Linda Kozar

A friend (CC) recently sent me books from a different Annie's Fiction series (Secrets of the Castleton Manor Library). I enjoyed those and went to Half Price Books to see if they had any later ones in the series. They didn't but they did have a number of books from this series--Creative Woman Mysteries. It sounded interesting so I bought what they had.

This is book 1 in the series. It starts in Scotland where widow Shannon McClain gets a letter informing her she is to inherit her maternal grandmother's house and business, but only if she goes to Apple Grove, OR. If she fails to show up there, her inheritance will go to other family members. Shannon and her friend Colleen make plans to travel to Oregon.

Shannon knows very little about her mother because her mother left the family when Shannon was young and her father rarely talked about her mother.

Shannon receives threatening messages and odd things happen. But good things happen too. Shannon meets relatives and friends of her grandmother. Her grandmother's craft business seems a perfect fit for Shannon (less the abrasive store manager).

I didn't guess who was behind the threats. That's my norm, so your experience may vary. I do plan to read other books in this series.… (mais)

puntastic, verbal-humor, situational-humor, friendship, cozy-mystery, Texas, laugh-riot, small-town

Hard to focus on the mystery with all the one-liners and verbal slapstick going on!
Not a criticism!
The two besties live in small town Texas and always have the most *interesting* adventures. The publisher's blurb covers a lot so I don't have to. Loved it!
Narrator Michelle Babb certainly makes everything bounce along, but I really don't know how she can do this performance without cracking up!… (mais)

Disclaimer #1: I was given the Audible version of this book by the narrator Michelle Babb for my honest review.

Disclaimer #2: I’ve not read or heard any of the other books in the series

Ok so I waited a few days to write this review because after I finished the book my first thought was “Thank God that’s over.” Luckily for the book, I was driving and couldn’t immediately rate it. I decided to rate it 3 stars because I could tell there is an audience for this series but I’m not it versus other books that are just plain nonredeemable.

For me, I didn’t really like many of characters and being from a small town in Texas I got a busy-body feel from the two main characters which I know is a pretty standard trait in cozy mystery heroines but it stuck out in the book. I also felt like the author used way too much slang to the point some of the characters were stereotypes and it honestly was very distracting. There were a lot of subplots and the overall mystery was solved fairly early and the rest of the book just dragged on and since I wasn't invested in the characters the last few chapters after the final “bad-guy” showdown were just unnecessary.

The book did have some very funny moments and I liked the two main characters husbands. The book did a good Texas vibe versus Southern because there is a difference. Anyway like I said probably good book for someone but not me.

Now on to the good part, I absolutely loved Michelle Babb’s voice and narration. Her character voices were believable and the transitions between characters were smooth. As a native small-town Texas lady, her characters actually sounded like Texans. I would love for her to have done more cozy mysteries and would most definitely listen to other books she has done.… (mais)