1.
Premise 10
2.
Prose 10
3.
Plot 9
4.
Characters 9
5.
Overall 9
Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)
This is so close to a “10” on
sheer entertainment value. The prose
combines the best elements of sit-com humor, deductive crime reasoning, and
lively description. Any author who can
put together a good story AND make me laugh out loud every few pages is an
author I will want to read again soon.
This is a series, and I started with the first one, but this novel is
number 10 in the sequence and I don’t feel that I have missed a thing. (The love interest in the first book has
become a married couple by this one, but we kind of saw that coming.) The accumulation of clues – a staple of any
mystery – is depicted in original ways, so that we don’t feel we are reading a
formula piece. The Premise is a fun one;
our protagonist has been put upon to organize the annual Christmas parade in
her small town. The description of the
juggling act that this entails is very reminiscent of the parades (and there
are very many) that I have been involved with.
The difference is that this one is happening during the beginning of a
major snow storm. Oh, and there’s a
murder. This setting gets us about
halfway through the book without growing stale; a major feat of story-telling
in itself! If you read mostly for fun,
as I do, pick up some of these Donna Andrews novels with birds in the
titles. Wonderful stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment