Meg London

This is the first in a new series about a woman who moves back home to Paris, Tennessee to help her Aunt renovate and run the lingerie shop. There's a lot to like about this book - great characters, interesting setting, and a smattering of vintage clothing talk if you like vintage. If you don't, it isn't overwhelming at all. The author has done a really nice job setting up an alternate reality a lot of readers will want to visit and get to know better.

Unfortunately, I found the mystery part of the story to be lacking. The killer was obvious to me from the very start, and the amateur sleuthing felt awkward and well, if you'll pardon my use of the word when talking about murder mysteries, unrealistic. I felt myself skimming quite a bit, but that could be because I had no doubt as to whodunnit.

Lastly, my very biggest pet peeve inside a book - the hugely antagonistic attitude of the investigating police detective. Someone Emma dumped back in the mists of high school, who has apparently not not let it go well into adulthood. Why am I expected to believe that *anyone* can be so outright antagonistic, rude, and, well, stupid - never mind someone in the professional capacity of investigating detective?!? It's the 21st century and in the real world, a detective that rude would be brought up for misconduct and I expect at least that much realism in my cozies. I do not want caricatures or cartoon characters in my mysteries, thankyouverymuch. The books saving grace was he wasn't around very much - otherwise this would have been a 2 star read for me.

I'll look for the next book, because the world the author has drawn is a good one that interests me. I look forward to seeing the mystery plotting improve and hope that the detective is the next victim.… (mehr)

Small southern town with small-town southern charm. A lingerie store that specialises in vintage lingerie. A world travelled aunt and a good looking love interest. A perfect setup. Sadly, the perfect setup is hopelessly marred by really bad plotting and, although to a much lesser degree, stilted writing.

This town the author has created (I know, Paris, TN really does exists, but this Paris is a creation of the author) is great: interesting and fun characters you find yourself liking. But the writing itself comes across stilted and un-natural, and it lacks the flow of authentic conversation a lot of the time. In a really well written book, I don't even notice the 'he said' or 'she said', but I found them really noticeable in this story.

As to the plot, well, as with the first book, I knew the murderer and why from the very first moment possible. when Jessica first told her 'story' and the murderer denounced it as gossip. And please, Emma sees the cupcake boxes all tied up on the counter in the kitchen, sees the murderer come in as she's leaving the kitchen and the next thing that happens is the woman comes out of the kitchen with the cupcakes unboxed and on a platter. How Emma missed that one is a mystery for the ages. And the police - no one thinks to ask "who un-boxed the cupcakes and put them on the platter?" "who served them?" It was just so obvious that the fronting of additional suspects just wore my patience thin and I wanted the book to be over with.

It's a shame, because I really want to like these books - they have all the earmarks of what would normally be favorites of mine. But unless the plotting gets much more sophisticated, this will be a series I'll have to pass by.… (mehr)

An improvement, but not enough of one to keep the series around. Into the bag they go.

The premise of the series has (had?) potential as an interesting backdrop: Aunt and niece re-open the newly renovated Sweet Nothings, a lingerie shop in Paris, Tennessee that features new and vintage lingerie. Mayhem and dead bodies follow...

The characters were likeable enough: Emma Taylor, former NYC stylist for fashion shoots returns home to help her Aunt Arabella, sophisticated and world traveled, renovate her old, out-dated lingerie shop; Brian, older brother to Emma's best friend Liz, is the hardware store owner/renovation contractor-turned-love-interest, as well as a host of other interesting neighbours that make appearances here and there.

But the murderer was screamingly obvious in the first two books; I had them pegged before the first 1/3 of the book, and the overall writing just fell flat for me; while I thought the characters were likeable, I didn't care enough about any of them to overcome the wet-tissue-paper plotting.

So, A Fatal Slip was the make-it-or-break-it book for me, and honestly it was going to need a LOT of juice to make me stick around, and it just didn't. It was the best book of the three, and the plotting was much better; I didn't know who did it, although I had it whittled down to two (the murderer was one of my two, but not the one I'd chosen).

I'll admit, I suspect the plotting was better executed in this book because not a lot of time was spent on the actual murder mystery; it felt like very little was done or accomplished in the middle third of the book, making it easier for the author to avoid giving away the game.

There were also holes in the characterisations; Aunt Arabella is supposed to be the main suspect in the murder, but the police never come out and treat her as such; it's the lowest key interrogation I've ever read for someone the police thinks killed a man. Emma and co. just start investigating, but there's no urgency at all. Also, the victim is shot, but Arabella doesn't own a gun, yet the police don't even address this. In fact, the police play almost NO part in the book at all.

Emma's mother, Priscilla, shows up, unannounced on Arabella's doorstep ostensibly because she's worried about Arabella being accused of murder. Now, she lives in Florida, and there's not a single mention of either Arabella or Emma talking to her mother about the murder before she shows up. How did she know there was a murder? How did she know Arabella was accused? At the point in the story where she shows up, Arabella's only been interviewed once by the police; no more than anyone else that was at the party. Reading further, we find out there are ulterior motives for Priscilla's visit (which end up being written pretty damn weakly too, but anyway...) but she's just shoe-horned into the story in the weirdest way.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that the reason I don't really care about these characters or this series is that it's all written very superficially; there's NO drama, there's zero suspense. Every single hurdle, or obstacle, or worry has a superficial HEA solution. I read cozies because I don't like melodrama, or angst, or anyone playing badminton with my emotional responses, but I do require some depth in the books I enjoy, and these characters just don't have any depth at all.… (mehr)

Brava to Meg London for out doing herself with A FATAL SLIP and making this series a must have for any mystery fan.

The Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mystery series captured my attention on page one of the first book MURDER UNMENTIONABLE. While reading the second book, LACED WITH POISON, I knew I was in love. Having said that, now that I have read book number three, A FATAL SLIP, put a ring on my finger and seal the deal because I am never leaving this series.

Ms. London has again provided us with characters that we care about. This installment of the series is filled with more mystery and intrige than the first two books, something that I would have said was impossible. The main plot is focused on who killed Hugh Granger and Emma trying to clear Aunt Arabella's name. But there are several sub plots and discoveries that had my head spinning (in a good way) and wondering what would happen next.

Get to your local bookstore or online book seller and buy A FATAL SLIP now. If you haven't read the first two books in the series, that's okay. You wont have any problem following the story. But then again, while you're buying this book, get the first two and read them all! And pick up a set for friend. They'll love you for it!… (mehr)