Not as good as the other Harper Connelly Mysteries
586173
Boring until about 3/4 way through the book.  I found several typos too!  Very little time is spent with Harper reading graves or doing anything supernaturally interesting.  Most of the book is spent with Tolliver in the hospital and Harper whining about it.  There is a lot of time spent on the Connelly/Lang upbringing, which does hold one's attention, but the novel as a whole is terribly plotted and the events seem remarkably implausible.  Charlaine Harris is rushing through her writing to satisfy a book contract and she is getting sloppier and sloppier.
1780990
The mystery itself was pretty good but there was something missing.  Not as much humor as in past stories, much more of a routine investigation.  And, the solution was a bit obvious about halfway in, so it really needed that little extra her other books had.  That said it's still better than the newer "cozies" I've read lately.
4196246
Unlike the first two books in this series, Career of Evil did not engage me as much. The plot is OK but lacks the suspense present in her other works.
4019396
I eagerly awaited the release of Faithful Place after reading the first two books in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. I absolutely loved the first two books, In the Woods and The Likeness. They were tightly plotted and kept me guessing right up until the last page. The characters were multi-dimensional. They were part mystery and part psychological drama. They were unlike your typical murder mystery. Every word counted and contributed to the story.

Faithful Place unfortunately was just not as sharp as the first two books. It lacked the intense psychological drama of the previous offerings. The characters, especially protagonist Frank Mackey, were pretty transparent. Everyone was exactly as they first seemed to me. I guessed the culprit about half way through the book. There were some parts that reeked of filler to me. Unlike the first two it was not a compulsive read. In a few parts I thought it was really going to turn around but it never did.

Perhaps it's unfair that I'm comparing this book to the first two. True enough, if I hadn't read the other books I would probably have enjoyed Faithful Place more. But knowing what French is capable of I couldn't help but be disappointed. I don't know if she was rushed to write and finish the third installment after the success of the first two or what. Either way I am holding out hope that the rest of the series can rekindle some of the brilliance of the first two.
4755312
Good but not as good as the rest in the series.  A little slow and not the page turner like previous novels
595502
Not one of Connelly's best; too roundabout and contrived, left too many loose ends. Also didn't like the plug for Mickey Haller series.
3666774
Archer has a good reputation...but his writing is not up to par with Parker series, Lescroart, Child and not close to Connelly.
Stories are dull and not viable.
4334377
I'm an avid Stephanie Plum fan, but this book just wasn't as good as the first 9 books in the series, although I thought it was much better than books 10-12.  This book was not as funny as the other books--I think I only laughed out loud once or twice while reading this book, and that's not very often for a Stephanie Plum book.  This book was also short on charcter development and really had a limited cast of characters--Vinnie, Joe's family, Valarie and her family, the officers of the Trenton PD, and Terry Gilman were all missing from this book as were the humurous incidents that always accompanied their appearances.  The best thing about this book is that the triangle that has bogged down the past 3-4 books seems to be heading towards a resolution so hopefully JE will have room in her next book to add back the quirky characters and humor that was missing from this book.  I thought that both Joe and Ranger were boring in this book and that Ranger seemed to have lost his mystery and bad boy image.  If the triangle resolves the way I think it will (I'm hoping it's Joe), then Ranger can go back to being the cool, mysterious person that he was in the first 10 books.  The mystery story was stronger in this book than it has been in the other books (although a lot of the plot elements were recyled from prior books), but I read JE's books for the characters and humor more than the mystery so a better plot wasn't much of a plus for me.  I enjoyed this book and do recommend it, but I do think that this was not JE's best effort.
1280012
Well, I sure got tired of reading about Goldie's fiance who is kidnapped.  Goldie ignores the police and too many times leads them on several wild goose chases.  It was a bit monotonous when reading about the church groups and the ministers in the church.  I did not think the plot was at all plausible and especially finding out who was the person responsible for the kidnapping.  I do not think this was one of her better mysteries.
4042974
Charlie Greene's mother is the prime suspect in the murder of her next door neighbor, and there are more murders to follow.  The actual storyline wasn't very captivating, but the big cast of characters kept your brain turning.  The major downside to this book was that this was Charlie's first visit home to Boulder since she left sixteen years ago as a pregnant teen.  The mystery of who fathered Charlie's daughter, Libby, almost took top billing over what was supposed to be the actual mystery.  The book was okay--it makes for a light weekend read.
3950456
I've enjoyed the 3 earlier books in this series but this one was a disappointment.  Megan, Ryan and the book club members go on a hike in a canyon and Megan's dogs dig up a body.  While Megan is checking that out, another body, a mummy, is found.

The first corpse was murdered five years ago and the other 140 years ago.

Every couple of chapters of the book gives us another 10 pages or so of the lifestory of the mummified corpse.  I was interested in what Megan could learn from her examination of the mummy (like an Elkin's Gideon Oliver mystery), but not the backstory of her life.  Every time I came to a chapter set in 1868, I skipped it.  It worked fine.  The investigation by Megan & Ryan of the murder of the more recent corpse had many of the features of the earlier books, the humor, the characters, the denied romance of the couple because of their history, etc.  The plot was a little thin and because about 60 pages were devoted to the mummy's story, it was a short read.

Maybe if I'd read this book first instead of 4th, I'd have had the patience to read the Commanche's story, but by this time, I only want to know what Megan, Ryan and the Murder by the Yard book club are up to.
3513277
I've read other mystery novels and this one made the characters somewhat dump in not pursuing the many clues presented in the scheme.
1379824
I read this book because of the positive publicity her previous novels received. At first I wasn't sure I would finish reading this book, then it became interesting for a while but towards the end the plot was dragging. I liked the main character who is unusual in the mystery genre but the plot was mediocre and predictable. Including a supernatural element appears to be a popular device these days that did not make this book better.
4378692
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Not as good as Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series. I found this story to drag on so unlike her other books.
Other stories were much easier reads, this took over a month to wade thru the plot.
4558848
This was okay---I love Harry Bosch.  I felt like I missed a book because last we saw Harry Bosch he was still in LAPD cold case dept./ suspended and in this book he has sued LAPD and is a volunteer cop in San Fernando PD. There were also a number of small but confusing plot bits, like I missed Harry trading in his rented Jeep, and suddenly he was driving a Ford. Kindle does not lend itself to going back and  clarifying details. I found this very distracting and annoying [and I still am not sure why Harry needed the Ford].
4441630
Mud, Muck and Dead Things is not up to the Mitchell and Markby Series,  The focus on the characters seems off.  You don't learn much about the new Superintendent. The writing is not a deft as the previous series.  Of course, I have never liked the books featuring Varaday. I am hoping the next Campbell and Carter is more complete.
4150829
Better  mysteries have been written by author. This one seemed to drag on to long. To much dialog between characters.