Lisasiamesecat

Not Enjoyable as the Others

Revisado: 12-05-23

I have read all of the books in this series, but this one has been a chore to get through. The narrator was good, but the story was tiresome. I found myself looking at how many hours I had left till it was over.

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Not good

Revisado: 02-10-23

These stories don't seem like they were written by the original authors. I love all of these authors, but this seemed like ghost writers. The narrator was also terrible.

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Loved it-perfect cozy mystery

Revisado: 09-25-20

I am so thrilled that I found this author. This was the perfect cozy mystery without much violence-just the way I like them. Great small town charm and characters too.

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Terrible!

Revisado: 09-15-20

I normally love Lynn Cahoon, and have listened to almost all of her other books. I am not sure if she gets a ghost writer for these shorter books or not, but they are never very good. This one is particularly bad. It takes place in a prison that is rented out for the night for scary tours and overnight stays. So the "cozy" part of this cozy is NOT cozy. All the characters are put into this unfamiliar, bleak environment (I can't imagine why anyone would want to stay the night in a prison if they didn't have to!) and of course a murder happens. The guy who is murdered was the only one with a phone, and that goes missing. Why they don't have an emergency phone anywhere is unimaginable (what if there was a medical emergency?) and they are all locked in till the morning. The characters don't seem to be written like they are for the longer books. There are a bunch of characters who are unfamiliar who drive the story, and it is hard to keep them all straight. It is bleak and depressing. Just what I need to read in a pandemic.

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Continuity Mistakes From Previous Books

Revisado: 04-14-19

First of all, I actually love this series, and have read every book. This book is worth reading (listening to) just as all the others are, but I want to discuss some of the plot mistakes that make no sense.

I realize many authors turn to others to write their series as the books go along. I am not sure if that is happening here, but I would hope if it is, Joanne would be reading them with a critical eye for continuity mistakes--or at least hire a top notch editor that actually knows the series.

1. The first glaring mistake is that a character that was previously killed off in Cherry Cheesecake Murder (Dean Lawrence) is said to be alive and well and living in London, and unable to return for a film festival. If this had been a very minor character that would be one thing, but it is another for the author of Chocolate Cream Pie Murder not to know that Dean Lawrence was a major murder victim that drove an entire story and now say he is alive. It is a sloppy mistake that should have been caught by someone.

2. In a snow storm Hannah amuses herself by making a strawberry bundt cake. This would be fine, but Hannah said quite emphatically in Strawberry Shortcake Murder that she is only allergic to one thing, and that is strawberries. If that is true, why is she making this cake and anticipating eating it during a blizzard?

3. At one point in the story, Hannah jokes with Norman and others saying "after all, Norman is a magician!". The problem is that he is not. Whoever wrote this story confused this fact with another character who is the amateur magician, Herb (Lisa's husband).

There were many other sloppy details like this that should have been fixed in the first read through by either the author or editor. Also, I am glad, like many others, that Ross is now history. The issue is that I feel like his character was taken from one extreme to another too quickly, and none of the details from the previous book where included. For example, Ross's family was Russian and that was brought up a great deal. Something could have been made of that, or the fact that he lived next door to a senator. Why include these facts and not weave them into his downfall, rather than having something totally unrelated come out? If Lynn Larchmont (his old girlfriend and Hannah's friend) knew that he had been violent with her before, she should have mentioned it to Hannah when she and Ross were dating in Cherry Cheese Cake Murder. Lynn would have likely known he was married before as well, as they were business associates. Also, the woman that he was married to should have made an appearance, and maybe weave that part of the story into Ross's down fall as well. Why would he marry Hannah and go on a honeymoon cruise while he was already married? Why did he transfer all of his money and his car to Hannah when he left, only to demand it back like a super villain a few months later? Wouldn't his wife have crept back into the story prior to that? So many holes in this story, and it was crafted in a very amateur way.

I would hope if they continue on to make these books, they hire a top notch editor and good writer to watch over continuity.

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