In Deep Shitake

Shitake Mystery #1

by Patricia Mason

Take one devastatingly handsome movie star.

Add one outrageously sexy female private eye with a penchant for food-word obscenities.

Mix in a dose of mistaken identity and a handful of Russian mobsters...And they're all In Deep Shitake.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Humor, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Contemporary, Fiction

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2012

About the author

Patricia Mason writes steamy contemporary and paranormal romance under the name Patricia Mason and young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She escaped from the snowy Midwest winters of her youth by moving in 2001 to a beautiful, historic city in Georgia to pursue her dream of being a novelist. Her home is ruled by two black cats. For more titles by the author, visit www.prmason.net. You can also follow the author @prmason on Twitter.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The food words instead of swearing wore thin after the first 10 pages. A poor attempt to imitate Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Neither humorous, romantic or suspenseful. Don't waste your time.

[Natalie Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet Pickles this was a good book!
Mo is a private investigator but mostly she just poses as the 'honey pot' for husbands suspected of cheating. One day she gets an assignment to break into a car and gets stuck in a most vulnerable position. (this is the first scene of the book and it was really funny - I read it twice) The owner of the car, Ross Grant, (a actor from a popular movie who's been out of work for a while) finds her and they somehow get tangled up in a blackmail plot involving the Russian mafia, a stripper, a Ross Grant impersonator, and an insane ex-girlfriend who doesn't accept the breakup. Oh and there is a book convention, complete with furries! All the while they have a sleazy journalist following them just close enough to show their 'shitake' to the world but not close enough to be of any help.
This book was a lot of fun. The main character's strive to keep a g rated mouth kept me giggling. The plot was well planned out and I couldn't guess the end. There was a real mystery here and no one just handed them the answers. Action packed from start to finish, the author managed to fit in plenty of funny and even a believable romance. I didn't know there was a 'humorous romantic suspense' book category out there, but now I am sure I have read the best of it. I would love to see these characters again and if I can't, if this is it for Mo and Ross, then I will settle for anything else this author has written. I can't imagine I won't love them all.

[Mimi Barbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how anyone can give this book anything less than 4 and realistically 5 stars on a review. It's got everything from Russian mafia, weird-crazy girlfriends and a journalist driven by vengeance. Even though it's a suspense story, it's crazy-hilarious. What I liked about it the most? It was different. A heroine called Imogene Tuttle (Mo for short) who has to control her bad habit for swearing and so uses names of vegetables to replace the cuss words you know she's aching to let loose. I fell in love with her from the start. When Ross Grant the hero first meets her, Mo is upside down, half in and half out of the sunroof of his car, her derriere waving for all the world to see what color panties she chose that day was the half sticking out of the car. Like the gentleman he thought himself to be, our movie star hero stopped and asked if she required assistance. Struggling to sound nonchalant, she answered. "No, I'm fine." How can you not want to read a story that starts like this??? Ms. Mason knows how to weave a great tale, grow her characters and keep the plot moving face-paced and the conflicts happening. Such a fun read!!!

[Quenya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was either meant to be “cheesy semi-good” or “a term paper written the night before its due.” To explain this book is crazy and all over the place but I also found it slightly entertaining. The mystery is very convoluted and the author doesn’t close up all the loose ends. The books bounces between scenes sometimes very jarringly and it was at times hard to keep up. This book also has one of my least favorite “tropes” which is throughout the whole book everything goes wrong for the main characters until it all magically works out in the end.

I did like the two main characters of Ross and Mo and most of the supporting characters. The setting of Savannah during Saint Patrick’s Day week was excellent because I’ve actually been in Savannah for the holiday and it is truly an experience for folks to see.

I try not to comment on narrators too often because I know I couldn’t do their job but I have to mention that the accents by this narrator were not the best. For one thing, Ross’ accent borders between British and Australian – I couldn’t really get a grasp of which one he was supposed to be. The other issue is that unless it was a main/supporting character – all the Southern characters sounded like stereotypical “dumb hicks” and I wasn’t impressed with those accents either.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing about this book was the cool twist the author did on the swearing; using food instead of swear words. Not all were as blatantly obvious as the shitake mushroom and most were funny. Good writing style and clever witicisms. I got to wondering though, in our current era of constant visual stimulation it seems as if the modern author writes as if their story will be turned into a screenplay. Simply add a few, "fade in; transition to outside building; cue sound effects" etc. and voila, screen ready! Maybe it's the modern reader? I don't know but sometimes when it's soooo obviously a movie as you're reading it loses some of the luster for me.

GREAT quote: (location 2195)
"You've heard of transexuals. An example of that would be a guy who feels he's a woman in a man's body. The guy gets surgery to become a woman, right? Well, I'm a trans-species. I'm a cat born in a human's body. So I'm getting surgery to change species...I'm saving up for my whisker implants"

I don't think I need to say anymore than that!!!

[Frederick Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot going for it -- a light, breezy style, likeable characters, a funny quirk with the main character, Mo, having decided to replace all cuss words with food terms. That's what drew me to the book -- I love anything to do with food in literature. The plot also races along, with lots of physical and verbal humor, sort of like Three Stooges meets the old Airplane movies with Lloyd Bridges.

Unfortunately the book is also riddled with typos and other errors, like "to" where "too" should have been used. These errors became so distracting for me, I started asking myself why I was reading such a light, fluffy book. I like the characters here, and they are funny, and all, but it started to feel like a sitcom with canned laughter. What seemed original at the beginning didn't develop into something deeper, and the surprises seemed plotted and cute. Maybe it's what you're looking for, but I couldn't finish it.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I found this to be laugh out loud funny. The romance was charming, too - a winning combo for me!

[Richard Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was light and amusing to read. However, there were too many and too explicit sex scenes in it. I am disappointed that authors (and readers) seem to think that there are no limits in what is acceptable. Or, maybe, people have forgotten that sensual does not require explicit sexual descriptions. I cannot recommend the book because of the morality issues. And, while I’m not a prude; I don’t see how being told some dude has an erection or just what a woman does with his penis adds to the story line.

[Carly Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad romantic suspense story, just not quite my cup of tea. I liked the main characters well enough, but Mo's use of food words instead of curse words got quite old for me fast. Not going to be reading the rest of the series....

[Gordon Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought it

It certainly didn't start out that way but you never can tell. An investigator starts a job she doesn't think is going to help her career. A web of unlikely circumstances helps end that career and start a much better one.

[Oleander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful romp that didn't take itself too seriously. It was very enjoyable.

[Virginia Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This book is the trifecta for me. Mystery, romance, and witty dialogue. I really enjoyed it all and look forward to more with Mo and Ross.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

I really, really liked this book - LOL! And that surprises me, 'cuz it was a freebie from Ebooks... you never quite know what you're gonna get with a freebie.

But the quirky title got me. I have a friend who swears creatively, trying not to use the more common (and vulgar) words. So the title totally reminded me of something my friend would come up with. Turns out Mo (Imogene Tuttle - what a name!) works for a P.I. office and has had client complaints about her swearing; so Mo, a former culinary student, decides to employ more creative swearing methods (like my friend), using food. What a crack up!

Here are some of the better phrases:
* Son of a poached egg
* Crepe!
* Butt out, rump roast
* Cheese puffs!
* You have to admit your hands were all over my asparagus a short time ago. Not to mention how you groped my dairy.
* What the jalapeno were you thinking?
* Sweet maple syrup
* You donut hole!
* I'd like to thump him in the cantaloupe and take a pairing knife to his grapes
* For fries' sake!
* Mother-marshmallow fudge!

Mo teams up with Ross Grant, a 40-something movie star best known for the character Stephen Dagger in the blockbuster "SpyMatrix" from 10 years ago. Ross hasn't had a big movie hit for awhile, and he's in Savannah, GA to meet with Anderson Nicodemus, a businessman who runs an empire that includes a Christian-themed amusement park. Nicodemus has recently made a name for himself investing in movies, and Ross is trying to get his career back on track by getting funding from Nicodemus. Nicodemus is willing to fund Ross' next movie project, but he insists on a morals clause as part of the contract. Ross doesn't think that will be a problem... until he meets Mo and gets swept into a mystery involving mistaken identity, Russian mobsters, an ex-fiancee who's still planning the wedding, and an obnoxious trashy reporter who wants to dig up the worst dirt to sell on Ross. Ross has been burned by friends and even family in the past, who've sold stories to the rag mags for cash. And with this morals clause... he needs to keep his nose clean.

While at times I wondered how long this story could go on, it never got dull or boring - perhaps a bit stretched out in some areas of the story. But the author kept the funnies coming, along with a few twists - even at the end.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

[Dan Absalonson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun read. Think of an action thriller mixed with a romantic comedy and you have In Deep Shitake. The characters were awesome and you really come to love and root for them as they stumble through their many misadventures.

This novel was really funny. It had me laughing all the way through. The two main characters and their interesting relationship was a driving force pulling you further into the story as the characters constantly faced more urgent matters. There is a big mystery that gets revealed by the end of the book, and I didn't guess how it would all shake out. There are lots ingredients that come together to make In Deep Shitake great. Humor, action, mystery, romance, and the interesting characters.

I do have to give a content warning. There were a couple of scenes that were too steamy for my tastes so I skipped over them but it was easy to tell what happened in the dialog following those scenes. They had a lot of impact on the story and its characters too. These were not scenes thrown in to shock the readers and they made sense for the story.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel and the narrator Michael Karl Orenstein did a terrific job. He was great at portraying the different characters with wonderful accents, pitch changes, and inflections. There were a lot of funny characters that showed up all over the book in small scenes and Orenstein came up with perfect voices for all of them. Many times I'm sure I was laughing a lot harder for his spot on delivery and rendering of a character's voice than if I had been reading the eBook or paperback. His acting was superb in all the dialog, and his narrator's voice was smooth and engaging. I would definitely pick up another audiobook narrated by him.

To wrap it up I would recommend this story to anyone who is looking to have a good time reading a novel. It was just what I needed after reading IT by Stephen King. A normal length novel that shows you a really great time. This book had lovable characters with interesting relationships, cool action, a great love story, and a lot of laughs.

[Rae Sontheyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Fritters and Meatballs! This book was a Feast of Laughs!...

This book is a hilarious Mystery RomCom that keeps you laughing and reading page after page. Now when you combine a whole lot of misunderstandings and a detective who swears in foods instead of expletives. A reader can be assured of one thing, you will laugh your asparagus off.

Imogene "Mo" Tuttle, works for Incredible Love, which is not an escort agency. Mo had higher dreams in life of being a chef, but life changed and she became a sleuth, who was instructed to stop cussing. Her solution, use her culinary background as her form of obscenities substitute. Mo's snarky and food mouthing attitude makes one man irritated yet very intrigued. His name is Stephen Dagger, aka Ross Grant, in real life, but he is only recognized by his once big role as the action hero from the past blockbuster hit. Ross wants to rid himself of Mo but she and him find themselves mixed up in a dangerous plot. Ross and Mo run from Russian mobsters, slimy reporters, ex-fiances, fans, clients and Hoochie Mama's House!

Overall, This is just one of those RomCom stories that you read and can't help but laugh the whole way through. Mo has to be one of my favorite heroines, because she's snarky and tough but totally a girl too. She's just too funny with her comebacks and sparring moments with Ross, "Thank you,' she said with a bright smile. 'That wasn't a compliment.' 'That's okay because I didn't mean it as a real thank you,' she responded. 'Sometimes thank you means something else entirely . . .but I'm too much of a lady to drop the f-bomb.' 'You're impossible,' he said. 'Thank you.'" Now if you didn't think that was funny, or you haven't said a thank you in place of an f*** you before, then perhaps this book will fly right over your head. However, if you are open to a good many laughs and are okay with two sex scenes, then give this book a try, the crazy characters will certainly brighten up your day, night or rainy day.

------Read more of my reviews at: http://heyitwasfree.blogspot.com/------

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this on Goodreads Firstreads.

So... Ross used to be really famous, but his time has passed and now he's a failure. His agent doesn't have his best interests at heart. Ross still thinks he's awesome. Mo works undercover to find and provide information about other people to clients. They meet in an awkward situation(with Mo vulnerable and exposed) and get mixed up with the Russian mob, not by any fault of their own.

This was a pretty corny story. Ross and Mo work together to escape from the mob. They are romantically involved and go through misunderstandings that could be so easily avoided if they would only talk to each other about it. But that's just how these things go, of course. Mo substituted names of foods for curse words. At first this was fine and unique, but it gets old fast. And annoying. But the Russian mobsters are even more annoying. They think that Russ has something they need, and there is mistaken identity involved.

In Deep Shitake is pretty much all over the place with a face palm ending, but it is entertaining in a way. The press stalk and terrorize them, and everyone is out to get them. Ross's girlfriend wants to force him into marriage. Blackmail at every turn. Two against the world. There are lots of humorous themes and funny circumstances to keep things light. At the end all of the craziness took its toll on me, resulting in 2.5 stars.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars, actually.

A perfectly serviceable action/adventure novel, with romantic elements. The most distinguishing characteristic is the altogether too twee replacement of swear words with food terms by the main character, Mo. This would've been closer to "cute" than "irritating" if not for one thing - the mushroom is actually a shiitake, not a "shitake." The misspelling, particularly for the TITLE, was grating, in the extreme, especially in an otherwise serviceable book.

It's a cute little "meet cute, get kidnapped, run around trying to unravel a blackmail mystery" story, although the characters whipsaw between insta-attraction and annoyance with each other, which gets a little old. When they're allowed to just crush on each other, there's chemistry there, and it's fairly adorable.

The mob characters, on the other hand, are simply grating. The badly faked Russian accents are irritating, and there are a lot of unexplained plot threads that could've used tying up.

But for a bit of fluff read? Not awful.

[Leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is probably best described as action/comedy with some romance sprinkled in. Yes, it does have a love scene or two, and sexual tension, but it isn't the focus of the story. For me, this is a bonus as I haven't quite found straight up "romance" stories up my alley. Throughout this book, I couldn't help but imagine Ross as John Hamm with Clove Owen's personality, and totally envisioned Mo as Lana in the cartoon Archer. Each character is well fleshed-out and has their own flaws, which is refreshing considering the romance genre sometimes has too-perfect people as the hero/heroine. What I really enjoyed about the "romance" in this is the characters address that yes, they do move quite fast, but just when you think "oh great, high school drama is about to happen" with trust issues, the author doesn't indulge it and allows the characters to think logically- it was great! This was totally worth the more than the $.99 I paid on Amazon.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not for everyone, it is offbeat and quirky. Most of the characters are stereotypes but it is amusing as hell. Mo Tuttle is a private investigator in Savannah Georgia. Her boss told her she could no longer curse, so she uses food words as a substitute. Hot,sexy movie actor Ross is trying to shed his super spy image, in Savannah to obtain financial backing for a film project he wants to develop, when suddenly he learns someone is using the character he portrayed to blackmail a Russian mobster. The story ebbs and flows as Ross and Mo try to discover who is blackmailing the Russian mobster without getting killed. As Ross and Mo continue to investigate their attraction for each other becomes difficult to control. The scene in the ladies room at the convention center is priceless. You can't help but like Mo Tuttle as she stumbles through to find the truth.

[Deepiedoo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously, y'all, I cannot force myself through this book. One of the things that drives me crazy is people using the word "y'all" incorrectly. Y'all is NEVER used in the south to refer to one person. It is plural. It's a contraction of "you all." Get it y'all? If an author is going to go campy with the southern stuff, do just a little research and get it right. Of course, I'm not sure why I would expect that level of attention and care in this book when it is riddled with typos and other grammatical errors. Shows how little the author really cares (or perhaps knows). So, I tried to plow through all that, gritting my teeth to keep from screaming. And it didn't get any better - poor plot, ridiculous characters, cliches. I would never recommend this book, and would certainly not be tempted to read anything else by this author. Oh, and the food curses - ridiculous!!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. The main character (Mo, short for Imogene) works for a private investigator and gets tied up in a mystery with an actor who is in town looking for financing for his upcoming film. Mo is a bit of a hot head and though she and Ross Grant are attracted to each other, their tempers and pride keep them snipping at eachother. Due to the inevitable misunderstandings, Mo and Ross are thrown together into a mystery involving the Russian Mob. A cute story and a good read.

Mo is also working on her swearing and therefore, finds food words to replace swears. I was certain that due to the lack of swearing this was going to be a PG rated book. However, not the case, there are two bedroom scenes that involved much page turning to get past. So, beware on that front.

[Angel **Book Junkie** · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished and I actually liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. It was like a different take on a Stephanie Plum novel. I love how the author changed the curse words and after reading this I know I would like to touch some asparagus on a hunk.. and no I am not talking the frontal sort. You have to read it to find out! I liked the plot and loved the landlord and liked that the author kept me guessing through the whole book. Many times with a mystery you know who done what. I love the characters. I give very few 4 star reviews but, this one will actually get one!

[Linda C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imogene (Mo) Tuttle, PI, is sent to take note of info to be found in a certain car, but gets stuck, half in and half out, by the owner, Ross Grant. Ross is an actor well known for his super spy character, Stephen Dagger, in a film made 10 years prior, He is trying to get backing from a producer in Savannah for an entirely different kind of film, but can't seem to go anywhere without being recognized. The heroine is trying to give up swearing and substitutes food items for swear words; starts as cute but gets annoying quickly. A case of mistaken identity, blackmail and Russian mobsters bring these 2 together but the plot is silly and the jokes as well; filled with stereotypes. Probably won't look for more.

[Dellani Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mo (short for Imogene) Tuttle works as a private detective. She's done everything from serving papers to car repossessions. It's a dirty job, but Mo is good at it. At least, she likes to think she is. However, when she gets caught breaking into a car (on the job, of course) by the car's owner, she rethinks her skills. Armed with a sharp wit and her mad skills, Mo uncovers an intricate plot that goes much deeper than she or her new client thought.

Why Shitake, you might ask. Because Mo tries hard not to swear. She's found that food substitutes well for more vernacular language. This is a charming, fast paced, entertaining mystery. I highly recommend it!

Five Golden Acorns
© 2014 Dellani Oakes

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat amusing light read, but most of the peripheral characters I which I assume were meant to be comical were more annoying than funny. While I've no doubt that there are some stupid people, they seemed to all be in this one book...the cops, the crooks, the tourists, and all service industry workers apparently can't think their way out of a paper bag or understand any but the most commonly used words in the English language. The main characters were likable and had good chemistry, but the love scenes were tepid. My preference would be for the author to either jump over the love scenes or else make them hotter.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mo is a private investigator unknowingly sent on a job that isnt really for her office. While trying to squeeze her way through a car's sun roof in order to do the job she meets the owner of said car, movie star Ross Grant. He goes to her boss and she fires her (or pretend fires her) and tells her she needs to figure out why the assistant told her to go on this job and what else is going on. This leads to russian gangsters, clingy model girlfriends, comic book conventions, silly costumes and of course swear words replaced with foods. I loved this book! Lots of twists and turns, I didnt have the mystery all figured out at the beginning and it made me laugh a lot.

[Jayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'll admit it. In Deep Shitake was funnier than I expected it to be. The characters were rather out there, but not so much that they're supremely unlikable.

The romance was cute. Did it seem more physical than emotional? A little bit, but then considering the time frame, a realistic amount of love seemed to blossom.

The mystery aspect was a bit convoluted... and predictable, at the same time. And then, at the end there, it seemed to go, "Ah, just kidding! We sure did commit these crimes, but we're not really what you think we are!" But of course, this is a light, romantic suspense type of book, so I won't fault it for that.

Overall, this was an okay read.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book--it started out really funny and promising (even though I hated the heroine's name--"Mo"???) but then it was just tedious. I plodded through the story and then it all miraculously wrapped up in a couple short chapters, with some pretty important details left unexplained. Also, this book is in SERIOUS need of an editor--preferably one who knows the difference between they're and their (actual quote: "I can't feel my fingers. Their going to fall off." Sheesh.) The poorly worded sentences sprinkled throughout made it difficult to read at times and left me frustrated. I am disappointed in this one.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the beginning of this book. The humor and dialogue between the two main characters was great. Their opening meeting was perfectly written and a great way to draw a reader in. The chemistry was slow building and fun to see develop. The storyline was great-lots of action. The only negative thing I have to say would be late in the book both Mo became a little weak. She got very attached to Ross, and after seeing how stubborn and tough she was in the beginning, I didn't expect her to just fall apart once things started between them. But overall, good book!

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there was a choice of no stars, this would get it. This is a "Janet Evanovich" wannabe that I got for free on BookBub. I'm not rethinking joining BookBub. The mystery itself was okay, but the protagonist meets a hot guy and the gratuitous sex scenes start, and frankly it all gets really, totally unbelievable. Like when they are kidnapped and locked in a Mob warehouse with a parade float and they hide inside the float and the Mob guys don't find them and then uhoh, another gratuitous sex scene. Yuck. Done with this author.