Thursday, June 25, 2015

A Season for Killing Blonds - Blog Tour + Giveaway

A Season for Killing Blondes by Joanne Guidoccio

Rating:
Source: Blog Tour

Description:  Hours before the opening of her new career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the body of golden girl Carrie Anne Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside Gilda's office.  Gilda's life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her former crush conducts the investigation.  When three more dead blondes turn up, all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda's favorite haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders.
Frustrated by Carlo's chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Anne's meddling relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation.  She discovers a gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.
As the puzzle pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront the envy and deceit she has long overlooked (from Goodreads)

Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: The blurb caught my attention.  Is it a serial killer?  And is Gilda really the intended victim?  It raised some questions!

My Impression:  A Season for Killing Blondes would be a perfect book to have out by the pool or relaxing in a hammock.  The characters are lively, the mystery is intriguing, and the pacing on this is flying.  I zipped through the first half in one setting and was entertained the whole time.
 If cozy mysteries had a scale starting with "cutesy" and ending with "how is this considered cozy??"  this would definitely rank way closer to the cutesy side.  It worked with the pace and Gilda's crazy over the top family as well as the antics of the Godfrey sisters.

My main problem was I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight as Gilda's family is large and there seem to be tons of aunts. It felt a little like the reader is dropped into an established series but I don't think that was the case as I couldn't see any earlier books from the series.   The interactions between Gilda, Carlo, Anna May and Jenny Marie all had a juvenile feel to them.  They had all known each other in high school and when they had scenes together it kind of felt like they were in high school instead of in their 40s.

If you're looking for a light, fun read that's perfect to read by the pool A Season for Killing Blondes would be perfect.  While it wasn't perfect it was a lot of fun.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?:  Yes, definitely.  I loved the pacing and the story with this one.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  I think cozy readers would enjoy this.

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Challenges Met?

11 comments:

  1. Now you've got me curious about who is behind the murders in A Season for Killing Blondes. :-) I will have to look for this one.

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    1. It was a fun read though a little too cutesy. Perfect for summer!

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  2. If it's a good mystery you can count me in.. If there are lots of characters then this would be a book I would need to stick with on a constant basis, such as on vacation. When I can't read every night I sometimes lose track for a bit. Nice giveaway,!

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    1. There are a lot of characters though it did get easier as I went along. It's definitely one where focusing on would be good. I do the same thing about forgetting or not really connecting with a book if I go a few days without picking up the book. Sometimes it's no problem but other times it's so confusing!

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  3. I was hooked by the title...lol. :) It's going on the wishlist.

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  4. I am interested in who did it!

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  5. I feel that way sometimes when there are a slew of characters. This does sound good though and I am glad you liked the writing and pacing Katherine.

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  6. I find that with a lot of cozy mysteries - they're not perfect, but usually they're fun reads!

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