Shelley FreydontRezensionen
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Midsummer Murder (Linda Haggerty Mysteries) von Shelley Freydont
There's something of a love triangle set up in this series, but it isn't actually an active one, which somehow makes it easier to put up with. The MC finds herself attracted to two men: Chaz, the editor of the small paper, and A.K., the head of the private security company that assists the sheriff's office during the festivals. There's no actual competition, no dating (so far), no seriously flirtatious moments. I'd really rather there not even be this setup, but it is easier to take than the typical two men posturing for the woman's attention setup.
The mystery in this one was pretty easy; I spotted the killer fairly early on and the motivation was somewhat obvious. Still, it kept my attention and it was a fun read themed for Halloween.
Too bad there is a murder at one of the places they've advertised!
I'm loving the quirky characters in town. I like the loyalty but am also having trouble with it. It's got to be rough to prove you can help when the locals close ranks on you.
I don't really have much interest in event planning and purchased this cozy because it was a Fall setting. That being said, I've loved the little tidbits of a event planner's life that show up.
The next holiday is Halloween and I've got a couple of reading challenges that need a Halloween themed book. The question is, do I read the theme I need or next next book in the series? ;-)
A more complete review is posted on my blog: www.bookdragonslair.com
It’s October in Celebration Bay and murder and mischief was not supposed to be on the agenda for event coordinator Liv Montgomery. Well, not the real thing anyway. But that doesn’t stop it from happening.
Halloween is my favorite holiday setting for cozy mysteries. I mean, how perfect, right? And author Shelley Freydont takes full advantage of the holiday to write a delightful mystery that is tricky to figure out and a real treat to devour. TRICK OR DECEIT was a great whodunit with more surprises than candy in a trick or treat bag, and had me second guessing myself right up until the thrilling conclusion.
Don’t be afraid to pick up this Halloween cozy. You’re going to love it! And I look forward to what author Freydont has in store for us next.
It's always delightful for me to visit with the folks who reside in Celebration Bay.
Liv and Ted are busy getting ready for the annual Halloween Festival.
The stores have all been decorated and about the only thing yet be done is the selection of the first annual Haunted House contest. When the winners and runners-up are announced, the second place winner, Ernie Bolton, is livid. The prize is $10,000 and he desperately needs the money to pay his back real estate taxes. Before he leaves, he accuses the head of the judging committee, Lucille Foster, of having swayed the other judges into voting for the winner, Barry Lindquist. The next morning as Liv and Whiskey are out for their morning run, Liv notices that Lindquist's winning display has been damaged. Crossing the vacant lot next door to access the damage, she comes across the lifeless body of Lucille. Bolton, naturally, becomes a prime suspect, but Liv has her doubts. Where are her designer shoes, where is here car and did her husband really pick her up after award ceremony? So she enlists Ted, her assistant and Chaz, owner of the Celebration Bay Clarion and former investigative reporter to find out who sent Lucille to an early grave.
I really enjoy all the characters in this series. Even Janine Tudor, Liv's nemesis has mellowed on this book. Once again, Dolly Hunicutt, owner of the Apple of My Eye Bakery is back helping Liv and keeping Whiskey happy dog treats and BeBe Ford, owner of the Buttercup Coffee Exchange is back with her lattes and tea for Liv and Ted. The Zimmerman sisters are there to help and provide Liv with the lowdown on the local residents and also to provide Whiskey with love and treats while Liv is off sleuthing. Chaz, good ol' Chaz. Liv and Chaze still seem to be dancing about as to possibly starting to date. But with Jonathon Preston in town, and someone Liv knew from her days in New York City, Chaz might have some competition. And Ted, Liv's assistant, seems to know what is going on in town practically before anyone else does and is a very valuable assistant to Liv. In addition, I love the time he spends with Whiskey teaching him songs to “arrroo” to.
Definitely will be watching for the next book in the series.
Deanna Randolph is an unlikely sleuth, yet in the talented hands of author Freydont, she is not only believable, she is very much up to the task. It’s going to be interesting to watch Deanna grow as the series continues.
This was an incredibly well plotted mystery with more suspects than a few. With twists and turns all the way to the exciting end, I second, third, and fourth guessed myself and yes, still guessed wrong!
A GILDED GRAVE is sure to be a hit with historical and cozy mystery fans alike.
A welcomed book it is, too. Not only an enjoyable story, but a chance to refresh the readers memory about Celebration Bay for before the 2nd book, Silent Knife comes out on September 3, 2013.
Liv's assistant, Ted, is back, continuing to make her shake her head about where he gets all his information. Local newspaper owner, Chaz, acting completely indifferent, but still willing to share much needed information with Liv. Liv's landladies, Miss Ida and Edna are here to provide a little humor. Also, Bebe, the owner of the local bakery, is here to help Liv with her sleuthing and to provide wonderful baked goods.
Last and certainly not least, the adorable Whiskey is there with all of his handsomeness and doing what he does best- being cute and making everyone smile.
A quick read and an enjoyable visit to delightful community of interesting residents.
Liv Montgomery is busy putting the finishing touches on Celebration Bay's holiday events, while her assistant and her Westie work on vocal skills. Trim A Tree, which has undergone a change of ownership has started carrying gaudy and tacky items, in addition to having an anything but friendly Santa Claus, which is in violation town policy.
After much cajoling, Liv is finally able to convince Grace Thornsby that her Santa has to be removed.
As the community is getting ready for their Christmas tree lighting, all the stores are brightly lit, except for Trim A Tree. Penny, clerk at Trim A Tree, heads back to the shop and finds the former Santa dead from having his throat cut. The towns' Santa is missing and someone says that a Santa was seen leaving about the same time.
Liv, with the help of Ted and the caring and observant shopkeepers, are enlisted to help find the murderer so that Celebration Bay will have a happy holiday. After much cajoling Liv is finally able to get Chaz Bristow involved in search. Chaz is a character to be reckoned with and enjoy his character. I know Liz would like to give him a head slap often. I'm guessing that at some time Liv and Chaz will become better friends, but for now the banter between them is fun.
All the store owners from the first book are back and doing what they can to help Liv. And of course Whiskey can always count on the Bakery for his own special treats.
And of course Whiskey is there to provide the reader with many light hearted moments.
Looking forward to book #3
Liv Montgomery has left the "fast lane" as an event planner in Manhattan and has moved to the quaint community of Celebration Bay with her Westie, Whiskey, to become the professional coordinator of seasonal festivals in Celebration Bay.
The final touches are being put on for the fair to wrap up the month long Harvest By The Bay festival. Liv and Whiskey are heading to work and almost get run over by Janine Tudor, who Liv has replaced. After, they head to the Apple Of My Bakery for some scones and a dog biscuit for Whiskey and then to the Buttercup Coffee Exchange. Off to the office and to work with Ted Driscoll on finalizing the weekend events. Liv then decides to visit Andy Miller's farm to see how the maze is coming and notices that the Zoldosky Brothers, a traveling troupe of jugglers and tumblers have already arrived and are busy practicing. Then it's off to Waterbury Farms to visit with Joss Waterbury. Joss has an apple orchard and makes and sells cider and apple related products. He plans on having a working apple press at the fair.
Then the next morning Liv gets a phone call from Ted to get over to Waterbury Farms right away. Upon arriving, she finds that one of the Zoldosky brothers has been killed and is in one of the cider presses. Of course the police want a quick resolution and they don't look to much farther the Joss. Liv doesn't feel he is the guilty party and proceeds to look into the matter. Being a small community and with her just getting settled in, people aren't to willing to share a whole lot. She tries to get the publisher of the local newspaper involved, but even he's not willing to help. But little by little the people start to open up to Liv and the murderer is caught. And a very enjoyable fair was had by all in Celebration Bay.
I thought that this was very interesting story with a wonderful cast of characters that everyone would love to have as friends and neighbors. And with being owned by a Westie, I must say that Whiskey's character and antics are so true.
Everyone is looking forward to the 4th of July Celebration. The residents have gathered at the mansion of Henry Gallantine to watch the annual signal to the re-enactment patriots and the begin the celebration. Shortly after the signal is given, Liv and Ted notice another signal, this one a SOS, from the roof. When get to the roof they find Jacob Rundle, Gallantine's gardener dead from a bayonet wound and 18 year mentally challenged, Leo, holding the musket that killed Rundel. Liv feels certain that Leo is innocent, but to prove it she needs to find out who did.
Henry Gallantine has gone missing. Liv needs to sort thru history to find if the present day Henry Gallantine's relative was in fact guilty of treason and to determine what role Daniel Haynes relative has to play in that charge of treason. Liv needs to find out if new information has surfaced and the murder was type of cover-up. Adding to this, is that Liv sees Gallantine's nephew pocketing some valuable figurines. Also, when George Grossman shows up claiming to have an option to buy Gallantine's mansion, the waters really get very murky. So when Liv finally locates Chaz Bristow, the local newspaper editor, things begin to progress.
All the main characters are back once again. Liv's landladies, Misses Ida and Edna are back to provide Liv with background on Celebration Bay's residents and of course to watch Whiskey when Liv is off sleuthing. Chaz Bristow is back, still appearing to be his uncaring self, as usual. It's always interesting to read of the interaction of Liv and Chaz. To paraphrase the word of that famous bard, I think the lady doth protest too much. But that makes me enjoy them all the more. And last but certainly not least, the dynamic duo of Ted and Whiskey are back to serenade the readers.
A wonderful series and I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book.
The story centers on Celebration Bay, a tourist town in NY. While I didn't get a very strong sense of the town itself, it's inhabitants were very well drawn and it was very easy to 'see' the individual personalities. There's a hint of future tension (of the good kind) between the main character, Liv and the newspaper editor.
The mystery, I thought, was very well done. Lots of suspects, as nobody liked the victim, and a few twists here and there. A red herring or two and a really good ending, to my way of thinking. It didn't feel like the tried and true used in so many cozies.
My only real beef with the book was the same one I have with a lot of mysteries - the over abundance of internal dialogue/speculation. I realise it's a device used to summarize the story to that point for the readers, but to me it's all a lot of very boring repetition. At one point, I actually skipped almost 3 pages and it was all internal dialogue meant to assist readers who I can only imagine must not have very strong reading comprehension skills.
I look forward to reading the next book.
In addition to the traditional July fourth events, Celebration Bay stages a spooky Revolutionary War reenactment. Every year, the ghost of local war hero Henry Gallantine appears at the top of the family mansion, kicking off the night’s revelries. But Henry’s annual cameo goes awry after the ghost signals SOS. When Liv rushes to the rescue, she finds Henry missing and a real dead body instead of a fake haunt.
Likeable characters, and a well written setting make this a solid cozy series. I can't say I love them but I've enjoyed each one. Independence Slay was not an exception. I like Liz and all the characters that play a part. I'm not sure where the author is going with the love interest - it's not a triangle (or a rhombus), but in one corner we have A.K., a security consultant for the town. Very alpha. In the other corner we have Chaz who owns the local town newspaper and actually publishes it when he feels like it. Very California surfer-who-loves-fishing. Maybe the author hasn't made up her mind and is hedging her bets. Personally, I'm cheering for A.K. (silly name and all).
The mystery was so-so. The murderer wasn't telegraphed, but I also don't think it was plotted as well as it could have been; lots of clues were there, but none of them were relevant. Everything was wrapped up in a final scene that was kind of...I don't know what. I just finished it and thought "wait, that's it?" The scene didn't seem to include any proof, or a confession, yet the killer went quietly. This scene felt phoned-in compared to the tightly written narrative to that point.
I'll definitely be looking for the next book in the series; the author can be counted on the write a quality story and I'm mildly curious about who Liv ends up with.
I'll call this one of the better mystery novella's I've read for plot complexity. I'm still reserving judgement on the characters - The author hasn't done a whole lot to make me like those that feel like they are going to be an integral part of the series (Chaz) but one can hardly expect the author to accomplish that in an ebook special novella.
Overall, if you enjoy the mini-stories that pop up in your mystery series, this is one of the better ones.
First, the setting. Up-state New York, small town driven by tourism. Very small town. The kind where you're "from away" if you've been living there less than, say, 30 years. But the town is smart; tourism driven as it is, they hire an event coordinator to make sure the tourist-attraction events go flawlessly. That people start getting picked off soon after she moves there is just a coincidence. ;)
Next, the characters. Likeable; individual enough that you can keep them straight, but none so unique as to be eccentric. The first book introduced a 'nemesis' character that I didn't care for - I don't see the point of them beyond giving the author something to fill pages with when plot is running thin. But this book saw that character toned down quite a bit - and she gets her comeuppance too, which made her presence more pleasant. Also introduced in the first book was the possible love interest; although how he was supposed to be interesting when he was so lazy as to be practically catatonic is beyond me. At least he's good-looking. This book found him only slightly more responsive to external stimuli, but there's also the possibility that he might have competition now. And the competition is NOT lazy. So, something to look forward to.
Last, the plot. Full kudos to the author here. She wrote a plot that should have most people following blind leads and red herrings. Sadly, I wasn't one of them, but I can't even say where she really went wrong. I just read a sentence early on and went "Ha!" and it turned out I was right. Objectively, there was nothing about that sentence that should have given anything away. It just clicked with me. Still reading cozies is at least as much about the character development and the entertainment that provides as it is about the plotting of the murder or murders. And there's enough going on in Celebration Bay that I was kept entertained on a rainy blustery afternoon. I'll be looking for the third book next year.
A welcomed book it is, too. Not only an enjoyable story, but a chance to refresh the readers memory about Celebration Bay for before the 2nd book, Silent Knife comes out on September 3, 2013.
Liv's assistant, Ted, is back, continuing to make her shake her head about where he gets all his information. Local newspaper owner, Chaz, acting completely indifferent, but still willing to share much needed information with Liv. Liv's landladies, Miss Ida and Edna are here to provide a little humor. Also, Bebe, the owner of the local bakery, is here to help Liv with her sleuthing and to provide wonderful baked goods.
Last and certainly not least, the adorable Whiskey is there with all of his handsomeness and doing what he does best- being cute and making everyone smile.
A quick read and an enjoyable visit to delightful community of interesting residents.
Liv Montgomery has left the "fast lane" as an event planner in Manhattan and has moved to the quaint community of Celebration Bay with her Westie, Whiskey, to become the professional coordinator of seasonal festivals in Celebration Bay.
The final touches are being put on for the fair to wrap up the month long Harvest By The Bay festival. Liv and Whiskey are heading to work and almost get run over by Janine Tudor, who Liv has replaced. After, they head to the Apple Of My Bakery for some scones and a dog biscuit for Whiskey and then to the Buttercup Coffee Exchange. Off to the office and to work with Ted Driscoll on finalizing the weekend events. Liv then decides to visit Andy Miller's farm to see how the maze is coming and notices that the Zoldosky Brothers, a traveling troupe of jugglers and tumblers have already arrived and are busy practicing. Then it's off to Waterbury Farms to visit with Joss Waterbury. Joss has an apple orchard and makes and sells cider and apple related products. He plans on having a working apple press at the fair.
Then the next morning Liv gets a phone call from Ted to get over to Waterbury Farms right away. Upon arriving, she finds that one of the Zoldosky brothers has been killed and is in one of the cider presses. Of course the police want a quick resolution and they don't look to much farther the Joss. Liv doesn't feel he is the guilty party and proceeds to look into the matter. Being a small community and with her just getting settled in, people aren't to willing to share a whole lot. She tries to get the publisher of the local newspaper involved, but even he's not willing to help. But little by little the people start to open up to Liv and the murderer is caught. And a very enjoyable fair was had by all in Celebration Bay.
I thought that this was very interesting story with a wonderful cast of characters that everyone would love to have as friends and neighbors. And with being owned by a Westie, I must say that Whiskey's character and antics are so true.
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