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ppcfransen's Reviews (563)
Arlo Stanley runs a bookshop with coffee counter with her friend Chloe Carter in the town of Sugar Springs. She's hoping a book signing with famous author and former Sugar Springs golden boy Walter Harrison will boost her sales. Her hopes are quickly dashed when Walter (Wally) is found dead on the pavement in front of her story.
Was it suicide? But why jump from a three storey building? If you don't land right, you're crippled for life.
Or was it murder? Plenty of people may have wanted Wally dead:
Chloe, the ex-girlfriend he left pregnant;
Daisy, the wife that was cheated on;
Inna, the "assistant" / mistress;
Travis, whose brother was killed in a car crash that involved Wally.
When the police arrest Chloe and charge her with the murder, Arlo is sure her friend is innocent and she must prove this before her friend is taken to county jail.
I liked this book. It was well-written and engaging. The three ladies from the book club make a good sleuthing team, though they lack subtlety. I liked all the characters and there was no one I wanted to slap upside the head, though I wouldn't have minded if Arlo had yelled at Mads some.
I fail to understand why Mads was thought of as a good cop. Good in the sense of doing his job well. He kept saying he arrested Chloe because of the evidence, but why did no one point out the evidence he had was not really up to snuff? One bit was circumstantial, another needed explaining and a third just made no sense. And he should have been more thorough questioning possible witnesses. I'm sure he should have been able to figure out on his own that his arrest of Chloe was premature.
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
Was it suicide? But why jump from a three storey building? If you don't land right, you're crippled for life.
Or was it murder? Plenty of people may have wanted Wally dead:
Chloe, the ex-girlfriend he left pregnant;
Daisy, the wife that was cheated on;
Inna, the "assistant" / mistress;
Travis, whose brother was killed in a car crash that involved Wally.
When the police arrest Chloe and charge her with the murder, Arlo is sure her friend is innocent and she must prove this before her friend is taken to county jail.
I liked this book. It was well-written and engaging. The three ladies from the book club make a good sleuthing team, though they lack subtlety. I liked all the characters and there was no one I wanted to slap upside the head, though I wouldn't have minded if Arlo had yelled at Mads some.
I fail to understand why Mads was thought of as a good cop. Good in the sense of doing his job well. He kept saying he arrested Chloe because of the evidence, but why did no one point out the evidence he had was not really up to snuff? One bit was circumstantial, another needed explaining and a third just made no sense. And he should have been more thorough questioning possible witnesses. I'm sure he should have been able to figure out on his own that his arrest of Chloe was premature.
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
I've read it to the finish. Which really says more about my grit and determination than about the quality of the book. I liked the first two chapters. I can recommend those. After that, not so much. It started with Quinn's dog that had to get out of the house in the midde of the night and takes her straight to the crime scene. I dislike stories with special sentient animals. Most animals are not capable of spotting crime in progress (there wouldn't be any crime if they were) so unless I'm reading a paranormal mystery, I prefer it if the main character does not own one.
Then the police come on to the scene. All of them seem to have failed their 'taking witness statements' and 'processing a crime scene' classes. You do not start off with accussing the person who found the body of being the murderer. Not until you have some solid evidence there actually was a murder. You can ask them questions, though, to determine if they met up with the victim before or after she died. Also, you do not touch the witness unless you are making an arrest.
Quinn, the amateur sleuth, who should be the star of this story, does a rather shoddy job of sleuthing. She jumps to stupid conclusions, never even considering an alternative explanation, particularly about Trina the victim's twin sister. I'm disappointed that Daria did not act as the voice of reasonable doubt. Another example, Quinn doesn't asks until page 207 the most important question: who was with Tricia the night she died? (And then it's her cousin who pops that question.)
In all, I don't think Quinn is the brighest bulb in the box. Despite everyone claiming she's the smart one and that she always researches things. She's supposed to have a university degree;I would think Quinn knows the difference between an average based on a large research sample and one person's anecdotal evidence. (The research Quinn is griping about probably also explain that, enjoyable habits are easier to learn, so take way less time.)
Other things I did not like in the story:
* Aside from the murder there is too much drama: a hostage situation, an emergency with the dog. Perhaps some should have been saved for the next book.
* An important inconsistency: Quinn took some tire track photo's in between giving her phone to the police and getting it back. Who's phone did she use?
* The last chapter read like an epilogue (never read an epilogue I liked) and had Aiden acting all bashful all of a sudden. (And that wasn't the only personality make over in the last chapter.)
So why the two star rating? Because it wasn't actually badly written. If the things mentioned above don't bother you, you'll probably find this story quite enjoyable.
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
Then the police come on to the scene. All of them seem to have failed their 'taking witness statements' and 'processing a crime scene' classes. You do not start off with accussing the person who found the body of being the murderer. Not until you have some solid evidence there actually was a murder. You can ask them questions, though, to determine if they met up with the victim before or after she died. Also, you do not touch the witness unless you are making an arrest.
Quinn, the amateur sleuth, who should be the star of this story, does a rather shoddy job of sleuthing. She jumps to stupid conclusions, never even considering an alternative explanation, particularly about Trina the victim's twin sister. I'm disappointed that Daria did not act as the voice of reasonable doubt. Another example, Quinn doesn't asks until page 207 the most important question: who was with Tricia the night she died? (And then it's her cousin who pops that question.)
In all, I don't think Quinn is the brighest bulb in the box. Despite everyone claiming she's the smart one and that she always researches things. She's supposed to have a university degree;I would think Quinn knows the difference between an average based on a large research sample and one person's anecdotal evidence. (The research Quinn is griping about probably also explain that, enjoyable habits are easier to learn, so take way less time.)
Other things I did not like in the story:
* Aside from the murder there is too much drama: a hostage situation, an emergency with the dog. Perhaps some should have been saved for the next book.
* An important inconsistency: Quinn took some tire track photo's in between giving her phone to the police and getting it back. Who's phone did she use?
* The last chapter read like an epilogue (never read an epilogue I liked) and had Aiden acting all bashful all of a sudden. (And that wasn't the only personality make over in the last chapter.)
So why the two star rating? Because it wasn't actually badly written. If the things mentioned above don't bother you, you'll probably find this story quite enjoyable.
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
Okay cozy, but a bit predictable.
Read and Buried is the sixth book in the Lighthouse Library series. For me it was the first in the series. I don't think I missed any important background information. Although I did wonder how often murders seemed to happen around the library.
During construction works a box is found buried next to the lighthouse. The box contains an old diary, a map and a sheet with a coded message. Everyone in the area that considers him- or herself a history buff claims they should be the first to examine the diary. Bertie decides to lock the box in her desk and ushers everyone out of her office. That night, after a date with her boyfriend, Lucy comes home to find the door to the library smashed in, a man dead next to Bertie's desk and the map and message gone.
The man, Jeremy Hughes was of the unsavory sort, so there is no shortage of possible culprits. Was it the wife he cheated on, the ex-girlfriend he lied to, the current girlfriend he lied to, or just a coincidence that Jeremy and the killer were at the same place at the same time? Though, determined not to get involved, Lucy gets involved. Everyone else seems to get themselves involved with cracking the code. Jeremy really wasn't well liked.
The story didn't really click with me, but it was a nice read.
Iread an ARC through Netgalley.
Read and Buried is the sixth book in the Lighthouse Library series. For me it was the first in the series. I don't think I missed any important background information. Although I did wonder how often murders seemed to happen around the library.
During construction works a box is found buried next to the lighthouse. The box contains an old diary, a map and a sheet with a coded message. Everyone in the area that considers him- or herself a history buff claims they should be the first to examine the diary. Bertie decides to lock the box in her desk and ushers everyone out of her office. That night, after a date with her boyfriend, Lucy comes home to find the door to the library smashed in, a man dead next to Bertie's desk and the map and message gone.
The man, Jeremy Hughes was of the unsavory sort, so there is no shortage of possible culprits. Was it the wife he cheated on, the ex-girlfriend he lied to, the current girlfriend he lied to, or just a coincidence that Jeremy and the killer were at the same place at the same time? Though, determined not to get involved, Lucy gets involved. Everyone else seems to get themselves involved with cracking the code. Jeremy really wasn't well liked.
The story didn't really click with me, but it was a nice read.
Iread an ARC through Netgalley.
Well written, but not really to my taste. The eternal optimism of Charlotte took some getting used to. And I’m never a big fan of animals with special skills.
But what annoyed me about this story, is that the author hid things from me. Charlotte knew that she was about to get another piece to the puzzle. Charlotte did, but the reader didn’t. Too bad the author didn’t feel like sharing that and other clues. Would it have made it too easy for the readers to guess who the killer was?
I read an ARC through NetGalley.
But what annoyed me about this story, is that the author hid things from me. Charlotte knew that she was about to get another piece to the puzzle. Charlotte did, but the reader didn’t. Too bad the author didn’t feel like sharing that and other clues. Would it have made it too easy for the readers to guess who the killer was?
I read an ARC through NetGalley.
Love it, love it, love it.
This story has everything I love to see in a cozy:
- a slightly snarky amateur sleuth
- a smart and competent police officer
- a well-plotted story
- light on the romance
I want to read the next book in the series now.
I read an ARC through NetGalley.
This story has everything I love to see in a cozy:
- a slightly snarky amateur sleuth
- a smart and competent police officer
- a well-plotted story
- light on the romance
I want to read the next book in the series now.
I read an ARC through NetGalley.
