Not really recommended for a slow reader
353995
I read when I can and this book is written with many points of views which is kinda hard to follow if you are a slow reader (usually takes me 3 to 4 weeks to read a book).  For someone who can read a book in a day or even in a week if you like books that are written with many points of views you might enjoy this book.  It usually isn't my type of book but it seemed well enough written to keep my attention when I did get to read.
4626500
Not overwhelmingly dense, but also not a quick read.
3936143
I found this book quite slow-paced.  The beginning chapters held my interest at first but as the mystery of the murders started to unfold, they unfolded so slowly that it was hard to keep focus on exactly what the characters were getting at.  I found myself skipping pages of the same hum-drum conversations as the pages seemed to simply be fulfilling an editor's page requirement - no value-added scenes or conversations. The Puzzle Lady was really funny portraying a woman more interested in her next drink than truly trying to solve a murder.  The niece was ok but could have developed more of a spine with the ex-husband.  I did and what was good for me would have been good for the niece.  The reporter was annoying but I suppose that's par for the course although I didn't see where he was actually needed in the story.  Overall, I wouldn't read this book again.
1684537
It is a very slow read and a difficult story to follow. Its on the back shelf of my elibrary and maybe I'll look at it sometime in future.
1705526
I really wanted to like this book, but it was just so slow moving that it became painful. The writing is well done, but the pace is too slow for my taste. The characters were OK, but they didn't grab my attention or really cause me to care about them. A good book, but not great.
4530616
I finished this book. I read a lot and I guess this book did not hold my attention very much.
2315651
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was recommended to me by a coworker. I found this book to be a slow read. It did not draw me into the story as a book should. While the story itself was full of strife, I soon found myself bored with the character. It does a fine job of showing the horror of life in that era...but doesn't make you care about the man experiencing it. I felt pity at first but that turned to apathy as he proved to deserve  nothing. The book seemed to be about the man's life but the entire end was a mass of political ramblings.
437967
This book was recommended to me by my brother. I do not see why he liked it so much. I found this book slow and exasperating to read. The main character Jonah, gets dizzy every few pages from being overwhelmed. Maybe people get dizzy a lot when they are overwhelmed, but to me it was just frustrating and unrealistic. The idea for the book could be really good, but I just did not enjoy them. The entire book was a set up for the next one. This book is about a boy Jonah, who is adopted, he starts to get weird messages. As he starts to investigate these messages with his friend Chip and his sister he starts to discover why he really was adopted. These books reminded me a little bit of the Pendragon series.
3588586
For the genere it was rather slow-paced, not a page turner for me.
4015055
I am an avid reader, and I will usually push through each book regardless if I think it is good or not just so I can know what happens. Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. It was really slow in the beginning and it never seemed to pick up.

Ashley- the main character seemed really immature for her age, while Ethan, was like-able and really mature for his age. Personally, I have read better, but this book can be a good read if you have an afternoon off.
3220902
"The Rules of Magic" is a beautifully written book but it was challenging to get through. At times, the story felt repetitive, almost as if we were going in circles with these three lovely characters. I'd have to put down the book for a break, pick it back a day or two later, and so forth. It took me quite some time to finish this novel.

The book is about the three Owens children: Franny, Jet, and Vincent, as they grapple with the family curse, which began in 1620 with Maria Owens, who dared to fall in love.

"Beware of love," Maria Owens had written on the first page of her journal. "Know that for our family, love is a curse."

But of course, who wants to listen to the ramblings of a woman who has been dead for 350 plus years?

Growing up, the three did their best to break all the rules assigned to them by their mother, with the exception of this hard and steadfast rule. After a summer in Massachusetts with their Aunt Isabelle, the three teenagers head back to New York City to navigate their separate journeys, stumbling on their own forms of love. This is where the story became bogged down for me. There was too much indecision for me, too much going back and forth about doing the right thing, etc.

Whether the character chose courage or caution, nothing seemed to work out for him or her, anyway. It was rather depressing that they couldn't have some happiness without it being taken away. The pacing of the novel was also too slow for my taste, because there was too much emphasis on the day-to-day routine, which was kind of boring. Nothing really happens in those pages for it to be chronicled. I couldn't connect with the characters, which made reading it harder as well.

I found myself skimming to get to the end. It was rather underwhelming.
1460513
my guy reads a lot, but he didn't have enough patient to read this book.
4657810
The story unfolds through the voices of different characters who all play some role in a grand scheme to rob a woman of her inheritance. I found the narrative to be repetitive and slow to read. I often skimmed several paragraphs at a time in order to get to the next tidbit of information in the plot. The narrative voices were not distinct enough, in my opinion, to help me become immersed in the character. I found myself wondering how I would have written the narrative, as opposed to wondering about the story. I plowed through this book mainly because it kept appearing on Amazon's recommended list because of other things I'd read, but I just didn't fall in love with it. Finishing the book was more about duty and desire.
4488914
The book held my interest enough to read it to the end, but I did find it a slow. I enjoy fantasy books, historical fiction, and I really enjoy reading books that are about the time of Christ and the early church. The problem I have with this book is that it seems to combine fantasy with historical fiction, which makes the story of the time of Christ seem less real rather then more real. I gave this book 3 stars because it was ok, but I wish it was better. For books in this time period I recommend the Acts of Faith series by Janette Oke or The Kingdom and the Crown series by Gerald Lund.
2113147
There may be people who will find this an absorbing read, but for me, I found it not worthy of my reading time.  I could not make it through the first 100 pages.
4033381
Long and slow but interesting.  Not many really likable characters.
4759944
I have mixed feelings about Murder at Mullings. I liked the concept (In its 300-year history, there has never once been a scandal at Mullings, ancestral home of the decent but dull Stodmarsh family. Until 1932, that is.). But the book moved so slowly for me. Sooooo slowly. I had a very hard time sticking with it. It was very wordy, and with so little character development I had difficulty keeping everyone straight. The first 10 pages of the book could easily have been a novel in themselves, as they cover 21 years in the life of housekeeper Florence Norris.

I don't mind a slow-moving plot when character development is the focus, but this is the first book I can recall where plot was sacrificed for setting and manners. This book felt more like a long-winded proposal for a television series than a novel. Even the way the characters were described seemed like guidance for the person casting the series (for example, Inspector LeCrane: He was tall, with a narrow face dominated by a long, beaky nose, which would have done the suggested species of bird proud. Ned put him in his mid- to late-forties. No visible gray in his dark hair. (p. 212)). I found the first 150 pages of this 247 page book to be set-up for the final 100 pages.

There are two murders in the book, set several years apart. An ornamental hermit is thrown at us as a red herring and for a bit of period eccentricity, but the murderer was not difficult to guess. I kept reading because I kept thinking a book I would enjoy was in there someone, and I got it at last in the final 40 pages. I would rate most of the book two stars, and the last 40 pages four stars.

Ive not seen Downton Abbey, but Murder at Mullings is clearly aimed directly at the fans of that series. If you like slow moving fiction covering a 40-year-span that is more focused on the setting and manners than the plot or characters, you might enjoy this book. This is the first book in a series; the second is due to be published in July 2015.