Well Read, Then Dead

Title: Well Read Then Dead
Author: Terrie Farley Moran
Published: August 5th 2014 by Berkley
Format: Paperback; Pgs 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Read 'Em and Eat Mystery #1

This book was all over the place. The first book in the new Read Em and Eat Mystery series introduces Sassy Cabot and her best friend Bridgy who are co-owners of a bookstore café on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

When their cook is injured, Aunt Ophie comes to the rescue and helps with the kitchen duties. At the same time, their elderly friend Delia is found dead in her home. Delia’s best friend Augusta Maddox begs Sassy to help discover who is responsible.

Though pulled out from time to time, Delia’s death seems to have been placed on the backburner while Sassy tracks down “wreckers” who are on the island looking for sunken ships, Skully an itinerant artist and handyman that has been seen around Delia home, a resort company that wants Delia’s land and a relentless real estate agent.

Everything eventually ties together, with one very surprising moment, but it is so jumbled and monotonous that I found myself skimming parts and picking up other books before I finished this one.

This is not a new series for me to continue with. I wish others that enjoyed it well, but it was just not for me.

The Blood of an Englishman

Title: The Blood of an Englishman
Author: M.C. Beaton
Published: September 16th 2014 by St Martin's Press Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 294
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Agatha Raisin #25

The author MC Beaton and I are having a bit of a conflict. Her last couple of books have fallen short of the mark for me. I do not know if it is the fact that we have been acquainted for a long time or if Agatha is becoming a stagnant character.

Each book seems to be a remake of the previous. Agatha is bored, Agatha is looking for a man, Agatha is bouncing back and forth between her ex-husband James Lacey and her friend Sir Charles Fraith. Roy pops up from time to time in a costume of sorts that represents his current public relations client, Mrs. Bloxby - the vicars wife is the only one with a clear understanding of the situation, and Bill Wong is still living with his parents.

Then you add in the murder of the week, Agatha will find herself in peril, she will be bailed out and swears that she is getting too old for detective work. Once recovered from her latest calamity, she will fix her make-up, pluck an errant chin whisker and meet a new man that will undoubtedly have a flaw that Agatha just cannot live with. When all is said and done, her house cleaner will return Agatha’s cats to the cottage and a new day will begin.

Granted, this is the 25th book in the series, but I want something new for Agatha, I want her not be as bored with her life as I am at reading it.

Eleanor and Park

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: February 26th 2013 by St. Martin's Press
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 328
Genre: Young Adult

The torment just falls off the page and is as real a character as both Eleanor and Park. Because of that, I do not feel that I could do justice in reviewing this book. I am not sure that everyone will take away the same message from this book, but what it boiled down for me was that Eleanor did not belong. She did not belong with the new family her mother created, she did not belong in her school, she did not belong on the bus, she did not belong anywhere, yet she was determined to hold on to the one place she did belonged and that was with Park.

Even though they were both from the poorer section of town, to Eleanor’s eyes Park had it all. He came from a family. There was food on his table and grandparents next door. People cared about him and he belonged.

Park’s mother summed up the book for me when she said, “that when you come from a large family, there is never enough”. Though Eleanor did not ask for anything, there was never enough for her. She was determined to make Park enough, and Park in return knew that Eleanor was all that he ever wanted. That he would give Eleanor what she needed so that she would no longer feel afraid.

There is your usual teen high school drama, but Eleanor was determined to rise above it, she could handle anything as long as one person was on her side.

Park was forced to grow up quicker then he should, but he was going to be there even if he had to convince his parents not go give up on Eleanor.

Turns out that some of the awfulness that Eleanor was facing was closer to home than either of them thought. Eleanor needed to make a break from that life and if it meant leaving Park behind, then that is what had to be done.

This book is goofy and heartbreaking. It felt a bit voyeuristic to watch the turmoil that was going on but at the same time, I found myself trying to poke at Eleanor’s and Park’s mothers trying to push them to catch a clue as to what was going on.

At the end, my heart was breaking and I kept hoping for that single light at the end of the long tunnel that was Eleanor’s life. I wanted for that one person to reach out to her and say, “It gets better, you belong”. In a twist, it turned out the scared and damaged Eleanor reached back to the one person that was there for her. The one person that would always make her feel as if she belonged.

The Three Sisters: A Whispers Story

Title: The Three Sisters: A Whispers Story
Author: Lisa Unger
Published: January 5th 2015 by Pocket Star
Format: eBook
Genre: Paranormal eNovella
Source: NetGalley and Amazon
Series: The Whispers #3

I am not sure what the purpose of this book was. Designated as the third part of an e-novella, Lisa Unger finishes off a very lackluster installment in the life of psychic sensitive Eloise Montgomery.

There is a very superficial story of three sisters that are somehow related to her and her grand-daughter Finley. The sisters were burned at the stake as witches and their mother is making a ghostly appearance at Eloise’s home in an attempt to warn her to protect Finley since two of the three witch sisters wants to bring evil to her.

All the while, Eloise is stepping over a soggy girl, in spirit form, that has taken up residence on Eloise’s porch. Apparently, this beautiful yet sad girl has committed suicide yet her father wants to blame an ex-lover for his daughter’s death.

This is just a ridiculous novella series that started out well in the first installment and proceeded to deteriorate with the last two. Other than trying to sell her latest book, you see, the end of each novella release is a large advertisement and sample; there was no purpose to the Whisper’s trilogy.