bookcraft's review against another edition
4.0
Ratings for individual stories, with any notes:
"Entreé to Murder" by Nicole Kimberling
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
Drew and Mac are great characters, and I particularly love how Drew's impression of Mac changes as he gets to know him.
"Twelve Seconds" by Meg Perry
â â âââ (2/5 stars)
This felt like a first draft rather than a final story; my fingers itched to take a red pencil to it. There was a lot of telling rather than showing.
"Reality Bites" by S. C. Wynne
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
The characters never quite seemed real to me. I think there just wasn't enough sensory / evocative detail when it came to both place and character.
"Blind Man's Buff" by L. B. Gregg
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
I noticed some weird word choices and ungrammatical sentences that don't seem to be an intentional part of the stream-of-consciousness narrative style, but that's a pretty minor quibble. Also, I'm very much over the "fat villain" trope. Otherwise, though, this was a really excellent adventure story.
"A Country for Old Men" by Dal Maclean
â â â â â (5/5 stars)
There's so much about this story to unpack. It really made me think about duty versus personal happiness and the shift in how Western culture has prioritized the two over the last couple of centuries. (Cool-to-me side note: It's set on the island my dad's family comes from.)
Content warning: Internalized homophobia
"Pepper the Crime Lab" by Z. A. Maxfield
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
Worst title pun ever!
"Lights, Camera, Murder" by C. S. Poe
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
These ought to be the kind of characters that I really love, but I didn't quite connect with them.
"Stranger in the House" by Josh Lanyon
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
Interesting characters who have actual depth. Great sense of place; I can clearly picture the mansion and its eclectic contents.
"Entreé to Murder" by Nicole Kimberling
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
Drew and Mac are great characters, and I particularly love how Drew's impression of Mac changes as he gets to know him.
"Twelve Seconds" by Meg Perry
â â âââ (2/5 stars)
This felt like a first draft rather than a final story; my fingers itched to take a red pencil to it. There was a lot of telling rather than showing.
"Reality Bites" by S. C. Wynne
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
The characters never quite seemed real to me. I think there just wasn't enough sensory / evocative detail when it came to both place and character.
"Blind Man's Buff" by L. B. Gregg
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
I noticed some weird word choices and ungrammatical sentences that don't seem to be an intentional part of the stream-of-consciousness narrative style, but that's a pretty minor quibble. Also, I'm very much over the "fat villain" trope. Otherwise, though, this was a really excellent adventure story.
"A Country for Old Men" by Dal Maclean
â â â â â (5/5 stars)
There's so much about this story to unpack. It really made me think about duty versus personal happiness and the shift in how Western culture has prioritized the two over the last couple of centuries. (Cool-to-me side note: It's set on the island my dad's family comes from.)
Content warning: Internalized homophobia
"Pepper the Crime Lab" by Z. A. Maxfield
â â â â â (4/5 stars)
Worst title pun ever!
"Lights, Camera, Murder" by C. S. Poe
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
These ought to be the kind of characters that I really love, but I didn't quite connect with them.
"Stranger in the House" by Josh Lanyon
â â â ââ (3/5 stars)
Interesting characters who have actual depth. Great sense of place; I can clearly picture the mansion and its eclectic contents.
ccgwalt's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 B+ Overall
I enjoyed this anthology immensely. I was only disappointed that we were told in the prologue several stories were the start of a new series, but in reality only one novella (Twelve Seconds) has a followup.
The novellas are narrated by either Joel Leslie or Kale Williams, and all the narrations are excellent. I definitely recommend this on audio! Almost 29 hours of enjoyable mm suspense.
1- Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling is sort of a cozy mystery. I wish it were a series because I'd enjoy reading more. Narration by Kale Williams. B
2-Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry involves a murder investigation during a failed rocket launch. I enjoyed the investigation and the relationship. Narrated by Joel Leslie. B
3-Reality Bites by SC Wynne, narrated by Kale Williams. Good characters, interesting mystery. B
4-SKIPPED: Blind's Man Bluff by LB Gregg. I can't speak to the quality, only that after listening a little while I realized it wasn't my thing. I thought the characters were early 20's from their actions, but they were 30.
5-A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean, expertly narrated by Joel Leslie (there was a fair amount of Gaelic). This was beautifully written even if the pacing was a little slow, or perhaps languid is a better term. I loved the emotional story and the second chance romance. One of my favorites! A-
6-Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield, narrated by Joel Leslie. This was a fun mystery and would make a nice cosy-esque series. B+
7-Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe, narrated by Kale Williams. One of my favorites of the anthology,this has a great mystery and a sweet romance. I wish this was a series, too. A-
8-Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon, narrated by Joel Leslie. While the mystery wasn't quite as complex as some of the others, the resolution caught me by surprise and I enjoyed it. I liked the main characters. Nice story made better by Joel's narration. B
I enjoyed this anthology immensely. I was only disappointed that we were told in the prologue several stories were the start of a new series, but in reality only one novella (Twelve Seconds) has a followup.
The novellas are narrated by either Joel Leslie or Kale Williams, and all the narrations are excellent. I definitely recommend this on audio! Almost 29 hours of enjoyable mm suspense.
1- Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling is sort of a cozy mystery. I wish it were a series because I'd enjoy reading more. Narration by Kale Williams. B
2-Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry involves a murder investigation during a failed rocket launch. I enjoyed the investigation and the relationship. Narrated by Joel Leslie. B
3-Reality Bites by SC Wynne, narrated by Kale Williams. Good characters, interesting mystery. B
4-SKIPPED: Blind's Man Bluff by LB Gregg. I can't speak to the quality, only that after listening a little while I realized it wasn't my thing. I thought the characters were early 20's from their actions, but they were 30.
5-A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean, expertly narrated by Joel Leslie (there was a fair amount of Gaelic). This was beautifully written even if the pacing was a little slow, or perhaps languid is a better term. I loved the emotional story and the second chance romance. One of my favorites! A-
6-Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield, narrated by Joel Leslie. This was a fun mystery and would make a nice cosy-esque series. B+
7-Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe, narrated by Kale Williams. One of my favorites of the anthology,this has a great mystery and a sweet romance. I wish this was a series, too. A-
8-Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon, narrated by Joel Leslie. While the mystery wasn't quite as complex as some of the others, the resolution caught me by surprise and I enjoyed it. I liked the main characters. Nice story made better by Joel's narration. B
kiki124's review against another edition
3.0
Came for Maclean; stayed
for Gregg and Lanyon. Meh.
Finally finished.
for Gregg and Lanyon. Meh.
Finally finished.
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
I loved almost every single story on this anthology, and the ones that I didn't love, I liked very much.
So, let's go with each one of them.
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
I really liked this one. The mystery is really well done, gripping and very entertaining. The strained relationship between Sam and Drew is the perfect background to all what's going on. Now, regarding the romance, I have only one complaint: after the original description of Big Mac, I couldn't help to picture him as Hoss Cartwright, from Bonanza. Do you remember him? Not the best image for a romance :P
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
Oh, I liked both, the mystery and the romance here. And I loved how smart is Justin :) I'm not a great fan of dual POV's, but then, that's me :P And it was a nice introduction to someone who is a new author for me.
Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
Okay, full disclosure: I LOVE S.C. Wynne's writing. Truly love it. So I went to read this already knowing that I was in for a treat :P And, of course, the story didn't disappoint me. A very well done mystery, an opposites-attract romance with characters I really liked and a fabulous ending. What else could I wish?
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg
Okay, this reads like a horror movie. c'mon! Beautiful people stranded in a closed-off mall with a serial killer on the loose? Classical! The story is gripping, exciting and full of tension. Believable, as all the people participating in the game is at their peak physically. There is no romance, really. Except is you want to consider this as WORST FIRST DATE EVER. If it were been a date. Which wasn't, no matter what Tommy and Jonah where expecting :P
Really entertaining.
A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean
Hands down, my favourite story. Beautiful, mournful, permeated with a sense of loss almost until the very end, this is one of these stories that stay with you for a long, long time. The writing is simply gorgeous, poetic and evocative. The description of that town frozen in time is perfect; for moments you forget that this is going on at the present times, until something (a cell phone, a mention to Twitter) reminds you.
Calum's story is... heartbreaking. That he's willing to betray himself to fit in what he thinks is his destiny and his duty...
And those letters! Those letters that Calum is getting in his email and that seems to fit so well whit was going on!. Even the mystery is surrounded by lore and old stories. What can I say? It's wonderful. But then, it's a Dal Maclean's story :)
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfied
And this one is the one I liked the less. Maybe coming after 'A Country for Old Men' has something to do with it, I don't know...
I really didn't engage with the characters and when one of the MCs is an ex-cop, now bodyguard, you'll expect that he'll be, at the very least, helping to solve the mystery. And yet... the mystery is solved by accident :/
Sorry, but not my cup of tea.
Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe
Another one of my favourite authors, and another great story. The characters are simply fantastic. And Marion! Oh, Marion is just... perfect! The mystery is really well done and keeps you wondering until the end, so masterly executed! And I love that is Marion, at the end, who saves the day (and Rory's life).
Another fantastic read, and I really, really hope will be seeing more of these two =D
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
Josh Lanyon is another favourite (yes, I'm a lucky girl, all of my favourites in one anthology :P), so it will come as no surprise at all that I loved this story, too. The setting is simply perfect: an old house, filled with childhood memories, that suddenly feels less than welcoming; an old crush who (maybe without even noticing) inflicted a life-defining hurt; a dead man at the bottom of a magnificent marble stair, crushed by a huge bronze sculpture; little objects missing...
And I was so wrong about the culprit! *laughs* Another excellent story :)
So, if you, for whatever reason, wasn't sure about going for this anthology, go for it! I can't recommend it more.
So, let's go with each one of them.
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
I really liked this one. The mystery is really well done, gripping and very entertaining. The strained relationship between Sam and Drew is the perfect background to all what's going on. Now, regarding the romance, I have only one complaint: after the original description of Big Mac, I couldn't help to picture him as Hoss Cartwright, from Bonanza. Do you remember him? Not the best image for a romance :P
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
Oh, I liked both, the mystery and the romance here. And I loved how smart is Justin :) I'm not a great fan of dual POV's, but then, that's me :P And it was a nice introduction to someone who is a new author for me.
Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
Okay, full disclosure: I LOVE S.C. Wynne's writing. Truly love it. So I went to read this already knowing that I was in for a treat :P And, of course, the story didn't disappoint me. A very well done mystery, an opposites-attract romance with characters I really liked and a fabulous ending. What else could I wish?
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg
Okay, this reads like a horror movie. c'mon! Beautiful people stranded in a closed-off mall with a serial killer on the loose? Classical! The story is gripping, exciting and full of tension. Believable, as all the people participating in the game is at their peak physically. There is no romance, really. Except is you want to consider this as WORST FIRST DATE EVER. If it were been a date. Which wasn't, no matter what Tommy and Jonah where expecting :P
Really entertaining.
A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean
Hands down, my favourite story. Beautiful, mournful, permeated with a sense of loss almost until the very end, this is one of these stories that stay with you for a long, long time. The writing is simply gorgeous, poetic and evocative. The description of that town frozen in time is perfect; for moments you forget that this is going on at the present times, until something (a cell phone, a mention to Twitter) reminds you.
Calum's story is... heartbreaking. That he's willing to betray himself to fit in what he thinks is his destiny and his duty...
And those letters! Those letters that Calum is getting in his email and that seems to fit so well whit was going on!. Even the mystery is surrounded by lore and old stories. What can I say? It's wonderful. But then, it's a Dal Maclean's story :)
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfied
And this one is the one I liked the less. Maybe coming after 'A Country for Old Men' has something to do with it, I don't know...
I really didn't engage with the characters and when one of the MCs is an ex-cop, now bodyguard, you'll expect that he'll be, at the very least, helping to solve the mystery. And yet... the mystery is solved by accident :/
Sorry, but not my cup of tea.
Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe
Another one of my favourite authors, and another great story. The characters are simply fantastic. And Marion! Oh, Marion is just... perfect! The mystery is really well done and keeps you wondering until the end, so masterly executed! And I love that is Marion, at the end, who saves the day (and Rory's life).
Another fantastic read, and I really, really hope will be seeing more of these two =D
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
Josh Lanyon is another favourite (yes, I'm a lucky girl, all of my favourites in one anthology :P), so it will come as no surprise at all that I loved this story, too. The setting is simply perfect: an old house, filled with childhood memories, that suddenly feels less than welcoming; an old crush who (maybe without even noticing) inflicted a life-defining hurt; a dead man at the bottom of a magnificent marble stair, crushed by a huge bronze sculpture; little objects missing...
And I was so wrong about the culprit! *laughs* Another excellent story :)
So, if you, for whatever reason, wasn't sure about going for this anthology, go for it! I can't recommend it more.
ctsquirrel's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 overall, best anthology yet this year.
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
4/5
Tags: small town murder mystery, chef, an island in Puget Sound, Washington State, law enforcement
Quote: On considering suspects “There’s nothing that prohibits a vegetarian from committing murder; just from eating the body”
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
4/5
Tags: journalists, military (Air Force Special Agent ["the NCIS of the Air Force"]), law enforcement, Florida (Cape Canaveral/Patrick AFB)
Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
3/5
Tags: law enforcement, California (Hollywood/LA), TV Producer, Reality TV
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg
3/5
Tags: Teachers, Action, Adventure, Teachers, Friends to Lovers, Thriller, No Sex
A Country for Old Men by Dal MacLean
2.5 My notes say my reason for rating is that is it was "too Scottish," but there was a Scots Gaelic glossary at the end.
Tags: Scotland (Stornaway), Law Enforcement, Archaeology (Viking settlements in Scotland)
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield
4/5 Very funny, but the murderer was easy to figure out because
Tags: Chef, No sex, Dogs (labrador in the title, belgian malinois, pug, and shih tzu), bodyguard (former cop/current private security)
Quotes: Lonnie's telling the cop why his knives are portable “Do you leave your weapon at home in the hope that someone has a nice one you can borrow at a dangerous traffic stop?”
Lonnie Boudreaux on his ex's Cajun fetish "I didn’t have a Cajun accent, I rarely cooked Cajun food, and Dillon’s fetish creeped me out. It forced me into a boudin casing that didn’t fit."
Lights. Camera. Murder. by C.S. Poe
4/5 Good mystery, I didn't guess it.
Tags: Age Difference (45yo PI and 15-20yrs younger actor), Actors, New York City
Quotes: Rory on his PA supervisor "I was certain Davey held his dick with five fingers and pissed on four of them."
Rory on Marion (and about to get on Marion) "He wore a suit like it’d be a sin to undress him."
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
3/5
Tags: Montreal Quebec, Teachers, Artists, Art Theft
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
4/5
Tags: small town murder mystery, chef, an island in Puget Sound, Washington State, law enforcement
Quote: On considering suspects “There’s nothing that prohibits a vegetarian from committing murder; just from eating the body”
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
4/5
Tags: journalists, military (Air Force Special Agent ["the NCIS of the Air Force"]), law enforcement, Florida (Cape Canaveral/Patrick AFB)
Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
3/5
Tags: law enforcement, California (Hollywood/LA), TV Producer, Reality TV
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg
3/5
Tags: Teachers, Action, Adventure, Teachers, Friends to Lovers, Thriller, No Sex
A Country for Old Men by Dal MacLean
2.5 My notes say my reason for rating is that is it was "too Scottish," but there was a Scots Gaelic glossary at the end.
Tags: Scotland (Stornaway), Law Enforcement, Archaeology (Viking settlements in Scotland)
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield
4/5 Very funny, but the murderer was easy to figure out because
Spoiler
of the dog's reactionTags: Chef, No sex, Dogs (labrador in the title, belgian malinois, pug, and shih tzu), bodyguard (former cop/current private security)
Quotes: Lonnie's telling the cop why his knives are portable “Do you leave your weapon at home in the hope that someone has a nice one you can borrow at a dangerous traffic stop?”
Lonnie Boudreaux on his ex's Cajun fetish "I didn’t have a Cajun accent, I rarely cooked Cajun food, and Dillon’s fetish creeped me out. It forced me into a boudin casing that didn’t fit."
Lights. Camera. Murder. by C.S. Poe
4/5 Good mystery, I didn't guess it.
Tags: Age Difference (45yo PI and 15-20yrs younger actor), Actors, New York City
Quotes: Rory on his PA supervisor "I was certain Davey held his dick with five fingers and pissed on four of them."
Rory on Marion (and about to get on Marion) "He wore a suit like it’d be a sin to undress him."
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
3/5
Tags: Montreal Quebec, Teachers, Artists, Art Theft
suze_1624's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely collection of 8 stories linked by death and murder mysteries!
We have chefs, space rocket launches, a creepy game of hide and seek with a serial killer, old poignant love letters, dogs, tv show sets and lots of dead bodies!
All the stories are complete and more than short stories. Some left a few hanging threads and one generated a tear in my eye.
I enjoyed them all
We have chefs, space rocket launches, a creepy game of hide and seek with a serial killer, old poignant love letters, dogs, tv show sets and lots of dead bodies!
All the stories are complete and more than short stories. Some left a few hanging threads and one generated a tear in my eye.
I enjoyed them all
caterina_1212's review against another edition
5.0
Sure some are three stars, but A Country For Old Men was ten, and Twelve Seconds and Entree to Murder were good, too.
___tamara___'s review against another edition
3.0
Read this book as part of the 2019 Members' Choice Awards Challenge.
Categories: Best Anthology
I expected much more from this anthology than I got. My star average for this book is 2.8 - a fairly low rating for me. But I do not regret reading it - I discovered some new authors I will definitely add to my shelf.
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling - ★★★★☆
Loved it. The mystery was decent, though I would have liked more of the romance.
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry - ★★☆☆☆
This was an enjoyable read right up until a plot hole appeared near the end. MC1 is an investigator and MC2 is a journalist. The journalist was contacted by the victim right before the vic was killed, and that's how the two MCs meet. It was a stupid mistake, and so glaringly obvious I'm surprised it wasn't caught before the story got published. As it is, I'm lowering my rating to 2 stars.
Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne - ★★★☆☆
A decent mystery, and it didn't end as I feared it would based on the first couple of chapters, which is great. The romance part was lacking chemistry though - I couldn't feel it at all and it was kind of boring.
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg - ★☆☆☆☆
This was a slasher flick, not a mystery. The MC was funny at first but got annoying really fast, and I got the impression the writer doesn't like fat people - seeing how every one of the "good guys" was distinctly described as lean and/or fit, and the only bad guy was described as fat, and there was a running commentary on how he should just get a heart-attack and die. This kind of problematic writing is not a first for L.B. Gregg - I also remember a similar thing done to a trans character in one of her previous books, and it's why I don't think this was an honest mistake.
A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean - ★★★★☆
This was my first Dal Maclean story and I enjoyed it even though I didn't like the MC whose POV it was written in - frankly, he was kind of exhausting. I'm tired enough of my own headspace to want to participate in anyone else's pity party. But the story itself and the writing were great.
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield - ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed this story. It had the right balance of serious and light-hearted. I haven't read Z.A. Maxfield in a loong while (I've been steering clear of her books - but it was not really a conscious decision), so it felt almost like it was my first time reading one of her books. I loved it.
Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe - ★★★☆☆
3.5 stars. Another new-for-me author, and I was not disappointed. I liked the story, but I feel like it wasn't fleshed out enough - like it wasn't meant to be a short story, but a longer story that was cut down to its bare bones to fit a page requirement. But even so I enjoyed it a lot. I will definitely move this author up on my tbr list.
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon - ★★☆☆☆
There was one main thing wrong with this story - it's called "Joel Leslie does French-Canadians speaking English". It was incomprehensible and irritating. It was Beauty & the Beast's Lumiere on steroids. It completely ruined the story for me. When he's not doing accents he's an okay narrator. When he tries any non-English accent, he needs a warning label.
Other than that little niggle (*snorts*), the story was okay but the mystery was kind of on a back burner in favor of endless descriptions of furniture, art pieces & other surroundings.
Categories: Best Anthology
I expected much more from this anthology than I got. My star average for this book is 2.8 - a fairly low rating for me. But I do not regret reading it - I discovered some new authors I will definitely add to my shelf.
Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling - ★★★★☆
Loved it. The mystery was decent, though I would have liked more of the romance.
Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry - ★★☆☆☆
This was an enjoyable read right up until a plot hole appeared near the end. MC1 is an investigator and MC2 is a journalist. The journalist was contacted by the victim right before the vic was killed, and that's how the two MCs meet.
Spoiler
Throughout the investigation, the information about the victim's death was withheld from the public, even from the victim's wife (publicly he was presumed missing) and the journalist wasn't supposed to know about the victim's death at all, but the investigator told him when they first met. So, everyone thinks the victim's missing, except for the police and the murderer and the journalist. The murderer calls the journalist pretending he's the victim, trying to set up a meet, the journalist calls his boyfriend the investigator right away (smart) and... no one bats an eyelash? Not one question about how he knew to call the police at all?Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne - ★★★☆☆
A decent mystery, and it didn't end as I feared it would based on the first couple of chapters, which is great. The romance part was lacking chemistry though - I couldn't feel it at all and it was kind of boring.
Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg - ★☆☆☆☆
This was a slasher flick, not a mystery. The MC was funny at first but got annoying really fast, and I got the impression the writer doesn't like fat people - seeing how every one of the "good guys" was distinctly described as lean and/or fit, and the only bad guy was described as fat, and there was a running commentary on how he should just get a heart-attack and die. This kind of problematic writing is not a first for L.B. Gregg - I also remember a similar thing done to a trans character in one of her previous books, and it's why I don't think this was an honest mistake.
A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean - ★★★★☆
This was my first Dal Maclean story and I enjoyed it even though I didn't like the MC whose POV it was written in - frankly, he was kind of exhausting. I'm tired enough of my own headspace to want to participate in anyone else's pity party. But the story itself and the writing were great.
Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield - ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed this story. It had the right balance of serious and light-hearted. I haven't read Z.A. Maxfield in a loong while (I've been steering clear of her books - but it was not really a conscious decision), so it felt almost like it was my first time reading one of her books. I loved it.
Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe - ★★★☆☆
3.5 stars. Another new-for-me author, and I was not disappointed. I liked the story, but I feel like it wasn't fleshed out enough - like it wasn't meant to be a short story, but a longer story that was cut down to its bare bones to fit a page requirement. But even so I enjoyed it a lot. I will definitely move this author up on my tbr list.
Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon - ★★☆☆☆
There was one main thing wrong with this story - it's called "Joel Leslie does French-Canadians speaking English". It was incomprehensible and irritating. It was Beauty & the Beast's Lumiere on steroids. It completely ruined the story for me. When he's not doing accents he's an okay narrator. When he tries any non-English accent, he needs a warning label.
Other than that little niggle (*snorts*), the story was okay but the mystery was kind of on a back burner in favor of endless descriptions of furniture, art pieces & other surroundings.
mwana's review against another edition
5.0
Come for [a:Josh Lanyon|359194|Josh Lanyon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1289326144p2/359194.jpg], stay for [a:Dal Maclean|15408926|Dal Maclean|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470182224p2/15408926.jpg].
These two authors are the reason why I jumped on the arc so fast when it was shared online.
But I read "all" the stories like the good lil girl I am.
STORY 1: Entree to Murder by [a:Nicole Kimberling|1035116|Nicole Kimberling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207612752p2/1035116.jpg]
Chef Drew Allison moves to the town of Orca's Slough with his bff Sam to start a new restaurant called Eelgrass. Their relationship is on the rocks and we are reminded of that frequently. Although, poetically. When the body of the drug dealing kitchen staff is found in the basement of the Eelgrass, Drew is forced to investigate the murder (somewhat unwillingly) because the police force of Mackenzie, Mackenzie and Mackenzie somehow thinks he's involved in whatever the hell is going on in Orca's Slough.
The mystery is well written. Gripping and isn't sidetracked by the drama surrounding Drew's life.
These two authors are the reason why I jumped on the arc so fast when it was shared online.
But I read "all" the stories like the good lil girl I am.
STORY 1: Entree to Murder by [a:Nicole Kimberling|1035116|Nicole Kimberling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207612752p2/1035116.jpg]
Chef Drew Allison moves to the town of Orca's Slough with his bff Sam to start a new restaurant called Eelgrass. Their relationship is on the rocks and we are reminded of that frequently. Although, poetically. When the body of the drug dealing kitchen staff is found in the basement of the Eelgrass, Drew is forced to investigate the murder (somewhat unwillingly) because the police force of Mackenzie, Mackenzie and Mackenzie somehow thinks he's involved in whatever the hell is going on in Orca's Slough.
The mystery is well written. Gripping and isn't sidetracked by the drama surrounding Drew's life.