There have been other Madeline Dare books that I have not read, but I will be searching them out when our library reopens.

Madeline is a stay-at-home mother with one-year-old twin girls, while her husband Dean travels extensively for work. The story starts as a caustically funny motherhood tale as Madeline adjusts to their new community of Boulder and tries to find friends among the New Age granola-ish mothers of Colorado. When she finally is hired to write restaurant reviews and the occasional news piece for a local free paper, it is a welcome opportunity to talk to adults again. One of her first assignments is profiling Mimi, the local fire investigator working on a string of arsons. Mimi becomes a friend, and Madeline becomes more involved in the arson investigation. Is this going to become a crime novel? Well, somewhat, but there is more than enough in the motherhood/friendship/marriage components of Madeline's story to keep the reader fascinated.

I found Madeline to be a remarkably well-developed heroine. Her voice was true, her situations funny but recognizable by most mothers, and her heartbreaks revealed honestly without cloying sentimentality. I want Madeline for my best friend.

Recommended. ( )

Sigh, no stars because I quit barely into the second chapter. I had hoped I wouldn't get as critical and unaccepting in my "old age" as my parents were, but the world has changed and I haven't. The frequency of crude language just irritated me. And the minute to minute details of taking care of twins wasn't very interesting. I thought I could get beyond all of the "sh*t" and "f**k" - until the protagonist casually used these words when speaking to her mother in front of her children. That's when I quit.

Author: Cornelia Read
Published By: Grand Central Publishing
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 5

Review:

"Valley Of Ashes" by Cornelia Read was a really excellent mystery read. This novel had my attention from the first page and didn't lose any of it until the last word. I really enjoy this fourth book in the Madeline Dare series in that it brought the reader some fun, dark but yet a well written and even a personal read. For these two people...Dean and Madeline (Maddie/or Bunny) you would have thought that they had it all but that was not the case...for they had two only daughters (twins)..around one, a home that was 'perpetual mess,' money was tight, and a good night of sleep often was out of the question. Then, Madeline is offered a job at the local newspaper as a freelancer where she would critic restaurants. It was then that Madeline gets interested in a series of fires around the area...that come very close in that this story will reveal a series of arson attacks that blows up and the far-reaching effects will lead directly to the front door of Madeline and Dean. This is where I say you must pick up "Valley Of Ashes" to see what mystery comes from this excellent read. "Valley Of Ashes will have a very intriguing ending that will only leave you saying Wow.... I didn't set that coming! And the characters were all so well developed with a 'real psychological insight' only making this read more of a good mystery.

If you are looking for a good mystery that has marriage problems,young ones,feeling isolated in a new city, fires being set and even murder... you have come to the right place because "Valley Of Ashes" will take you there...and YES,I would recommend this novel as a excellent read. ( )

I haven't read a Cornelia Read book since the first entry in the Madeline Dare series. Maddie is still sharp-tongued and funny but now she's the harassed mother of twins and her previously good husband has turned into a total jerk. Instead of fighting back, she morphs into a self-deprecating "little wife", blaming herself for her husband's awful behavior. Read starts off with a series of arsons but the whole story line is dropped abruptly in the middle of the novel. Then, it's all about Maddie and her awful life. The book falls apart in the last few chapters and Maddie's reaction to the final, unexpected event is offensively overblown (hard to explain without a spoiler) - much like Maddie's wise-cracking wit which is a lot funnier and more effective when used sparingly. And isn't 30-something Madeline Dare a little old to be calling people "dude"? 4 stars for the first half of the book; 2 stars for the second half. ( )

This is Cornelia Read's fourth book in her Madeline Dare series, and like the previous 3, it's keeping me up late turning pages. I'm also very fond of Madeline. She's not an obnoxious super-mom: she's just a hard worker who is doing her best while trying to find her purpose. Ms. Read is an excellent storyteller. Her prose is smart and witty, and her characters are straight-talking. I enjoy spending time with them. The plot is not contrived but it's very engaging because it's set in the not-too-distant past and feels like something I could have experienced.

Ms. Read outdid herself in this story. The characters exhibited such emotional depths that my heart went out to them...and to their author. Their anguish continues to haunt me, even after finishing the book. I can't wait for the next installment. ( )