Maggie Blackburn

A Killer Romance by Maggie Blackburn is the third A Beach Read Mystery. It can be read as a standalone. Those who have read the first two books will find the five-year time jump jarring. Summer Merriweather sprains her ankle at the beginning of the book which means she cannot attend the author event. There is too much focus on Summer’s pain and her pain medication (it is mentioned repeatedly). Since Summer is at home, readers do not get to experience the murder firsthand (Summer watches it online). It would have been helpful to meet the victim before she was murdered. When Summer’s friend, Glads becomes the prime suspect, she is determined to prove her innocence. The mystery was overdone. The suspects are obvious and so are the clues (one had me rolling my eyes). Repetitiveness was another problem (I got it the first time). There were storylines introduced that related to the whodunit that were not resolved. The out-of-state detective was another oddity (I did not like some of the things he said to Summer either). Of course, he ends up being the lead detective on the case (that makes sense). Summer finds the detective easy on the eyes. The ending was rushed, and I was left with unanswered questions (what was so troublesome in Glads’s past for example). I did not understand why there was another time jump for the epilogue. I found the pacing to be off in the story, and there is mild foul language. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my visit to St. Brigid Island.… (mais)

Alas. I like Molly's other incarnations, so I was excited to find this (based on the yummy, promising title) - even before I realized it was her.

I won't pile on to what others have said, which I unfortunately agree with for the most part.

What irked me the most were all the typos, miscues, and outright errors. Ex: one minute there is a tense, one-on-one dialogue with Summer and one of her mother's friends, but then suddenly, the name of someone else not in the room is replying. I can't tell you how many times I had to flip back and look to see if I'd missed something.

Nope.

And so many loose ends, in terms of build-up devices which are never addressed again or else seemed to be out of sync, or barely touched upon later, as well as other continuity problems, etc.

There is even a villainous character who is redeemed because he ACTUALLY SAVES A CAT!!! (look up Save the Cat if you don't know what I am talking about). And sadly, yes, it is so obvious who the perp is, and fairly early on, I only kept reading because I hoped there was a surprise twist.

Honestly, Molly acknowledges her new publisher and editing team most generously, but if they were working on MY baby and let this get out the door, I would be furious! Did anybody even give this a complete read-through edit??

Better luck next time. I am rooting for you!

… (mais)

The third in the Beach reads cozy mystery series is set around Valentine's Day. Summer Merriweather, former college professor and Shakespeare scholar, is back home running her mother's romance bookstore after her mother's tragic death. She isn't a big fan of romance or a big fan of Valentine's Day.

A Valentine's Day event at the bookstore brings author Lana Livingston to the store for an author event. Summer is disgusted that Lana has written a new version of Romeo and Juliet but with a happy ending which Summer feels means that Lana has missed the whole point of the play. But a badly sprained ankle is keeping Summer away from the event. She can only watch the video.

When it is learned that Lana has died at the B & B where she is staying and that the death was caused by poison, Lana needs to find the killer since one of her friends who innocently offered her a cup of tea is under investigation for the crime.

Then a PI comes to town. He's been watching Lana since she had already been a suspect in the death of her husband. He's quick to pile on accusations that Summer's friend Glads was Lana's killer. But when Lana's belongings are mistakenly sent to Summer, a new picture begins to emerge. Her journal indicates her love for her terminally ill husband and her foray into drug running to pay off her husband's enormous medical debts. It also relates her troubled relationship with her stepdaughter Mary Laura who was seen hanging around the bookstore with a book about poisons in her backpack before Lana's poisoning.

Summer calls on her old friend lawyer Cash to help Glads. Their relationship is just rebuilding after she left him at the altar when they were very young. Between her conflicted feelings for Cash and a PI who looks to want a romance with her, Summer has a lot on her plate for a woman who is confined to her couch and taking lots of pain pills for her ankle.

The plot of the story was engaging. The writing was not. I had trouble getting lost in the story because I kept being jolted out of it by the prose style. There was a bit too much telling rather than showing to make the story engaging for me. I also got tired of so many characters being described as "smarter than the average bear."

Fans of cozy mysteries and particularly fans of the earlier books in this series will likely enjoy it more than I did.… (mais)