Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Cat Who Saw Stars

Title: The Cat Who Saw Stars
Author: Lilian Jackson Braun
Rating: Four and a Half Guitars

Sizzilin' Summary:
Polly's on vacation, so Qwilleran is going on vacation too... to the ever-popular Mouseville! And he's bringing his cats Koko and Yum Yum along.
But this summer vacation's not going to be peaceful for long. First a backpacker disappears, and then Koko detects the dead body in Qwill's yard! Talk about UFOs starts spreading rapidly, and that's an usual topic around the Pickaxe area anyway! Qwill and his friend Arch Riker scoffs at it.
But Koko's watching the stars, and a new mystery soon pops up. Of course there's more than meets the eye... and that's not the only new thing in Mouseville. There's a new resteraunt (sp?), and a new knitting club... a lot of news...
So who knows what "new"s will show up this time? LOL!

Rockin' Review:
It's great to have a rockin' book again!
The story was well-done. It was highly enjoyable. And it made you keep coming back for even more!
The only glitches? The Backpacker Mystery seemed to only start things off, and was never really explained. And, while it was good at the beginning, it wasn't always come-back material. However, the former element disappeared very quickly.
If you spot this book, get it! It's TOTALLY ROCKIN'!!!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A Sheetcake Named Desire

Title: A Sheetcake Named Desire
Author: Jacklyn Brady
Rating: Three and a Half Guitars

Sizzilin' Summary:
Rita Lucero is in New Orleans to force her husband to sign the divorce papers, after a long two years trying to get him to do so. But when she goes to his bakery, Zydeco Cakes, not only does she discover areas that are from her dreams, a ruined cake with high stakes attached, and many old friends who stuck with Philippe (the husband), but a murder mystery... Philippe has been murdered!
Rita is a primary suspect, as well as an old friend of hers named Ox... whom she knows didn't commit the murder! Miss Frankie, Rita' mother-in-law, soon has Rita staying around to search for the killer. Another reason is that Rita has been given Zydeco and Philippe's things... because she's still technically his wife!
But there's more trouble at Zydeco than a murder... will Rita figure things out?

Rockin' Review:
Admittedly, the actual writing of the book was four-Guitar material. And there were parts that kept you stuck, but not for long. The enjoyment level was only about three Guitars after the beginning.
And I wasn't really satisfied with the ending. There were no real clues leading up to the whodunit. It was like the author randomly picked someone at the end, stuck them there, and stuck the remaining facts into the back story to make sense. It still feels randomly picked. And there were a few facts that didn't add up.
All in all, there was good writing, but the book only had average enjoyment.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Pretty Poison

Title: Pretty Poison
Author: Joyce and Jim Lavene
Rating: Three and a Half Guitars

Sizzilin' Summary:
It's an exciting day for widow (of a police detective), professor, and botanist Peggy Lee. First, she accidentally crashes into a vet's Saturn on her bike. Then she discovers a dead body in her gardening shop, the Potting Shed. The body is of Mark Warner, one of the most important people in the city of Charlotte. The police pin the murder on a local homeless man, Mr. Cheever.
But Peggy knows that he's not the suspect, and starts tackling a very tricky mystery... and she's already trying to help figure out a poisoning in a nearby town! To make things harder, there's a lost dog, a Great Dane, who wants to stick with her. The good news is that the Saturn driver, named Steve and who lives near her, is a vet. Peggy's falling for him, despite being widowed for only two years. And Peggy's got an online stalker named Nightflyer who's mysterious...
Peggy's got a lot of work ahead of her... especially when a friend of her gets pinned for this as well!

Rockin' Review:
Now, a good deal of the book was 4-Guitar material. But then, near the end, it gets boring! It takes too long, and it's way too stretched out. It's only near the very end does it start getting enjoyable again. Like, last two chapters, or chapter and a half. But it was so boring for a good long bit! It was just too long, and too stretched out.
I would not suggest this book. It's good for a lot of it, but not worth that boring and long-stretched area.