighbor or any one of the typical "Soccer Moms" you might know. Barbara Marr is both a relatable and comical character, which is precisely how Karen Cantwell writes a murder mystery with a refreshing new edge. Cantwell is an adept writer with the ability to create a sense of real danger balanced with comic relief.

When Barbara's seemingly average neighborhood is disturbed by her bone chilling discovery in the house next door, and the incident is mysteriously precipitated by the appearance of monkeys climbing in her trees, life in Rustic Woods, Virginia becomes anything but normal. The scene emerges from the readers own sense of suburban life and awakens even the most dormant of detective in us all. More importantly it evokes the sleuthing skills of the main character, a love troubled soccer Mom, prone to grandeur fantasies about a career as a screen writer and an all too available former beau. As she follows a trail of clues, we wonder if she is seeking comic relief from a complicated separation from her husband, is she simply functioning as any normal citizen concerned for her neighborhood safety or is she feeding off of the adventure of it all. The answers come swiftly as we follow her through her otherwise lackluster life and the domestic scenes drawn through her very really portrayed relationships with her children, mother and neighbors compell us to participate with her and invest in the outcomes.

Karen Cantwell's writing doesn't dissapoint. The pace clips along and delivers at all the right points carrying us on an internal journey to answer the questions surrounding the crime. What could possibly bring monkeys into a common neighborhood and what is their connection to the mysteries surrounding the house that sticks out like a sore thumb, you know the one that everyone avoids, due to fear, disrepair or an unapproachable owner? Every neighborhood has one.

If you like a good mystery but want a refreshing new take with a bit of light fare, enough to make you laugh out loud, then Karen Cantwell's Take the Monkeys and Run will take you there.

Here's more about the book as well as this LINK to buy it...only .99 cents on Kindle!


Film lover Barbara Marr is a typical suburban mom living the typical suburban life in her sleepy little town of Rustic Woods, Virginia. Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.


Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb’s ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It’s up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 371 KB

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Language: English

ASIN: B003SE7O40

I give Take the Monkeys and Run 4 out of 5 possible magic books.