A Slice of Murder

A Slice of Murder by Chris Cavender
Kensington Books, 2009
275 pages
Mystery; Food mysteries
First in Series
3.5/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Ellie almost didn't take the delivery call but as a small business owner, she takes the plunge.  She comes to regret this as she finds the customer dead and is pegged as the prime suspect.  With the assistance of her sister, Ellie is going to clear her name and continue producing the best pizza around.

Thoughts: I started reading this and then immediately wanted pizza, which luckily I was able to have for dinner (plus black olives because I like it salty!)  My grandma actually recommended this series to me as we both like Joanne Fluke's series, which I would say are somewhat similar.

My favorite part was the sister relationship of Ellie and Maddy.  They truly love each other, support each other, and will protect each other.  They work as a team to run the pizzeria and to solve the crime.  Plus they're pretty wise-cracking to each other! I'm a sucker for strong sister/sister relationships in books so this played a big role in the favorable impression I have of the book.

Unfortunately I wasn't as charmed with the rest of the book, in particular Chief Kevin Hurley who seemed quite incompetent.  He didn't seem to explore many suspects beyond Ellie; he denied an attack on her life as a mere robbery; he ignores the evidence of his sister; and he's possibly tangled up in some dirty stuff himself.  The mystery itself wasn't that great either.  Some awkward attempts at romance for the widowed Ellie distracted from the storyline; personally I feel like she'll be more drawn to Kevin than any other guy.  I personally mostly just wanted to hang with Ellie and Maddy.

While I appreciate the recipes in the back, I didn't feel the book did a good job of describing all the delicious smells that come out of a pizza shop.  It also spent a bit too long on the minutiae of running a business, dull stuff indeed.

Overall: Has intrigued me enough to plan to read the second.

Cover: I think it's really good-I like the skull pizza although it's not original and I love the title font.

Huckleberry Finished

Huckleberry Finished by Livia J Washburn

Kensington Books, 2009

243 pages

Mystery; Contemporary

2nd in Series

Summary: Delilah Dickinson has continued her tour guide business even after the disaster in Atlanta. This time she is going on the Mississippi with Mark Twain. But again someone winds up dead and many secrets are at play.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the first book but I wasn't in love with it so I was hoping to really love the second. I enjoyed it but again it was not as gripping as I wanted it to be and I didn't care that much about figuring out the murderer. I did not figure out the murderer or the various mysteries and I actually had to reread the chapter again to make sure I fully understood it.

I mostly like Delilah (I'm not a fan of her usage of "y'all," one of my least favorite colloquial phrases). I liked the detective who comes out to investigate the murder, no-nonsense Detective Travis. I loved that there was a character named Eddie (inside family joke).

I loved the bits of Mark Twain trivia as well as quotes from him (my friend and I were really into him in seventh grade so this brought back fun memories.)

Overall: 3.5/5 Not bad but I'm not overly enthusiastic about it. For example, even though it's fairly short I kept checking to see how many pages were left until the mystery was solved.

Frankly My Dear I'm Dead

Frankly My Dear, I'm Dead by Livia J. Washburn

Kensington Books, 2008

213 pages

Mystery, 1st in series

Summary: Delilah Dickinson has set up a tour agency where people can come and explore the Atlanta of Gone with the Wind. At a recreation of Tara, the actor playing Rhett Butler is killed. Consequently everyone on the tour and all of the other actors are suspects unless Delilah can figure it out.

Why I Read: I really liked the title and I'm still somewhat obsessed with mysteries so I requested it from the library.

My Thoughts: To start with, I did not figure out the murderer although I did figure out that it was a very dumb idea to go and confront that murderer instead of relying on the police who are right there. Everything happens very quickly: the whole story takes place over three days, which was interesting. I've read some mysteries where it takes weeks for everything to come together. I also enjoyed the GWTW tidbits there although the description of the book made me think there would be more.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5. It's not that it wasn't good but it wasn't great and it was not gripping beyond the ordinary call of finding out who the murderer was. I have requested the second book Huckleberry Finished and hope to read that before school ends.

Cover: I do love GWTW but the faces here are really creepy to me. This Delilah is no Vivien Leigh.