Gale Borger

Totally Sleighed by Gale Borger
(A Miller Sisters Mystery Novella)
Source: Purchase
Rating: 5/5 stars

Fred Miller is famous for a couple of things, her loving and caring nature, especially toward animals and her extreme clumsiness. Seriously, if Fred Miller is awake, she is tripping over, walking into or bumping into something. On the far happier side of Fred Miller’s life is her impending marriage to Cool Bean owner, Mark Malone. All Fred has to do is fix each detail about her wedding that keeps falling apart and shake the nasty flu that has stumbling around even more than usual. It’s time to call in the troops 

Buzz and Mag Miller are seriously concerned about Fred. Sure, she’s clumsy but this clumsy is more than just a nasty flu making her groggy and unstable. Fred is all kinds of messed up and after a half-hearted argument from the bride-to-be, Buzz and Mag get her checked into the hospital for some further testing. But Buzz and Mag aren’t all the troops, now are they? Surprisingly, the queen bitch of the Miller sister troops, Alexandra has stepped up to the plate and has started fixing all of the problems cropping up with Fred and Mark’s wedding. Alex is quite the fixer but her turn of sisterly affection and helpfulness is a bit disconcerting. Oh, and why is she hanging out at Buzz’s house and being friendly to the dogs?? What are you up to Gale Borger??

As the sister’s begin to put some pieces together, the big bad is working away in the background to completely derail (read: put to a horrible end!) Fred and Mark’s wedding so that she can, wait for it, step in and have her beloved Mark Malone all to herself. As things come to a head, in a very public way, the big bad goes completely off the deep end, there’s a stunning incident with a twitchy Clydesdale, Mary Cromwell pulls a Smith and Wesson 500 out of her purse (that woman has one Hell of a collection!) and, the Miller sisters are in the thick of all of it all.

The Bottom Line: I won’t ever get enough of this series and truly wish there were a few more Miller sisters. Only Gale Borger can pull together something so completely ridiculous and outlandish and make it totally believable and real. No matter how long the book (and this one is a novella!), I always laugh out loud at least once, shake my head in disbelief and feel completely satisfied by the end of the read. This is a series that I absolutely adore and highly recommend it to all NA+ readers.… (mehr)

Everything’s Coming Up Roses by Gale Borger
(Novella #6: Olive Branch Mystery Series)
Source: Purchase
Rating: 4/5 stars

**SPOILERS!! This is the final installment of a six-part series!!**

The long-awaited conclusion to the Olive Branch Mystery series certainly doesn’t disappoint and the Olive Branch kids are in fine form and ready to catch a killer! As expected, the novella opens where the fifth installment left off and ends with a well-deserved happy resolution. Of course, that happy ending doesn’t actually get to occur until a lot more drama ensues 

Here’s the skinny: following the debacle that was the beauty/garden pageant, Vi is lying in the hospital fighting for her life after being poisoned. Her good friend (yes, they are just friends!) Cash is by her side as she explains to the best of her ability exactly who it was that poisoned her water and landed her in the hospital. At roughly the same time, Spaz is having the boojeebies scared out of her in the hospital bathroom by an unknown creeper who clearly explains it should be Spaz fighting for her life and not Vi. Additionally, both the kids and the cops are still looking for the missing Rose Phillips or, her body.

As with every other installment in the series, Pone, Spaz, Shroom, Bean and Cash refuse to give up on their quest to solve the mystery of the dead girls. With Vi’s revelation about her poisoner, the kids are bound and determined to see justice done for their friend. On occasion, the kids even have the backing of the police though probably not so much when they are snooping about, breaking and entering and digging up a dead body  Surprisingly, the kids do have the support and help of Ollie and the good doctor, both of whom turn out to be pretty good at small-time crime and driving really fast. By the time everybody, including the cops and the criminals are all gathered in one place, the madness ensues, the culprits are revealed and arrested and everyone gets out without a bullet wound this time 

The Bottom Line: I really have enjoyed this series and no matter if you can see who did it in the first installment or not until the last, you will enjoy this read. Roses is filled with humor, drama, a lot of teenage angst, some pretty cool plans and capers and a happy ending that is both heart-warming and touching. Over the course of the series, each of the Olive Branch kids grows and matures in his or her own way yet still remains true to their endearing personalities. No matter how many of Gale Borger’s books I read, I will never get tired of the blend of humor, drama, fully-developed characters, excellent dialogue and, good clean fun.… (mehr)

Totally Evil by Gale Borger
(Book #3: Miller Sisters Mysteries)
Source: Author for a fair and honest review
Rating: 5/5 stars

Totally Evil is the third book in Gale Borger’s Miller Sisters Mysteries and woooo weeee do I loves me some Miller Sisters!! Totally Evil begins with exactly what the title promises a scene of pure evil with Buzz and J.J. all up in the middle of the drama. Someone has whacked a senior citizen and Buzz is working crowd control while J.J. and the Stooges dig through the dumpster looking for evidence. Little do the two know, this death is the first of several seemingly unrelated senior deaths that will not only jeopardize the safety of the town’s seniors but Buzz’s life as well and J.J. ain’t havin’ none of that!!

It’s pretty much pointless to give you a list of what I liked about this book because I liked it all, start to finish. Totally Evil is by far the most serious of the Miller Sisters mysteries but in typical Borger fashion, the drama is cut through with plenty of humor. Evil is a fantastic story of the past and her secrets crashing right on into the present – one of my absolute favorite story types. Nothing stays buried forever and in this case Buzz and J.J. are presented with a ton of randomness that is just that, random. It takes the Dynamic Duo quite some time and help from some very surprising sources before they are able to pull all the pieces together and figure out whose whacking seniors.

One of my favorite parts of this particular read are the surprising sources Buzz and J.J. call on to help them solve this mystery. The sources include the totally evil Miller sister, Alexandra and Mary Cromwell and the geriatric SWAT girls. Though Alex has made a few very brief appearances in the other two books, she sashays right on in to Totally Evil and makes quite the impression on everyone. Alex uses her impressive organizational and research skills to help Buzz pull together the pieces of the puzzle all while being impeccably well-dressed and kidnapped. Yes, kidnapped  And then there is Mary Cromwell and the geriatric SWAT girls: WOW are those girls some feisty old broads and I love them for every minute of their awesomeness. Truly, Mary is some kind of fantastic and her antics provide several laugh-out-loud moments.

As the novel steam rolls right on through to its dramatic ending, the whole town comes together to back up Buzz and J.J., rescue Alex and one delightful little old lady and, take down the bad guy. Though you don’t know if everyone is going to make it out alive, it is still a feel good moment seeing how everyone pulls together. Seriously? The rescue plan this town pulls off is audacious and awesome all at the same time! Also of note, throughout the entire read and through all the drama, J.J. pushes Buzz to talk about their growing relationship – man, oh, man is that is that man yummy! By the end of the novel, Buzz and J.J. (and the dogs, of course!) are stronger than ever and the big bad is taken down, Miller style!

The Bottom Line: The Miller Sisters and their mysteries are not slowing down one bit and Totally Evil is just as fresh and fun as the its predecessors, Totally Buzzed and Totally Fishy. Borger recycles nothing but the awesome! The plot is deep, a little dark, and totally (HA!) interesting and each of the characters continue to evolve and surprise me. I am a little in love with Alexandra and can’t wait to see her make an even bigger appearance in upcoming novels and the SWAT girls, WOW! More please! As always, I have absolutely no reservations recommending this read to a wide range of readers. It will certainly appeal to lovers of light mystery and romance and will absolutely appeal to all who are interested in a funny and well-written read!

A note about the cover: When Gale Borger contacted me about reviewing this title she mentioned nothing to me about the cover so imagine my surprise when I opened the eCopy, perused the cover and a saw quote from one of my reviews on the cover. Yes, there was squeaking, squealing and the waking up of the husband to show him the awesomeness!! Thank you, Gale, it is an honor to be on the cover of one of your books 

Some of my favorite Totally Evil moments:

Buzz reminiscing (on two separate occasions) about one of her least favorite people:
Tattle Tale Rosie grew up mean and graduated to Rosie the Floozy when she bragged about sleeping with her journalism professor to get a “B”. At the time I asked her if the grade was for journalism or did he think she’s just a lousy lay. (page 24)

She ignored me, I insulted her, and everything became right with the world.

“Buzz!”
“Watch Out!”
“Ohmygod Stooop!”
“DON’T KILL THE DEAD GUY!”
Don’t kill the what? (pages 23-24)

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Buzz to the indomitable Mary Cromwell:
“All right, Mary Cromwell, toss whatever you didn’t want Sheriff Green to see into the trunk”
Wide-eyed, Mary blinked slowly at me while she reached inside the pink monstrosity. She proceeded to pull out a sap, two pair of handcuffs, four cans of pepper spray, a Bodyguard 380, a Model 29 Smith with an eight-and-three-eighths barrel in chrome. It would have made Harry Callahan weep. . . . . She pulled out pliers, a Slim Jim, a pair of nun-chucks, a sock monkey (a sock monkey? Involuntarily I shivered), and the largest box of condoms I’d ever seen (No, I did not ask).” (page 260)

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Again with the awesome of Mary:
“You know, the Green boy can be such a stick sometimes. How the heck is a lady supposed to protect herself in her own home or feel safe on the streets if she is forced to leave her .44 at home? Why, it’s an open invitation for some bad guy to break into my house and steal my Dirty Harry Special!” (page 280)… (mehr)

Hosta La Vista, Baby by Gale Borger
(Episode 5: Olive Branch Mysteries)
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Purchase

**contains spoilers for previous episodes**

The final published episode of the Olive Branch Mysteries series finds the gang once again in Bean’s hospital room trying to decide what their next move will be. It’s waaay after hours and the little delinquents have snuck in with Mt. Dew and pizza – the necessary snacks needed to discuss the latest developments in their investigation. Unfortunately, the kids are unable to come up with a new course of action and are forced to break up the evening’s meeting without any clear plan.

Luckily, they have a detective on their side and he just happens to have a plan  Pone’s dad approaches the kids with the intention of having Spaz enter the Hosta Queen pageant as a contestant and the boys working in the wings to help protect her. The Hunnicut’s are big supporters and participants in the pageant and while everyone, especially Spaz initially balks at the idea, they eventually agree it is a good plan. Ollie and Bean’s mom both convince Spaz she is the ideal candidate and convince her they will be by her side throughout the entire process. For Spaz, the idea of dressing up and showing off is completely foreign but something she is willing to try of means catching a killer. The boys talk all kinds of trash about Spaz being able to pull it all off until they see her all primped and prettied up – the moments of babbling and speechlessness when the boys see Spaz in her finery are priceless.

Spaz’s entry into the competition starts out as just a means to an end but Spaz quickly figures out she has a real shot at becoming the Hosta Queen. That is, of course if she can survive the pageant. On at least three occasions Spaz is involved in a very-near-miss “accident’ which does leave at least one girl seriously injured. The near-misses make Spaz more determined than ever to get through the pageant and uncover the identity of the killer; unfortunately the pageant committee isn’t inclined to agree and cancels the competition. The final moments of episode five reveal the Hunnicut’s daughter, Val has been admitted to the hospital after an apparent overdose. The doctors aren’t sure she will recover and the gang is more convinced than ever of the Hunnicut’s guilt where the dead girls are concerned. The only problem? No one is quite sure which Hunnicut is the culprit . . . .

The Bottom Line: I very much enjoyed these short, easy-to-read episodes. Gale Borger has a smooth and easy writing style that is always infused with witty dialogue and excellent humor. Borger’s characters are realistic, relatable and, more fully developed from episode to episode. The continuity and flow of the plot is in no way negatively affected by the breaking up of a larger novel into small episodes (aka novellas). I can easily and quite comfortably recommend this series to readers of nearly every age group as the there is no bad language or naughty bits that would not be suitable for YA readers. I am quite looking forward to the conclusion of this series though, to date, there is no release date noted for the sixth episode.… (mehr)