Angie M.

Historical mystery with a twist

Revisado: 04-28-24

I guess I've become do used to characters in regency and historical mysteries being so proper and class being so much a part of the story. in this novel, the women are all independent and capable. The men are accepting and it isn't a drawn out issue. This is the first book in the series and I will be reading the next.

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Not as good as the first of the series

Revisado: 08-18-18

The first book in this series was pretty good. I though I had found a new series to read. But this book was barely a two star read.

In the first book. Abi had inherited Abbey Glen which distills fine whiskey. In the first book we meet Grant, Patrick, a local policeman, and a host of interesting locals. It was a good book and I could see lots of ways to go foward. Turning Abi into an idiotic fan girl of an aging rocker wasn't one of those stories I envisioned.

Nows Abi is supposed to be a legendary photographer who has traveled the world, photographer fire, famine, and more famous people than any other living photographer. However she meets an aging rocker from the 80s and turns into mush for the rest of the book. Abi became part fan girl part groupie. When potential love interest, Grant calls her on her behavior, she blows him off. Then gets jealous when he notices a beautiful woman who is nice to him.

Oh and someone is killing off the members of the band, but none of them we meet for more than a conversation and then they die.It was hard to care and even harder to keep track of characters who die before the book started. None of them were more than cookie cutter cardboard.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Very good first book, but a bit drawn out

Revisado: 08-18-18

I'm aways looking for new series mysteries, I also have a love for the Scottish Highlands. This book tells the story of a would be romance writer who inherits her uncle's distillery in Scotland. Of course she's an outsider and unpopular in the beginning,

Then there's a murder and she, the local police, her uncle's partner, and most of the village set about solving the death of a local lad. Took a while to get going, but a solid mystery with several threads that at first seem unrelated, but eventually all come together to solve this mystery and set up several new one for the next book.

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Loved the narrator, disliked the main character

Revisado: 08-02-18

I normally steer clear of first person books, but the premise sounded good. About half way through I started checking time left on the book because it felt like I had spent 10 hours already. The biggest problem was that the main character was so very self centered. In the first chapters , a man's funeral is irritating to her because she was forced to listen to bagpipes. Hello you are in Scotland. Then a very popular man's murder is an inconvenience and causes her writer's block even though she pushes herself into the investigation and clearly thinks she knows more than the police about crime. And there is nothing in the story to indicate she is actually an author, She talks repeatedly about writing hot sex scenes, but little about the actual book.

At one point she questions a lawyer's ability to practice law while admitting she knows nothing about Scotland's laws. She repeatedly says that Scottish accents sound like a foreign language and wonders why they can't talk better. She's the very definition of an ugly American.

The story is pretty good and the murderer isn't readily apparent. The police inspector is very competent and seemed much more interesting than Eden. He doesn't treat her badly and is open to all information. I liked some of the other characters but they weren't well developed. Why did the inn owner drink all the time? Why did his daughter stay even though she wanted to go? Why did the volunteer officer fight so hard to keep his position? None of those questions were answered, The characters were thinly drawn. If the inspector or the American heiress been the main character the story would have been 10 times better.

At one point while the police are investigating all aspects of the murder and an arson, Eden declares, "Finding the truth is all up to me." I laughed out loud and switched the speed to 2x to get it over with

Oh and the author did very little research on Scotland. Even I know that the Loch Ness monster doesn't live in a river. A loch is a lake. Also. everything is beautiful, breathtaking, and lovely without no real description of the area.

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Boring, Dull, and predictable

Revisado: 03-29-18

I really love what I call House mysteries. Those occur in a house, usually over a holiday, and throw a group of people together. However, this group was dull to the extreme,A house party given at Christmas should be joyous and uplifting yet it was dreary with characters who talked in riddles and seemed to be only there to fill out the story,

The murder was almost an after thought and no one seemed upset. I honestly knew who did it by the half way point. The how and why were the only mystery, In the end the how was not feasible and the why was not very realistic.

The worst part was the main character and amateur detective is in the vein of Hercule Poirot, with his slow, plodding methodology, but none of his flare or reasoning.

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Detailed WWII story that everyone should read

Revisado: 01-09-18

When most Americans talk about WWII they discuss Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the bombs dropped on Japan. Most don't have much knowledge of the war in Italy, Africa, Russia, and the rest of Europe.

This book tells the story of 500 or so allied aviators who were shot down in Yugoslavia. They were saved by local Serbians who put their own lives at risk help these men. Many locals went hungry so these men could eat. They risked it all to get word to the Allies about the location of these soldiers. There are many shades of gray in this story with Serbian leaders playing both sides to keep their people safe. The Serbs were viewed by many allied leaders as complicit with the Nazis, The reality was more complex. Their country had been invaded and was under German control. The people were living hand to mouth and had to do whatever they could to stay under the Nazi radar.

The rescue plan was daring and more than a little unbelievable. The bravery of the shot down pilots, the men leading the rescue, the pilots attempting to fly them out, and the local civilians is hard to comprehend. It is very sad that they Serbs received little to no recognition for the part they played in this part of history.

I loved this book and recommend it to anyone interested in little known history.

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Not really a mystery in my opinion

Revisado: 12-02-17

I really do enjoy these books and may continue to read them. The characters are interesting and the setting is different, The down side is the mystery.

Evan Evans is a local constable in Wales. He is happy with his life and much in demand as a potential husband by several women and their families. He enjoys hiking the mountains and walking his beat through the peaceful town.

An elderly gentleman is killed one night on his way home from the local pub, a few days later another man is shot and killed. Are they connected? Who had a motive to kill either? For over 6 hours there is little info about who could have done the murders, except one character who is a obvious suspect and just as clearly innocent.

Then in the last two chapters, the entire story is wrapped up with information that wasn't even hinted at during the story. I like trying to solve mysteries as I read them. This one however gave no information about the victims to figure out who did it.

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Very good book, but a bit shallow

Revisado: 07-30-17

The best part of this book is Marshall Trueblood acting as a defense council in a trial brought by Aunt Agatha. As always Merlrose Plant is a delight and the scenes he is in are very good and interesting.

I am however growing weary of Richard Jury and his long list of women, all of whom have secrets, are unattainable, and generally make him look a fool.

The mystery is pretty good, but I actually was disappointed at the culprit.

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Just not for me

Revisado: 03-05-17

I read/listen to lots of mysteries and police procedurals, so I am always looking for new authors. A huge bonus is if these authors have series books. Whenever I look at authors such as Lee Child or Robert Crais, I always get results that say I'll like the Box books, So I thought I'd give him a try.

The book is good and well written. But it was too slow moving and I just couldn't get invested in the characters. I normally listen during my 30 minute commute and lunch. With most books I find myself dreading having to stop or taking the long way home.

With Open Season, I found myself having to backtrack because I zoned out. The last third of the book was by far the best part, but it came too late for me to really care.

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Great beginning to a new series

Revisado: 03-05-17

A billionaire is found dead on the tilt a whirl in a sleepy sea-side town. It is witnessed by his young daughter and is bloody and a huge scandal for the town leaders.

Enter part time police officer Danny Boyle and his former special forces partner John Ceepak. Ceepak is by the book and very serious. Danny, who narrates, is young, naive, and not very worldly.

They get to work trying to figure out who could want the victim dead and how reliable the victim's daughter's recount is. They both bring their strength to bear. Ceepak sees things others don't and Danny the local boy knows everyone and can tap into the local gossip.

This story was funny, often discomforting, and the final; resolution was very well done. I have already downloaded the next book.

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