Author: Krista Davis
Published: February 27th 2018
Format: eBook, Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Pen & Ink #1
Since I am a fan of the Domestic Diva series by Krista Davis, I was curious when I saw that she has a new offering that is not animal obsessed (Paws and Claws series). I know, people love their pets, but occasionally cozy mystery writers take the animal part of the genre too far.
From the beginning, I had a hard time getting past the old-fashioned names of lead characters Florrie and shop worker Helen, since the names tend to make the characters sound older than they are. When their actual ages were mentioned, I had to stop and re-read the previous pages to come at them from a different angle.
For the last five years, twenty-eight year old Florrie Fox has managed Color Me Read, a bookstore, in the heart of Georgetown, for the absentminded Professor Maxwell. When she is not answering customer’s queries, she spends her time doodling adult coloring books and still answering to her overprotective parents.
With the offer of housing in the professor’s carriage house, only two blocks from the store, Florrie jumps at the chance to live in the community that she loves. Little did she know that by accepting she was stepping into a family drama and now with “Delbert the awful” dead in the store and the professor accused of his murder, Florrie and a curious band of Maxwell devotees gang together to solve the case before Professor Maxwell is sent away for good.
The story is simple and the characters interesting, but for a first in a series, there were too many to keep track of. I hope that in future installments, Krista Davis will separate Goldblum and Bankhouse a little more, create more conflict with Detective-Sergeant Zielony, and expand upon Maxwell’s kidnapped, and presumed deceased daughter, since everyone can see that there has to be more to that story.
From the beginning, I had a hard time getting past the old-fashioned names of lead characters Florrie and shop worker Helen, since the names tend to make the characters sound older than they are. When their actual ages were mentioned, I had to stop and re-read the previous pages to come at them from a different angle.
For the last five years, twenty-eight year old Florrie Fox has managed Color Me Read, a bookstore, in the heart of Georgetown, for the absentminded Professor Maxwell. When she is not answering customer’s queries, she spends her time doodling adult coloring books and still answering to her overprotective parents.
With the offer of housing in the professor’s carriage house, only two blocks from the store, Florrie jumps at the chance to live in the community that she loves. Little did she know that by accepting she was stepping into a family drama and now with “Delbert the awful” dead in the store and the professor accused of his murder, Florrie and a curious band of Maxwell devotees gang together to solve the case before Professor Maxwell is sent away for good.
The story is simple and the characters interesting, but for a first in a series, there were too many to keep track of. I hope that in future installments, Krista Davis will separate Goldblum and Bankhouse a little more, create more conflict with Detective-Sergeant Zielony, and expand upon Maxwell’s kidnapped, and presumed deceased daughter, since everyone can see that there has to be more to that story.
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