Great fun, likeable characters, good plotting
923343
This is the first book I've read by this author and the first book she's written in this series.  The hero/detective is Aggie (short for Agate), the wife of a Unitarian minister who is living in a small Ohio college town with their two school-aged daughters.  Aggie and family life are very much the center of this cozy story.  ALthough life as a minister's wife is not easy -- and more difficult because a wealthy and strong-willed member of the congregation has taken a dislike to husband Ed and wants him gone -- you like the family and enjoy reading about them.  The plot involves Aggie's amateur attempts to solve the mystery of who killed a young woman who is left naked on their doorstep, to be discovered by the Ladies Society on the way to inspect the parsonage grounds.  It turns out husband Ed has been counseling this stranger to town, but he can't reveal what she told him.  Aggie is worried about why this woman's body was left on her doorstep and uses that as a reason for investigating the murder herself, although the good-looking Greek detective investigating on behalf of the police keeps telling her to stay out of it.  Aggie is assisted by her best friend Lucy (whose mother actually named her Lucille Ball).

Is this the best mystery I've read this year?  No, and I had the killer pegged about 2/3 of the way through, but it's quite good and enjoyable reading.  It's the kind of book you can safely give your grandmother or someone who is fairly traditional in taste and dosn't want explicit sex, strong violence, or bad language in their reading, and who wants likeable characters.  I will definitely be reading more as they are published.  The author has published quite a bit in other genres and series, so I suspect we'll hear more about Aggie and her family.
3926155
This is really a fun book. I never quite know what's coming next, and am especially impressed with how Stene handles the logistics of complicated scenes - the face-off at the end, for instance. I was able to visualize the layout really well, and normally I'm not good at that. It's paced very well, and the dynamic between the main characters is such that the overall tone, even when tense, never overwhelms.

The characters are great, too. There's a lot of backstory between Gil and Tyler and it seems like the more you learn about them the more you want to learn about them.

I hope there are more books coming with these guys.
1018468
Like the other Marcus Didius Falco novels I've read (this is the third), the descriptions of everyday life in the various social strata of ancient Rome are fascinating, and Ms. Davis' characters are excellent, with very amusing dialogue.  VENUS IN COPPER once again features a delightfully convoluted plot, replete with lots of bad guys/suspects, all of whom appear to be guilty of something.  Also, the developments in Falco's personal life are a welcome contrast to the mayhem and skulduggery.  All in all, a fun, satisfying read.
3335277
I'm just finishing the eighth book in this series and have enjoyed every one.  These are not the heaviest mysteries in the world, (the author is no John Sanford), but they don't try to be.  The descriptions of life in ethnic Philadelphia are excellent and lots of fun, the stories are interesting, the characters are well developed, Quinn is a great protagonist, and you can read through one of these in about four hours or so.

If you know something about cops, especially Irish cops, and their families, you will enjoy these books even more -- once I finish this series, I'm going to try the other series by this author.
4370028
One of my favorite detectives and an interesting plot with good characters.
3990298
You loved the Olympians series. You were a bit disappointed in Heroes of Olympus, but it had enough of the Riordan/Percy magic that you were happy. Now, we get book two, "The Son of Neptune".

  The good news is that the funny parts are funny, the exciting parts are exciting, and the whole Roman Camp Jupiter works. The transitions back and forth between the Greek and Roman faces of the Gods is handled well. There are some wonderful secondary characters, (Ella the harpy being a good example.) The humor is a little broader in places, but some of it is really laugh-out-loud, which I don't recall being the case in the first series.

  But, be warned. This volume is written in alternating third person chapters from the perspectives of Percy, Hazel and Frank. So while Percy is back, his story is not as immediate or compelling in the third person. And, his whole loss of memory thing can start to get old. There's not too much, but close to too much of the tantalizing almost-memory agonizing.

  And, Frank is a clumsy oaf with self-confidence issues, and Hazel is guilt ridden over a past dangerous mistake. Again, that gets driven home again and again, and the character angst, which just never seems to let up, often threatens to overwhelm the rest of the story, plot and action.

  Because the characters are otherwise generous and brave, because the plot is clever but followable, and because, hey, it's Percy, you will be willing to forgive all of these weaknesses. Just temper your expectations a little.
3183360
The plot develops beautifully, with sharply drawn characters, some new ones as well. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
1623130
I loved this book. The characters, the pace, the plot- so much fun to read.
3956212
"Slide" was a great book. It was a fairly quick read, but I found it a lot of fun. It kept my attention the entire time, and I was excited to figure out the plot -- this is not something I can say for every book.

The characters were interesting and well developed, especially Vee. I liked Mattie and Rollins, and the other supporting characters enough to be satisfied. I felt like I understood Vee's emotions related to the events she was describing, due to Hathaway's apt descriptions.

Plot-wise, the twists were well laid out and there were enough red herrings where I was second guessing my assumptions. I liked how there were "changes" in her ability (I won't spoil how) which gave a real nice element to the book.

I'd certainly consider it one of the better books I've read, especially because it was mildly paranormal without even stressing much about the mystery behind Vee's ability -- I liked that because it kept it light. I like when there can be that "ability" that helps the protagonist solve the murder, without needing to be too serious about why she has it or how.

All in all, I thought it was great although I found the ending was a bit unusual. I'd give it a 9/10 overall, but since it's a 5 star system, I'll go with 4.
4401275
This book's plot's already been reviewed, so I'll just add that it's fun without being fluffy--the characters are well-developed and the plot's full of interesting twists. The "contests" between the prospective brides are great, as is their growing friendship. I have a couple of plot complaints, including one pre-wedding tryst that goes too far, and the fact that one major conflict toward the end is basically swept under the rug, but there's a lot of good stuff here. I'm keeping it.
1554551
Though not quite a 5, this book is easily a 4.5 and it is really well organized, cleverly plotted, and liberally clued.  It is really well written with an enjoyable/interesting group of characters and great descriptions of various locations.  The dialog is generally spirited with only a bit of disbelief and most of the characters are credible.  Actually virtually all the characters are quite likable as well although there are a blackguard or two.  There are a lot of threads in this and each is reasonably well resolved.  This is a more complex story from Ms. Wentworth than many of her mysteries.  I prefer her non Miss Silver titles for many reasons (do we need to have one more description of her appearance and her somewhat faded "spinster clothes" and the jewelry that she wears?) and if would make a wonderful movie!
31465
Entertaining and delightful characters and plot.
669616
The mystery is well paced and engrossing, with a hint thrown into the story early on about the villain.  The characters are believable, and the "good" characters are witty and charming.  It 's a fun read with interesting tidbits about art fraud woven into the story . These authors can be depended on to provide very readable and fun tales.
286736
After reading Fablehaven, I was happy to find and read Beyonders. Despite the fact that Brandon Mull will win little points with originality with the plot, the delivery of what he does bring is good, and at some points nothing less than brilliant. There are some times, however, that things are not executed as well as I'd would like to see.

First off, as an e-book, it's well formatted. I say this because I've downloaded e-books with little thought given to formatting, and I'm glad they went the extra mile for this. I also find no grammar errors.

Onto the meat, the plot of 13-year old Jason being "eaten" by a hippo and landing on the foreign medieval land of Lyrian and finding adventure and peril sound ridiculous and derivative, but, again, Mulls pulls it off primarily by having the characters come to life. It didn't take long to me to find myself in Jason's shoes as he slowly discovers just where he is getting himself into and what does he need to do to help out and at the same time find a way home. Jason is good enough as a main character. He's likeable, fun, and acts like a real human being. He has insecurities, he feels overwhelmed in this new world, and overall reacts reasonably natural to the environment. Many of the other characters are also well developed. Rachel, who also stumbles upon Lyrian, looks strong-willed and driven, but has her own set of insecurities and issues too work out. There's also Galloran, Drake, Tark... and Ferrin. In my opinion, Ferrin is the breakout character in the whole trilogy. Sure, he's an archetype, and actually Brandon Mull brought a similar character in his previous series, Fablehaven, but here it's more in-depth. His spy-posing-as-good-guy-then-turns-back-to-good arc is handled so well, and it keeps you guessing until the very end.

And like that almost every character who carries a large chunk of the plot have good development, with one notable exception. The way Corrine is described and portrayed (beautiful, smart, active, can handle herself in a fight despite having little formal training, can kill creatures 99% of Lyrian can't touch and when she is shaken up she's promptly comforted) basically screams Mary Sue. And she has no true development. It's not as bad as it sounds mainly because he's not often the focus of the scenes she's in.

As I said before, the overall plot, while not dripping with originality, is very good and has some intriguing and exciting plot twists. I cannot explain everything that's good with it, except that a good bunch of it is character driven, so I'm glad the larger part of the characters are interesting and developed. But these a BIG part that irks me, and it's the endings, particularly in books 1 & 2. They feel like the ending of a chapter rather than the ending of a book, and they stink of sequel hook. It was so obvious that I was not excited to see what was next by the end of either book, only mildly curious to see the plot threads resolved. The ending of the third book and the whole story was more satisfactory, but there was one thing that even now, after analyzing it, still feels like the author led us on to a plot point with no payoff. And it wasn't something small, either, because it was brought on multiple times through the trilogy.

Overall it's definitely worth getting and reading for anybody who wants to read a good adventure. Book 1 is more explorative and exciting, book 2 is more character development and the story kinda slows down (and in my opinion, the weakest of the 3) and book 3 is the one that has all the wham moments and payoff. Get it as a set, not only because you'll save money, but because you can actually get the whole picture. I personally might still be musing whether or not to buy book 2 if I had only gotten book 1 and reached that ending.
2511881
fun to read, good plot, good characters, could be improved by fixing the occasional misspelled words, other than that it is good
2401926
I very much enjoyed the first book in this series and was curious to see if this second volume was as interesting and fun as the first. I am happy to report that, at least for me, this book was, if anything, better.

In the first volume of this series we met Stanley Buggles, who is a smart, courageous, inquisitive, and clever hero for whom you are happy to root. The setting, the isolated island of Crampton Rock, is creepy and intriguing, with lots of odd aspects. The supporting characters are sometimes cranky and mysterious, but, (like Mrs. Carelli the housekeeper), can also be warm and supportive in caring for Stanley. Stanley now has a friend in town, spirited, stout-hearted and reliable Daisy. She participates extensively in all of the adventures, and that has opened up the narrative a bit.

The plot of the first book, which then arcs through the whole series, involves Stanley's great-uncle Admiral Bartholomew Swift, (from whom Stanley inherited Candlestick Hall, the Crampton Rock mansion), and a valuable amulet that was hidden by great-uncle Bartholomew. Dastardly villains, mostly in the form of pirates, want the amulet and presumably the treasure to which it points, and everyone's looking for a map or at least a clue to its location. Inconveniently, great-uncle Bartholomew is at the outset a headless ghost, and so not much of a source of guidance or aid.

Each book seems to involve a further step or two toward locating the treasure, and each is a distinct episode in the ongoing battle between Stanley and the baddies to get to it first. In this book, we have two resurrected ghostly pirates closing in on Crampton Rock in search of the magical medallion.

This is a quirky sort of book in that distinctive English kids' book way. The hero has a bit of a poor urchin triumphing over adversity vibe. There are odd bits of magic that drift around the story. (For example, the talking stuffed fish is very helpful.)  The villains are very villainous, as though English authors know and believe that even quite young kid readers can tolerate a little more dangerous thrill than they are given credit for. The atmosphere of the settings is appropriately threatening and gloomy. (Is all of England haunted coast, haunted moor, or haunted houses?)

The overall effect is one of jaunty dread. By that I mean the weather is gloomy, there are threatening ghostly figures, there is menace and the hero often finds himself in tight spots. Yet there is always a sense that good will win out and that pluck will be rewarded. As one consequence of this mixture you get a lot of what would pass as middle grade gallows humor, and there is a fair amount of sly, deadpan throwaway humor.

The upshot is that these books are cheerfully wicked and definitely weird, but in a solid, good-humored sort of way. A ripping contribution to filling that fourth to sixth grade gap, where readers are beyond chapter books but maybe not up to full middle grade speed. A nice find.

Please note that I found this book while browsing library goodies. I received no freebies and have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
3578
This series is so much fun! I like the premise of the stories themselves, but I also really like the main character. She is young and therefore naive, but you can see her learning and growing along the way. She is not stupid, but she does make bad decisions from time to time. She is respectable, and dictates her own terms for her life and job as Hel's liaison. Not sure if there will be more, but this is a series I would keep reading.