Today's book off my TBR shelf is from one of my favorite series. It's set in a little town in Maine where textile designer Avery and her now husband Derek buy in flip houses. There's always a little history mixed in as the architecture and design style of the house are always discussed. In this book it's a Craftsman-style bungalow but it's ranged from 60s rancher to Colonial farmhouse. The main flaw with this series is that it suffers from what I like to call Jessica Fletcher Syndrome. Did anyone watch Murder She Wrote? When I was in college pre-DVR/Netflix days it seemed like it was being played 24 hours a day on some channel or another. Mystery author Jessica Fletcher was always surrounded by dead bodies. If she went out of town someone was killed, if she stayed in her small Maine town someone was killed. One would think they'd have to repopulate the town once a year as at least once a month they had at least 1 murder victim and one murderer. I always thought it was entertaining that no one ever mentioned it. "Oh George? Yeah he bought the grocery store after Joe was murdered. Joe bought it from Tom who ended up murdering Steve who owned the restaurant." Anyway, this series suffers from this as they're stumbling over bodies left and right in this small Maine town (maybe it's a Maine town thing? Maybe they have a really high crime rate that I don't know about?). Anytime Avery and Derek renovate a house they always find a body. But I love the series enough that I'm okay with it. I'll just chalk it up to Maine being especially violent!
Rating: 3.5
Source: Purchased
Description: Avery Baker now Ellis and her husband Derek are thrilled when they get the chance to restore an untouched Craftsman bungalow. While it needs work done nothing had been changed since it's original design. There are a few challenges - one of them being that they have to get their Victorian ready for the Christmas tour, another being that one of the previous owners keeps showing up at the house in the middle of the night thinking she still lives there and the third problem involves the contents of a crate stored in the very back of the attic. The contents just happen to be the skeletal remains of a human infant. (If you read the teaser last Friday this was what she screamed about).Avery can't relax until she discovers the identity of the baby and if the Silva family is as sinister as they seem.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: I started with the first in the series and new releases have been auto-buys since then.
My Impression:
Pros: Any book that involves a character looking through old newspapers at a library or historical society is probably going to be a book I like. The historical tie ins both to the house and to the decades old infant were really interesting and are really the type of mystery I love. I liked Avery and that she has her own skills to bring to the restoration. Derek and Avery's relationship is sweet and I think it's cute how proud of her he is. While I guessed parts of the mystery I didn't guess all the details and it was fun to watch it unravel.
Cons: I don't like how dense Derek is about Melissa. I'm glad her character plays a much smaller part in this book. I'd be happy if she disappeared completely. Avery suffers from some serious busybody syndrome at times. I do like that her friends call her on it though. I question the reasons behind the mystery. I had a hard time the bad guy would've have acted the way he did.
Overall Impression: This is definitely a cozy but for the the historical aspects keep it from being to cutesy. I like the characters with a few exceptions. The mystery is decent and the writing is good. Overall, this is a fun cozy mystery read!
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes of course!
Would I Recommend this Book?: I think any cozy mystery lover, especially one who loves a little history mixed in with their mystery, would enjoy this one.
I've got this series on my wish list to try. It sounds like a fun one. I love it when books include historical tie ins.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a fun series. The mystery isn't always flawless but I always love the history part.
DeleteLOL, I love that you want a character to just disappear. I am with you on the research and historical aspects..those always excited me in a story!
ReplyDeleteMelissa is awful and unnecessarily so. Isn't research great! I love when they start looking at old newspapers!
DeleteI have this series on my TBR. It looks good.
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed this series! Great characters and the history is always interesting even when the mystery isn't perfect.
DeleteOMG, Jessica Fletcher! I always wondered about that town,. But, many of the dead people came from out of town. Not all, I grant you, but many.
ReplyDeleteI may give the first book in this series a try, if my library has it.
Give it a try. It's definitely a cozy but the history is really fun.
DeleteI had forgotten how many of the victims were visitors. That must have been fun for the tourism board to work around!
The series sounds fun, and your description of Jessica Fletcher Syndrome had me laughing out loud. I watched the show sometimes, and I used to think if I ever saw her coming, I would run for the hills - people have a bad habit of turning up dead around her.
ReplyDeleteI know! People fell over dead all around her but nobody really seems to notice. I know it's fiction but thinking about it always makes me laugh a little. I would definitely sprint in the opposite direction if I saw Jessica coming.
DeleteI've read a previous book from this series and enjoyed it. I like that this one mixes in some history too!
ReplyDeleteI think this is one of my favorite books from the series so far. I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteSounds good to me, despite Jessica Fletcher syndrome--an aside, when my parents were older and homebound more than usual, they used to watch Murder, She Wrote *constantly*. Having to hear my Mom give a synopsis of each episode, which all sounded the same to me, killed any enjoyment I might have had for the show.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think I would read and enjoy this series. Sorry for those who have heard this for the 1000 time, but I used to live in Maine and enjoy books set there (and no, the crime rate is very low, more stolen bicycles than dead bodies found there).
Now that I think about it they were pretty much the same. Someone around Jessica dies. Jessica solves crime by some random clue that the police missed tada the end! Fun to watch not so fun to hear I would think.
DeleteThis is a fun series. While the mystery generally isn't flawless the setting and characters have enough going for them that it makes up for it - at least for me! I think you might enjoy the mentions of the area as well. I am relieved to know that I won't likely be murdered when I visit though I think I will avoid any town that has a mystery writer just in case!
This sounds like a series that I would enjoy! I definitely am going to have to check out the first book. Great review!
ReplyDeleteIt's a fun series just don't expect the mystery to be perfect. For me the history makes up for it!
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