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ppcfransen
Meh mystery. I just couldn't get into the story. Didn't like Erin much, didn't like any of the other characters much either. And a little over halfway through the book I found myself not actually caring to find out who killed Sylvia.
There's a plethora of possible suspects, but none of them have a very strong motive. So Sylvia wasn't well liked. If we all killed one person we did not like, there would be no people left on Earth.
For me, the story lacked urgency. Erin investigates because her friend Farnsworth thinks she's a major suspect because she served Sylvia her tea. But apart from the question of how could Farnsworth be sure she served Sylvia, it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet, there is the question of how she was able to mix the poison in the tea unnoticed as it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet. I missed these sort of deductions in the story: who had means, motive and opportunity?
Instead we get Erin having (lucky) run-ins with people that result in overhearing things that might be clues and her closing up her shop during her regular opening hours to play the piano or do some sleuthing. Just as well it is mentioned that she makes most of her sales over the internet, but never once did she go to the post-office to drop off a lot of parcels for delivery.
In the end, I liked the cover of the book more than the actual story.
As a side note, the sentences in German should be proof-read by someone with better knowledge of German than the author. (I found a biography that says she has a second major in German, but Schuld is a female word (not male), du and dir are not capitalized, and if Kurt's argument on the phone was with the same person as in the end of the story, why does he use formal you (Sie) on the phone and familiar you (du) later on?)
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
There's a plethora of possible suspects, but none of them have a very strong motive. So Sylvia wasn't well liked. If we all killed one person we did not like, there would be no people left on Earth.
For me, the story lacked urgency. Erin investigates because her friend Farnsworth thinks she's a major suspect because she served Sylvia her tea. But apart from the question of how could Farnsworth be sure she served Sylvia, it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet, there is the question of how she was able to mix the poison in the tea unnoticed as it was very busy and crowded at the tea buffet. I missed these sort of deductions in the story: who had means, motive and opportunity?
Instead we get Erin having (lucky) run-ins with people that result in overhearing things that might be clues and her closing up her shop during her regular opening hours to play the piano or do some sleuthing. Just as well it is mentioned that she makes most of her sales over the internet, but never once did she go to the post-office to drop off a lot of parcels for delivery.
In the end, I liked the cover of the book more than the actual story.
As a side note, the sentences in German should be proof-read by someone with better knowledge of German than the author. (I found a biography that says she has a second major in German, but Schuld is a female word (not male), du and dir are not capitalized, and if Kurt's argument on the phone was with the same person as in the end of the story, why does he use formal you (Sie) on the phone and familiar you (du) later on?)
I read an ARC through Netgalley.
I never before realised this, but formatting, too, can be off-putting. This book has too much white space between paragraphs. White space, to me, means scene brake. Took a bit to get used to that here it merely meant 'get ready for the next paragraph'.
Next thing that bothered me were the main characters. Very likely, they are the authors' avatars. Or at the very least, author wishfulfillment (Mary Sues). They are just so … Well, EV is tall and slim, and behind the scenes she has a lot of influence in the village, but she doesn't like to be in the foreground about that (I think we're supposed to think she's modest) and organises an annual fox hunt for kids. But other than Chloe there's not a single person in the village that seems to like her. There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way too, and it's not just her feudal ideas about local government.
Next thing that bothered me were the main characters. Very likely, they are the authors' avatars. Or at the very least, author wishfulfillment (Mary Sues). They are just so … Well, EV is tall and slim, and behind the scenes she has a lot of influence in the village, but she doesn't like to be in the foreground about that (I think we're supposed to think she's modest) and organises an annual fox hunt for kids. But other than Chloe there's not a single person in the village that seems to like her. There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way too, and it's not just her feudal ideas about local government.
'With a lifetime of history in this place, EV was not interested in seeing the Pines become the type of town governed by one person. The Selectmen system worked well here. Three leaders meant three varying perspectives on every issue. To her, the terms mayor and dictator were very similar in concept, (...)
If she had to, she could pull rank. As the largest landowner and the only daughter of the founding family, her opinion held enough authority to put a stop to the whole thing.'
To me feudal lord and dictator are similar in concept. At least a mayor is elected to be in charge temporarily.
Then there's Chloe, who writes a gossip column for a village that seems to thrive on gossip. What's the point? Doesn't everyone already know about whatever she writes in her column?
Gossip plays a big part in this story. It's local gossip that considers the first death a murder. EV and Chloe consider it murder too after they inspect the scene. If it was an accident, the ladder would be in a different position, they reason. What they forget: the scene was released, which means the police were not concerned about keeping the integrity of the scene. Perhaps the police moved the ladder.
Actually, that's very likely, even if the police immediately rule it a murder. The speed at which Detective Nate and Deputy Dalton are willing to share details of the police investigation with EV and Chloe suggests they have no clue about proper police procedure.
In the end, there was not enough sleuthing for me and particularly in the first 60 pages to much talk of talk of sex and romance (and not even in a way that makes a chicklit enjoyable).
I got this as an ebook in combination with another book, which I did not realize until I read END at about a third of the page count.
The story moves along quickly, but at around page 70 I started to wonder when the mystery was going to start. Some puzzles are presented, but they are solved within a few hours (without mention where the needle or even the hay stack was found). There was potential for a lot more mystery.
Author uses too many exclamation marks and doesn't seem to know that a dialogue tag is not capitalized, also not after ! and ?
The story moves along quickly, but at around page 70 I started to wonder when the mystery was going to start. Some puzzles are presented, but they are solved within a few hours (without mention where the needle or even the hay stack was found). There was potential for a lot more mystery.
Author uses too many exclamation marks and doesn't seem to know that a dialogue tag is not capitalized, also not after ! and ?
A very hard read because of the simplistic writing and the annoying characters. I say annoying because I don't want to use the term 'stupid' lightly, but stupid fits the bill quite well. Maddie shivers when the husband of the murdered woman comes to the coffee truck his wife always raved about and orders the same drink as his late wife. Did he know that was his wife's regular drink, Maddie wonders. Considering people in a marriage tend to know things about one another, I would not be surprised if a husband knows what his wife's regular drink is. And if the wife didn't tell him, Maddie's friend Suzanne told the husband about his wife's regular drink when they first meet him.
I guess Maddie forgot about that.
Fair enough that Maddie feels bad that she saw Joan's fortune but was unable to warn her and thus wants to investigate. That, however, does not entitle her to other people being helpful when she asks them questions. Maddie, though, finds it strange that Linda didn't tell her. Why would she? Linda was probably under the impression that she was talking about her friend to a barista she has never met before. Why mention something to the barista that is none of the business of said barista?
Maddie and Suzanne go around questioning everyone that knew the murdered woman, or her husband, or her neighbour, and only one person gets annoyed by them. Which Maddie and Suze find suspect. Even more when this person even mentions to the police she is being interrogated by two baristas. Surely, this woman is guilty. Why has the police not arrested her yet?
Well, probably because complaining about harassment is not a good substitute for means, motive and opportunity.
In the end, Maddie stumbles on a clue and manages to put two and two together and confronts the murderer with a flaw in the statement made to the barista.
Yeah, no. The next one in the series has great ratings, but I'm going to pass. There's too much wrong with this book to believe the next one will be more to my taste.
I guess Maddie forgot about that.
Fair enough that Maddie feels bad that she saw Joan's fortune but was unable to warn her and thus wants to investigate. That, however, does not entitle her to other people being helpful when she asks them questions. Maddie, though, finds it strange that Linda didn't tell her
Spoiler
she had a key to her neighbours' houseMaddie and Suzanne go around questioning everyone that knew the murdered woman, or her husband, or her neighbour, and only one person gets annoyed by them. Which Maddie and Suze find suspect. Even more when this person even mentions to the police she is being interrogated by two baristas. Surely, this woman is guilty. Why has the police not arrested her yet?
Well, probably because complaining about harassment is not a good substitute for means, motive and opportunity.
In the end, Maddie stumbles on a clue and manages to put two and two together and confronts the murderer with a flaw in the statement made to the barista.
Spoiler
Though she could have caught him on that a lot earlier: beef bourgignon is a time consuming dish. The meat needs to marinate and stew for hours. It's not a dish you make at the end of a working day. Not unless you plan to eat it as a midnight snack.Yeah, no. The next one in the series has great ratings, but I'm going to pass. There's too much wrong with this book to believe the next one will be more to my taste.
Bad book.
One dimensional characters, trite romance. The supposed amateur sleuth jumped to conclusions on just about everything. I guess she was right about her statement that she did not have an over abbundance of brainpower. And still, she never suspected the killer, though there was ample opportunity to jump to that conclusion.
One dimensional characters, trite romance. The supposed amateur sleuth jumped to conclusions on just about everything. I guess she was right about her statement that she did not have an over abbundance of brainpower. And still, she never suspected the killer, though there was ample opportunity to jump to that conclusion.
I did not have a good start with this book. A page and a half in I wanted I rolled my eyes: "that's not how that works." Lexi receives a phone call that the plane her parents were on has crashed, no survivors. How is her first reaction not: "Is this a crank call?" Anyone can claim they are the police over the phone. Next, after a night of sobbing in her bed, she calls the office to take a few personal days and she's fired. Again, over the phone. I know it's rather easy to fire someone in the US, but that is crude.
As quickly as Lexi looses her parents and her job, she finds her grandmother and a new job as the secretary of the town constable. Mere paragraphs are devoted to these life-changing events that could have been used to flesh-out the character of Lexi. (There are books that have as the plot what is here the summary of chapter one.) Guess the author was rushing to get to the good stuff.
The good stuff is where the second chapter starts: the gran reports two of her friends are missing. After the constable sends Lexi to talk to the landlord of the missing friends (giving a sexist reason for not doing this himself), she decides to ask some questions and thus starts an investigation. Why the constable is not doing this investigation is unclear - he's probably too busy helping old ladies cross the street.
The scenes where Lexi asks questions and gets very little answers could - again - be more fleshed out. With investigation stuff, I mean. When Lexi first talks to Jake there is already too much of her falling over herself with being in awe with him. Jake doesn't want to answer her questions, citing confidentiality laws, but asks Lexi out instead. Which feels like an odd move (if not sexist: let's distract the nosy woman with romance).
Odder still, is that Lexi feels it is out of place for the landlord and the insurance agent to request a court order before they answer questions about their tenants/clients. This is a former law student, surely she should understand that the first obligation these men have is to protect the privacy of their clients. They are under no obligation to answer the questions of a nosy (if well-meaning) secretary. So law was not what she would have picked herself (her dad decided for her), but she doesn't even seem to have a grudging appreciation for the law. Rather, she's miffed the law gets in the way of her investigation.
Actually, she doesn't even use her knowledge of the law to help herself. On Saturday she goes to the mortician's because she has an appointment to pick up the autopsy report. When there, she is quickly ushered out by the assistant mortician, but meets the constable and the county sheriff on the way out. The sheriff wants her to stay for questioning because she seems "to have a habit of showing up around dead bodies." What? And why didn't she lawyer up in the hour that the sheriff kept her waiting? - That's what lawyers are for: to help you when the police inconveniences you.
A proper lawyer would also have made minced meat of the questioning by the sheriff.
Perhaps the dad (or the author) had better picked a different field of study, one that still has prestige, but that will likely not crop up during a (murder) investigation.
Murder and Mayhem lacks a lot that it needs to make it a good book. Its characters need to be fleshed-out more. I didn't get a feel for any of them. They only seemed to be there for the main character, but did not have much of a life on their own. (Peyton, for instance, has a job running a B&B en a nine-year-old daughter and always has time to meet with Lexi.)
Also, the story needs more elements that are important in a cozy mystery. Namely the part where I learn as much about the mystery as the sleuth. I don't, because some events are told, rather than shown. In chapter 23, Lexi talks to the Drakes and visits the retirement village, and from these encounters determines that a number of people can be taken off her list of suspects. I have no idea why. I don't know how these meetings went. There was no scene where things happened. There were no clues or red herrings. So basically, no mystery to figure out.
As quickly as Lexi looses her parents and her job, she finds her grandmother and a new job as the secretary of the town constable. Mere paragraphs are devoted to these life-changing events that could have been used to flesh-out the character of Lexi. (There are books that have as the plot what is here the summary of chapter one.) Guess the author was rushing to get to the good stuff.
The good stuff is where the second chapter starts: the gran reports two of her friends are missing. After the constable sends Lexi to talk to the landlord of the missing friends (giving a sexist reason for not doing this himself), she decides to ask some questions and thus starts an investigation. Why the constable is not doing this investigation is unclear - he's probably too busy helping old ladies cross the street.
The scenes where Lexi asks questions and gets very little answers could - again - be more fleshed out. With investigation stuff, I mean. When Lexi first talks to Jake there is already too much of her falling over herself with being in awe with him. Jake doesn't want to answer her questions, citing confidentiality laws, but asks Lexi out instead. Which feels like an odd move (if not sexist: let's distract the nosy woman with romance).
Odder still, is that Lexi feels it is out of place for the landlord and the insurance agent to request a court order before they answer questions about their tenants/clients. This is a former law student, surely she should understand that the first obligation these men have is to protect the privacy of their clients. They are under no obligation to answer the questions of a nosy (if well-meaning) secretary. So law was not what she would have picked herself (her dad decided for her), but she doesn't even seem to have a grudging appreciation for the law. Rather, she's miffed the law gets in the way of her investigation.
Actually, she doesn't even use her knowledge of the law to help herself. On Saturday she goes to the mortician's because she has an appointment to pick up the autopsy report. When there, she is quickly ushered out by the assistant mortician, but meets the constable and the county sheriff on the way out. The sheriff wants her to stay for questioning because she seems "to have a habit of showing up around dead bodies." What? And why didn't she lawyer up in the hour that the sheriff kept her waiting? - That's what lawyers are for: to help you when the police inconveniences you.
A proper lawyer would also have made minced meat of the questioning by the sheriff.
Perhaps the dad (or the author) had better picked a different field of study, one that still has prestige, but that will likely not crop up during a (murder) investigation.
Murder and Mayhem lacks a lot that it needs to make it a good book. Its characters need to be fleshed-out more. I didn't get a feel for any of them. They only seemed to be there for the main character, but did not have much of a life on their own. (Peyton, for instance, has a job running a B&B en a nine-year-old daughter and always has time to meet with Lexi.)
Also, the story needs more elements that are important in a cozy mystery. Namely the part where I learn as much about the mystery as the sleuth. I don't, because some events are told, rather than shown. In chapter 23, Lexi talks to the Drakes and visits the retirement village, and from these encounters determines that a number of people can be taken off her list of suspects. I have no idea why. I don't know how these meetings went. There was no scene where things happened. There were no clues or red herrings. So basically, no mystery to figure out.
Cute, but too short. Definitely could be beefed up a lot.
I have got to stop reading prologues. They spoil the story for me.
Refreshing that the would be sleuth did not find the body herself, but that makes it a lot harder to give a convincing reason for the sleuth to get involved. Because she is curious? So is the town gossip, but that doesn't mean they go Spoiler breaking and entering and remove possible evidence. Mac hasn't finished her criminology degree, but you'd think that topic would have been covered in one of the earlier classes.
And why is she not getting a repremand from the nice detective? As much as I'm annoyed with cops that warn the sleuth not to get involved when all she does is talk to her neighbours (I haven't checked, but I doubt that's a crime in any part of the US), I'm more annoyed with a cop that responds with a "there, there, now" when a sleuth actually does something that can harm a criminal investigation.
Refreshing that the would be sleuth did not find the body herself, but that makes it a lot harder to give a convincing reason for the sleuth to get involved. Because she is curious? So is the town gossip, but that doesn't mean they go Spoiler breaking and entering and remove possible evidence. Mac hasn't finished her criminology degree, but you'd think that topic would have been covered in one of the earlier classes.
And why is she not getting a repremand from the nice detective? As much as I'm annoyed with cops that warn the sleuth not to get involved when all she does is talk to her neighbours (I haven't checked, but I doubt that's a crime in any part of the US), I'm more annoyed with a cop that responds with a "there, there, now" when a sleuth actually does something that can harm a criminal investigation.
There's a lot wrong with this book. Lack of attention to proper police procedure for one, proper puncuation of dialogue for another. And someone needs to tell the author about human metabolism:
Just because she happened to be the only one mature enough this evening to sober up in time to drive, she was handed the dubious duty of designated driver.
That's not how the alcohol break down in your body works.
Every year the Green family has a Christmas project. This year's project is: 12 dates for daughter Merry. Why Merry is made into the Christmas project is not disclosed, but probably has something to do with fact Dad is going to try to convince her her future lies in her home town and the family business.
I take some issue with family that basically tell someone: we're going to set you up on dates with a number of strangers and you must pick one of them to bring to Christmas dinner.
Moral issue aside, this could have been an entertaining story, had it been actually written. As it is, it reads more like the plot outline of a story with a few bits of dialogue thrown in. This story could do with some considerably more fleshing out. For instance, more words are spent on how Merry prepares for her date with Ben, than on her actual date with him. Actually, there are no words on her date with him, only a summary afterwards: It was a pleasant night, but there just wasn't any spark.
To that I want to say: show me the money! Show me the goods. Show me that it was a pleasant evening. Show me that there wasn't a spark.
Just as I was getting used to this, the book is over. There isn't even a date 12. There's an epilogue that tells us who date 12 was, but I felt cheated nonetheless.
No, definitely not a good book. And not worth paying for unless you plan to use the plot outline to write an actual novel.
I take some issue with family that basically tell someone: we're going to set you up on dates with a number of strangers and you must pick one of them to bring to Christmas dinner.
Moral issue aside, this could have been an entertaining story, had it been actually written. As it is, it reads more like the plot outline of a story with a few bits of dialogue thrown in. This story could do with some considerably more fleshing out. For instance, more words are spent on how Merry prepares for her date with Ben, than on her actual date with him. Actually, there are no words on her date with him, only a summary afterwards: It was a pleasant night, but there just wasn't any spark.
To that I want to say: show me the money! Show me the goods. Show me that it was a pleasant evening. Show me that there wasn't a spark.
Just as I was getting used to this, the book is over. There isn't even a date 12. There's an epilogue that tells us who date 12 was, but I felt cheated nonetheless.
No, definitely not a good book. And not worth paying for unless you plan to use the plot outline to write an actual novel.
I think I am falling out of love with Mike Gayle's novels. Didn't like this one much. Part of the plot didn't seem to add up.