The Cluttered Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini

The Cluttered Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My main criticism/observation from the first book in this series was that the main character, Charlotte, never finishes an organizational job during the book. In fact, I finished my review for Organize your Corpses by saying, "Perhaps Charlotte will be able to finish a job in the next book? Ha ha!" Well, imagine my surprise to discover the same thing happens in this book too! I just don't get it. Again, Charlotte is interrupted during a big job with a mystery, so that explains the hold up on the big job. But, she never actually finishes any other job either. This is really striking me as odd for a series with organization as a theme. Am I the only one bothered by this? I guess I just expect a little more from Charlotte than I've been given thus far. Of course, I enjoy the books overall and will continue with the series, despite this random concern. The author does throw in a lot of organizational tips, but I'd kind of like to see her complete a job from start to finish as well as help solve a mystery. Am I asking for too much here? :/

I did find parts of the mystery a little obvious to solve and other parts impossible to solve until the reveal. I had no reason to suspect who was behind everything and how it all came together, which can be both good and bad. I liked that it was a surprise, but I don't like that I had no chance of solving the case before Charlotte. What can I say? I'm competitive with these fictional sleuths and I want a chance to beat them at their own game. :)

Bring Your Own Poison by Jimmie Ruth Evans

Bring Your Own Poison by Jimmie Ruth Evans

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
While the mystery of this book isn't as exciting as I would have liked, there are a lot of character developments that help make up the difference. In fact, the only plot points that I recall with clarity have to do with the main characters and what is happening in their lives. It's only been 3 days since I've read this book and I find it is difficult to recall who did what, how, and why. I wouldn't say it's poorly written, but the character developments definitely overshadow the mystery for me. I look forward to reading more in this series, despite not loving this installment.

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved the concept behind this book. Rob is a music fan and he uses music to tell his story. It was funny, sad, touching, and real. I would love to have a play list of all the songs mentioned at the beginning of each chapter so I could really connect to Rob's experiences. There were many great quotes that will end up in my quote book. In particular, the chapter that deals with Kurt Cobain's music and death was fantastic. It was a thought provoking chapter for me. However, there was one chapter that did nothing for me and that's why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Otherwise, it was a really good book that I would recommend to anyone that has ever made a mix tape. :)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Overall, I liked it. I think comparisons to Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket are ambitious, but I enjoyed the story for the most part. Personally, I'm not sure it needs to become a series. I will read the next one just to see how it goes, but I'm not foreseeing an addiction. The children were cute and I liked their interactions with Mr. Benedict. Once they were away from him, however, I was no longer in love. I loved the selection process in the beginning and following along to see how the children solved the problems in their own ways. But, the second half of the book didn't really do much for me. As I said, however, I will give book 2 a chance even though I'm not sure it will be worth it. If you have an appropriately aged child in your life, however, by all means give this story a shot. It has enough adventure to keep a child interested and enough new vocabulary to make a parent or teacher feel good about them reading it.

Remains of the Dead by Wendy Roberts

The Remains of the Dead by Wendy Roberts


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I did not want to put this one down! This is not a light, cozy read but it was very engrossing. If you can't sit through an episode of CSI, however, you will probably want to skip this book. It is more descriptive of crime scenes than pretty much any book I've ever read and the crime scenes are far from pleasant. But, I loved the main characters and the storyline. I thought some of the clues were very obvious along the way, but missed a big one that was revealed in the final chapter. Kudos to the author for that last chapter because it was fantastic. I was already quite pleased with how things happened, but then I was pleasantly surprised to find just one more twist. If this is the author's first book, I am more than impressed and I expect great things to come from her. I look forward to reading more in this series. Excellent first book in a series and highly recommended for anyone that likes mysteries with a little bit of the paranormal and that doesn't mind a little gore. :)

Merciless by Richard Montanari

Merciless: A Novel of Suspense by Richard Montanari


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Normally, I don't read this type of mystery novel, but it was recommended to me by someone at a garage sale and I thought I'd give it a try. I can say it was good, but not a favorite. It's harder than the cozy mysteries I tend to read, which is to be expected, but I think it contributed to why I wasn't in love with it. I really enjoyed the fairy tale angle and would like to see that theme more often. I recently ordered a Grimm's Fairy Tale book because they are amazing to read as an adult, especially in a more pure form than say Disney would allow. The descriptions of the area were really good and I thought the plot was strong. I think if I venture into harder mysteries in the future, I will look this author up and see what else he has to offer. :)

Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini

Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to say, there was a lot less organizing than I was expecting. I'm fairly certain Charlotte didn't finish a single job during the book! Of course, one job was suspended because of the mystery, so I can forgive that. But, she was also helping other clients and they never actually finished the jobs. How odd! There are plenty of organizational tips thrown in though, so it's not a big deal. It just struck me as funny that Charlotte never actually finished a job during the book. Anyway, I enjoyed this book. For the most part, I liked the dialogue, the characters, and how they interacted with one another. I think the author waited a little too long before really diving into the reveal and I don't think we were given enough clues along the way to see how Charlotte figured it out. The reveal also requires one to suspend a lot of disbelief, in my opinion. That said, I still enjoyed the book enough to want to continue with the series. Perhaps Charlotte will be able to finish a job in the next book? Ha ha!

Cooking Up Murder by Miranda Bliss

Cooking Up Murder by Miranda Bliss


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Overall, I really liked this book. I liked Annie and Eve quite a bit. After reading a review or two, I noticed Eve wasn't as popular as Annie. Personally, I know people like Eve in real life, so she seemed very real to me. Additionally, I just like the idea of 2 friends working together to solve a mystery. I've always thought that if I were to become an amateur detective in real life, that I'd have to work with a friend. I would need that other person to bounce ideas off, if nothing else. Plus, I would feel safer if I had a friend with me when dealing with possibly dangerous situations. :) Now, my biggest problem with the book was the ending. It wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but it wasn't bad. I think the author was a touch lazy about some of the finer points when it comes to believability, but it wasn't so unrealistic that I felt dissatisfied by it. A big plus, though, is that one of the recipes supplied at the end of the book sounds really good and I think I'm actually going to try it. (It's bacon pinwheels... Honestly, the name alone sounds great to me!) I look forward to reading more in this series and I have a feeling they will get better with each installment. :)

Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt

Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Overall, I really like this series a lot. There were some really good things happening in this particular installment, especially in the romance department. If there's one thing I hate about the Stephanie Plum series, it's that Stephanie doesn't progress with either of the men in her life. I find that so irritating, that I no longer look forward to reading the series. However, I'm pleased to see that this series isn't following that same pattern. It appears as though Maggie is making a little more headway in her love life and I'm glad to see it. I can only take so much waffling between men before I lose sympathy for your situation.

The biggest negative? It has to be the clues for the reveal and how the main characters never seem to figure things out until it's too late. I figured out who did the crime long before all of the clues made sense. But, they made sense to me a LONG time before they made sense to the characters, which I found a little disappointing. However, I did enjoy the ending a lot more than I thought I would. So, even though the main characters seemed a little dense at times, I felt more than satisfied with how it all went down. I look forward to reading more in this series and I hope the author continues to let Maggie's love life develop. :)

Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund

Under the Rose: An Ivy League Novel by Diana Peterfreund


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm just a sucker for this series already! Even when things seem a bit far-fetched, I still find myself not wanting to put it down. In this installment, we're still following Amy's journey at Eli college and the drama she's involved in with her secret society membership. This time there's a traitor that is leaking information that could be potentially damaging and it is having a huge impact on all of the society members. I felt really bad for Amy a few times because it seemed like so many people in her life were not what they seemed. On the negative side, I had a little trouble suspending my disbelief at some things at times. In the first novel, for some reason, it all seemed totally plausible to me. But, this time around, I was a little surprised at some of the things I was expected to swallow. However, it was entertaining and I look forward to reading more of this series. Even if we can no longer follow Amy and the established characters, I would still be interested. :)