Better as a romance than as a mystery
926725
Was able to set it down but definitely not a yawner. Better as a romance than as a mystery.
3630284
When a Lady Dare is well-written, but just did not strike me as being a romance. There are times I struggled to stay with it due to a bit too much head conversation occurring rather than romancing.  There is a lot of flirting, but not with any real meaning.  Sophie is an undercover agent for the crown who works as a newspaper reporter as her cover.  In this book, the newspaper reporter is undercover as a  assistant to a medium to solve several suicides that may really be murders.  Gavin is trying to solve the death of a close friend.  All of it connected to the man for whom Sophia is working to try to get information.

Gavin is a profession who goes to the medium because he believes his friends death is connected to the medium.  So, he claims to be wanting to connect to his dead father to find a treasure, but is really investigating the medium and his beautiful helper, Sophie.  There are a lot of secrets and twists and attacks that keep you wondering what is going to happen next.  I just kept wishing for more meat and for it to happen more quickly.

I read Tara Kingstons The Highlander Who Loved Me and loved it.  When a Lady Dares just is not the same level of writing and wit between main characters.  So, I will not judge Ms. Kingstons work by this one book.
3153979
Trying to mix romance with mystery and not doing a very good job.  Having a hard time holding my interest.
4964502
When Winter Ashburn finds herself talking to a toff in a stable whilst pilfering from his saddlebags, little does she realise that a few hours later she will be nursing him back to health from a serious head wound. Rory Jameson, the rake who is also the Earl of Huntington, is planning to pay a short visit to his grandfather and then get on with life.

But Rory and Winter have some kind of connection and Rory finds himself drawn into helping renew the estate, as well as seeing more of Winter. But there are people about who have nefarious plans, there are secrets from the past and someone may be trying to stop Rory.

This book was an oddly disjointed read with the narrative flow rather lacking. We mostly followed the story from Winter's eyes, occasionally jumping to Rory's point of view, but the stuttering nature of the tale made it hard to keep interested. The title seems rather a misnomer as the story took place in a small village near Henley and not in London and our characters regularly spoke American rather than the English of the 1870s. They also had, rather surprisingly, a sighting of an animal which is not native to Europe (a Groundhog) and likened a group of people to 'chickadees', a name for a bird not used in Europe (we would call the bird a 'tit'). The author's research has clearly let her down here.

The mystery part of the book was revealed in the last few pages in a rather awkward way - but then I wasn't entirely convinced by the plots anyway. The central romance was believable between these two mercurial characters but by the end of the book I didn't really care that much for them.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book  Helen Hancox 2008
1837192
I was immediately drawn to this book for its premise-a murder mystery in a Downton Abbey-esque setting featuring not only a dashing detective but an American visitor, a beautiful and whip-smart love interest named Madeline. (Those who know me will understand why.)

My ultimate reaction, however, was very mixed.

Though there was an early twist that completely undid my preconceived notions as to the story's direction, the mystery was slow to take off and slow to develop.

While I liked the Madeline and Drew characters quite a bit, I was less enthusiastic, about their "spiritual" roles: with Madeline as the believer and Drew the skeptic who needed, for his own good, to be set straight, theologically speaking. I do acknowledge that many readers will welcome this element within the pages of a Christian mystery novel, but to me it distracted from the story and made some interactions between these characters less than believable.

Though the mystery was well drawn with plenty of satisfying turns, and the dialogue and characters reflected the era, for my taste this story lacked the edginess I've come to expect and enjoy in a British murder mystery.

Thanks to Bethany House for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.
2476064
Kidnapped when she was two, Olivia Sealy has no memory of her captivity or the murder of her parents. Raised by her grandfather, her entire life has been devoted to catering to him, occasionally at the risk of her own happiness. When the skeletal remains of a 2 year old girl is found in a wall and has a third thumb like other members of the Sealy family, Olivia is forced to question whether or not the right child was returned to the Sealy family. Heading the investigation is Dallas Detective Trey Bonney, Olivia's first love whom she dumped to appease her grandfather since Trey was from the wrong side of the tracks.

But who is the child in the wall, and what is her relationship to Olivia? Only a DNA test will shed light on the convoluted situation. When attempts are made on Olivia's life, it is Trey who steps in to protect her, providing the opportunity both need to reconnect.

While the plot was intriguing, McCall's execution was below average. The dialogue was pretty hokey - Olivia is nearly 30, yet talks like woman twice her age (with the exception of calling her grandfather "grampy"). The big mystery of the kidnapper's identity is pretty easy to guess, and ultimately plot points introduced were never fully developed or concluded. However, the romance is written well, the main protagonists have obvious chemistry. McCall has written better (check out "Perfect Lie").
3607565
I love historical mysteries and Victoria Thompson did a great job writing about the time period. However, I solved the mystery less than halfway through the book and it became frustrating for me to get through the rest of the book as Detective Malloy and Sarah seemed to miss some very obvious clues. I'm usually not good at solving mysteries and part of my enjoyment is being surprised by the ending. All in all, for me, the book was enjoyable as a period study but disappointing as a mystery.
4613734
The author Fran Orenstein favors long descriptive sentences.  His dark gray suit jacket hung over the back of the chair, and his muscles bulged under the long sleeves of his button-down white shirt as he lifted the cup to his lips.  This snippet will give you a sense of her writing voice. The writing was professionally edited.

This book was given to me by the author to write an honest review.  It was presented to me as a mystery.  Ive been into mysteries since I could read. I enjoy everything in that genre from Agatha Christie to Sue Grafton. I even enjoy Eric Garcias Anonymous Rex which some might say was detective meets science fiction.  When the book arrived and I saw the cover I suspected there was going to be a good deal of romance involved.  Many a mystery has a romance component between the characters so cup of tea by my side, I started reading.

I feel mystery readers will be disappointed that the main character never sees a crime scene, never questions suspects, and doesnt outline others motives or alibis.  The classic definition of a mystery is that the protagonist solves a crime.  This novella does foreshadow that the main character Lily will find herself in trouble, but I see that as more a suspense or thriller category.  So for me it felt like a romance novel that had a danger element.  For the mystery reader wanting to solve the puzzle of the crime before the detective does, they may be saddened by the coincidences and a lack of the main character driving the action.

Since I don't read in the romance genre, I feel at a loss to evaluate that portion of the novella.
4151521
The story, Hawthorne's second, is a romantic mystery that takes place in a battered seven gable house in a small New England town. It begins with a complicated and top-heavy backdrop. At its center is the socially prominent Pyncheon family. The Pyncheons are a family that holds many dark, mysterious and often deadly secrets -- not the least of them being that 150 years earlier, the land on which the house of the seven gables was built, was actually swindled away from its rightful owner, Matthew Maude, by the locally prominent Colonel Jaffery Pyncheon. After the "good colonel" had swindled away the land, he then promptly (and conveniently) proceeded to have Maude executed for practicing witchcraft - an easy charge for a prominent citizen to level against someone of lesser status at the time. However, from the scaffold, Maude placed a curse on the entire Pyncheon family, and the plot of the story is launched. The rest of the story is primarily about both the unfolding of the deadly secrets of the Pyncheon family, and the effects of the curse that Maude had placed upon them, get played out.

Colonel Pyncheon was so unfazed by the promised curse that he brazenly hired to build (on the land he had just swindled from his father) Maude's son as his carpenter. Well, he "shouldn't have oughta" done that because true to the curse, at the house warming the "good Colonel" is found dead sitting at his desk. To add more intrigue to an already galloping mystery, the Colonel had also left a will with directions to a deed for a giant tract of land somewhere in Maine.

With this dense backdrop the prologue ends and sets up a complicated pretext for the second act of the story, which begins with Hepzibah, an old maid and one of the few remaining heirs to the now dwindling Pyncheon fortune as she opens up a penny store on the ground floor of the house of the seven gables. Finally waking up to her diminished social condition, becoming a shop operator was her last resort way of trying to "make ends meet."

The rest of the story and its intertwined intrigues, unfold within the store and with the tenants of the house being at its center. The Maude's curse continues to bring bad luck to the Pyncheon household, culminating in Jaffery Pyncheon II's alleged murder by his young nephew, Clifford. After spending 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Clifford, the last of the Pyncheons still possessing first hand knowledge of the complicated set of family secrets, returns to the house, to be cared for by his elder sister.

Everyone thinks Clifford knows where the deed is, including his uncle who stalks the returned prisoner for his hidden secrets. But the deed is never found and the uncle, like his father, is found dead sitting at the same desk as his dead father was found. Hepzibah and Clifford abandon the house for a time but return in time for Phoebe and Hargrove (a photographer and tenant), to wed. This wedding appeared to be the cathartic medicine needed to rid the house of its evil spirits. Yet, Phoebe and her new husband chose to move the family away from the cursed home, and they (apparently) lived happily ever afterwards.

The moral of the story is that the sins of one generation can live on to infect subsequent generations. Or said differently, the sins of the father will always revisit the sons of subsequent generations. This was a much too long and too complicated and illogical novel for my taste. Three stars
2372841
I was excited to have a recommendation for a nice British cozy with just a touch of romance. I was wary about the nearly thirty-year age difference between the main characters and my wariness was proved correct. Instead of a mystery to sink into, Ice Blue reads like a typical romance novel with the much older, wealth aristocrat male and the younger, commoner female. This plotline is similar to historical wherein the wealthy older Duke breaks all social rank to marry his governess.

However, I did like Anthony Hetheridge refined, intelligent character.  His character, likely due to his age and experience, was very well developed. Which is why I could hardly suspend my belief that he would be interested Kate whose messy family life includes having the responsibility of an adult, mentally challenged brother and nephew abandoned by her drug-addicted sister and on top of all that drama, Kate is pregnant by her loser ex-boyfriend. If I had to read one more scene where Kate is checking her cotton thongs for menstrual blood I thought Id gag. This plotline was similar to typical historical romance plotlines wherein the noble aristocrat Lord Hetheridge offers marriage to the over-wrought Kate after she blurts out her secret following tragic news. Unplanned pregnancies in modern times with birth control is such a clich&eacute;d plot device for manufacturing conflict.

I don't mind the series being a light-weight mystery, I wasn't looking for brevity when I bought this book. However, I was disappointed that so much of the story focuses on the personal lives of the characters. Also the secondary characters, especially Beepal, are rather bland, and stereotypical. I want to give the series a fair chance and since this first book was free on Kindle, I will read one more book in the series before deciding whether to continue with the series or letting it go.
841426
I liked the characters. But guessed the killer right away and never considered another suspect.  Plot was more involved with romance than mystery.
4507811
I really enjoy paranormal mysteries and was excited to find this new series.  A newly divorced mom and her 9 year-old daughter move into an historic mansion with the intention of renovating and turning it into a guest house.  It's not long before they tangle with the dead residents of the house; 2 ghosts who are trapped on the property after their alleged double-suicide.  This dilemma is compounded with a fair number of suspicious characters interested in the house and looking to get their hands on something hidden somewhere in it.  Our single mother has to get to the bottom of 2 mysteries; who killed the ghosts and what treasure is hidden somewhere on her property?

It's a light read and moves fast.  I found it was only so-so on the mystery meter and very light on the ghost story.  My guess is we will learn more about the ghost in coming books, so I would recommend this as a nice diversion when you don't want anything too intense.
3700433
I bought this book thinking it was a mystery with a little romance thrown in.  After reading it, I consider it to be a romance novel with a little mystery thrown in.  Not my kind of book, but if you like both romance and mystery, it could work for you.  It was well written and and interesting story and I was captivated enough to read it through the end.  It is about a woman who loses her fiance right before her wedding day under mysterious circumstances and her efforts to find out what happened.  It takes place mostly in Los Gatos, California and partly in Mexico.  There are also threads of the story relating to building back a life after a tragedy and establishing a successful restaurant.
350551
This book is a fast read and a relatively good mystery. I have read several of Sandra Brown's romantic-suspense novels and have become a fan of this genre. The story line moves along quickly and has similarities to a made for TV movie. Since Sandra usually draws me in quickly and makes me really like and empathize with the main characters, this novel disappointed in that aspect. I had a little trouble believing the "love at first sight" element of this book. For me, the characters were not well enough developed to find their strong emotional ties believable after only a few brief encounters. It is obvious that Hammond and Alex were both very conflicted, but how did they fall in love when they barely knew each other - lust yes, but love? ...And for being a big city prosecutor, Hammond sure seemed to signal his emotions frequently  - maybe that was a fraility in his otherwise "alpha male" persona! The other discrepancy that I couldn't understand was what kept Hammond in a prior one year relationship with the other female character in this book (a truly obnoxious person) when Alex was the complete opposite. The ending was a surprise, which is good because I thought I had it figured out. Not a bad read, but Witness and French Silk are better.
1773221
small spoilers

I knew what I was buying,  and didn't expect great art.  I just wanted something frothy to while away an hour or two. And this is a sweet enough book,  our hero is suitably stoic and sexy,  (and the sheriff,  alliteration all round!) and our heroine has a great reason for all her secrets.  It just wasn't as engaging as I had hoped.  I frankly didn't care about who cooked the books (all puns intended) and having a local mystery piled on top of the mystery of Carly herself just felt a bit belabored.

If you want a zany mystery romance,  Jenny Crusie does it better&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Agnes-and-the-Hitman/dp/B000UZQGXK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Agnes and the Hitman</a>
834977
I'm wavering between three and four stars. This was a pretty good mystery, though I figured out key elements of the solution quite early in the book. The detective was not particularly original (a widower who can't settle down is a private eye cliche).

The author didn't convince me that the story really was taking place shortly after the American Revolution, even with all of the harnessing and unharnessing of the hero's long-suffering horse. (An anachronism early in the book, where the spring house was described as being cool "in the fifties" as if Fahrenheit thermometers were in common use, broke the illusion for me.) The author could have included a little bit of 18th century language, especially forms of address, without slowing down her story.

I would have given this book 4 stars if it had included a map. Geographic relationships were prominent in the plot, and figuring out where things were diminished my enjoyment of the story a lot.

The author did a good job of depicting life in the Shaker community as seen by a skeptic, but she omitted any mention of the hero's own religious background or views. In New England in the 18th century, he would definitely have had a strong religious element in his upbringing, for better or worse. so this omission is puzzling. It is true that the Shakers were detested and even persecuted by many mainstream New Englanders; the records of the local Shaker community in my part of Massachusetts make that plain.
384851
The mystery was intriguing, but the romance part was pretty useless and not convincing. This is the first book that I have read like that (some kind of mystery/romance?), so I could have really done without the romance portion. The relationship between the characters in the first book (Dying to Tell) was more convincing and did not distract from the story. Also, the writing/editing was not very good and was distracting at times. Overall, it was a good mystery. I would recommend it if you are totally at a loss for books to read.