The Dangerous Edge of Things

By Tina Whittle

Tai Randolph thinks inheriting a Confederate-themed gun shop is her biggest headache — until she finds a murdered corpse in her brother’s driveway. Even worse, her supposedly respectable brother begins behaving in decidedly non-innocent ways, like fleeing to the Bahamas and leaving her with both a homicide in her lap and the pointed suspicions of the Atlanta PD directed her way. Suddenly, she has to worry about clearing her own name, not just that of her wayward sibling. Complicating her search for answers is Trey Seaver, field agent for Phoenix, an exclusive corporate security firm hired to investigate the crime. Trey is fearless, focused, and — much to Tai’s dismay — utterly impervious to bribes, threats and clever deceptions. Still in recovery from the car accident that left him cognitively and emotionally damaged, Trey has constructed a world of certainty and routine. He has powerful people to answer to, and the last thing he wants is an unpredictable stranger “detecting” on Phoenix turf. Tai’s inquiry leads her from the cold-eyed glamour of Atlanta’s adult entertainment scene to the gilded treachery of Tuxedo Road. Potential suspects abound, including violent stalkers, vengeful sisters, and a paparazzo with a taste for meth. But it takes another murder — and threats to her own life — to make Tai realize that to solve this crime, she has to trust the most dangerous man she’s ever met.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Release date: May 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781615953110

Tina Whittle

Tina Whittle lives in south east Georgia. She is a columnist and feature writer and her short fiction appears in several crime journals. You can find out more about her at http://www.tinawhittle.com

Reviews for The Dangerous Edge of Things

[angela.k.winters · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You think that your having a bad day. At least you didn't walk out your door this morning and find a dead body across from your house. Tai Randolph did. This was just the beginning of her "bad" day. She starts looking for her brother, who can't be found. She gets partnered up with Trey, a man who can't be figured out, she's followed and frightened the whole time she's trying to figure out what happened to the girl who was killed. If you like twists and turns, read this book. Thanks Tina for such a great book!

[karla9brandenburg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tai Randolph has inherited a gun shop, so she picks up her life and moves in with her brother while she's relocating, only to find a dead woman sitting outside her brother's house. Her brother, away at training, directs her to a hotel for her own safety, but Tai isn't so easily bossed around. When she returns to her brother's house after her police interview, she discovers a private security firm "cleaning up" details that might link her brother to the dead woman. And things only escalate from there.

Trey Seavers is her "personal protection" agent, assigned to follow her around and keep her out of trouble. Trey, an ex-cop with a traumatic brain injury, is a very black and white kinda guy. His points of reference have changed since the accident, so he is strictly business in order to keep focused. Watching Tai is anything but a straightforward assignment, and she disrupts his orderly routines.

The mystery escalates as more bodies fall in the wake of whatever is going on, and Ms. Whittle takes us on a wild ride of espionage, cover-ups and betrayal, presenting us with a host of guilty parties all eligible to be murder suspects. I especially liked the pairing of Tai, a somewhat free-spirited loose cannon, with the orderly, OCD Trey, the way they counterbalanced each other and complimented each other. A well laid out whodunit that kept me reading.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an interesting mystery! Tai Randolph is new in Atlanta having inherited her Uncle's gun shop. She is staying with her older brother while getting set up and organized. When she returns to his house one day, she finds a murdered young woman in a car in front of the house. Her brother has gone to the Bahamas for a work conference and is not answering his phone as quickly as Tai would like. Tai immediately gets involved in a very complicated situation that has her dealing with her brother's employer Phoenix - a security firm. She is also introduced to Trey Seaver who is assigned to protect her. Trey is a fascinating character because he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and has had to rebuild his life with significant changes to his personality. Tai didn't know him before the injury and is pretty good at accepting Trey as he is now. They mystery was complex and so was the relationship between Tai and Trey. I can't wait to read more books in this series to learn more about both of them.

[cissa_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I liked Tai as a protagonist, I am not at all convinced that the plot made sense. Many of the decision points seemed fairly random to me.I will especially mention the climax, when the gun inventory on the scene did not seem to match up with where particular guns were at that time, and that was important.Phoenix as a business was also not plausible- both too casual about letting temps into high-level meetings, AND far more formal than is realistic for anything other than banks.Most of the primary and secondary characters were well-drawn and interesting.The dialog, too, was smart and entertaining, and it did a good job capturing modern Atlanta.So, my only quibble is the plot- but in a twisty murder mystery, the plot is really important, and this one did not feel as inevitable as it needed to. Too many red herrings?I think I got the ebook via the Kindle First program on Amazon.

[catherine_dilts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read book three in the series and thorougly enjoyed it. I decided I needed to get book one and start at the beginning. Dangerous Edge of Things did not disappoint. I learned how Tai acquired the gun shop, and learned more of Trey's background. My plan is to read the entire series. I hope Tina Whittle keeps the Tai Randolph stories coming!

[amanderson_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read an advance reader's copy of this, later edits of the book might occur. Tai has just moved from Savannah to Atlanta after co-inheriting her uncle's gun shop, and promptly finds a dead young woman slumped over in a car parked in front of Tai's older brother's house. Tai's brother is away at a work seminar in the Bahamas, and had recent contact with the dead woman, so the police are looking in his direction. When her brother hires a security firm to protect Tai and to investigate the murder (I think), she impulsively catapults herself into also investigating the murder, finagling the police and security firm agents to further her goals. The handsome security agent assigned to her, former cop Trey Seaver, is a very appealing character; he is very intelligent and can focus with laser intensity and determine when people are lying, but suffered a traumatic brain injury and has very black and white responses according to a strict code of ethics and can't decipher other's emotions very well.I enjoyed the depiction of Tai's quirky personality, impulsiveness, boldness and wry wit, the development of Trey's character and the relationships between them and other characters. But, I found the story very convoluted - I'm still not sure what really happened - and I didn't find Tai's motivations believable. Maybe I just wasn't reading carefully enough. But, she has no background related to investigating (was a caretaker for her mom, and a tour guide), the police really don't seem to think her brother committed the murder, so you'd think she might leave detective work to, you know, the police or this high end security firm her wealthy brother hired. Plus she boldly rifles through everyone's files, steals evidence from the firm, lies to everyone to further her investigating, all without any explanations for these ethical character flaws. She wasn't raised by sociopaths, far as I can tell. If her motivation was supposed to be truth, justice, and righteous justice for the dead woman, it really didn't come across well. So, 3 stars for appealing characters, relationship building amongst them, and for decent writing; 1.5 stars for the mystery story and motivations.

[lindapanzo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Atlanta gun shop owner Tai Randolph finds a dead young woman in a car. Suddenly, she's plunged into the murder, along with various members of a corporate security firm, and Tai's absent brother. Though there's an amateur sleuth, this book is edgier than a typical cozy.I really wanted to like this debut mystery. There are some interesting characters, for instance, but the plot was plodding, overly long and somewhat dry, and frankly, dull for me.Even so, this series has potential and I might continue with it, once the second book is released.