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maelyss's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the book though I found it to be predictable and the constant talk about calories and weight was annoying.
aliciaproctor89's review against another edition
3.0
3 Stars - what gives it 3 stars instead of 4? I did enjoy this novel - it was a quick read, there were not pockets of time where the story dragged, and god, I love the relationship between Sara, Kate, and Jack - the sarcastic joking and quips between one another are right up my alley. The one thing that bothered me as I started reading (and obviously still does) was how quick some of the character/relationship building happened - for example, Kate walks into Sara's home for the first time - hasn't seen her for 20 plus years - and they don't really acknowledge that they barely know each other. It's hard to put into words exactly what I didn't like about how some of the characters originally meet, but it's almost unrealistic/unnatural to me. But that thought aside, I do look forward to the next installment - I can't wait to experience the relationship between Sara and Kate, and especially Kate and Jack(!) to grow.
_wmjb_'s review against another edition
4.0
I've read a lot of cozy mysteries and this one is pretty good. And it has the wonderful writing of Jude Deveraux! She just pulls you in to the story so real life fades away for a few hours. My only mild complaint is that there are so many characters it was hard to keep them straight sometimes. It wasn't too hard to figure out who done it, but there were a few twists at the end. I look forward to Medlar Mystery #2 next year.
meguniqueuser's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Kate is discerning, determined, funny, resourceful and guys apparently fall head over heels for her at first sight. She enters the town and all the men are drooling after her. Her interactions with Alister were especially cringy not only because she’s 23 and he’s 38 so a bit concerning, but also because he is so full on and proposing marriage to her and talking about kids immediately; I was gagging it was so bad.
Overall it is not the type of the book I usually go for, but not bad. I think if it was a kitschy, fun mystery movie I would enjoy it. The ending did feel rushed and overly cringy. I’m pretty sure we’re essentially told who the murderer is near the beginning so the story is more about figuring it out and how it was done.
Several themes throughout are eating disorders, family and found family, prejudice, age, and victim blaming.
The author leans heavily on jokes about foods and calories for the humor in the book and for the bonding between Kate and her love interest. It is a lot, especially considering eating disorders.
It never did answer why Sarah didn’t marry her sweetheart.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
A character is falsely accused of sexually abusing a child. Constant talk from a character about watching their calories and not eating a lot of food. Food habits are joked about mildly.koreydobbert's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
deemw's review against another edition
2.0
The constant references to foods having too many calories was just irritating. Found it hard to get into the story, almost didn't finish as figured the murderer out early on.
impreader2023's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0