L itibaren Laguna del Mante, S.L.P., Mexico
A good Tolstovian sampler. But be warned, several portions are merely teasers from his great works.
I really like these cute quick read mystery books, and this book had potential, but fell a little short of keeping my attention in a steady manner. Told in the first person, much like Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity Books (and this one comes with a recipe in the back as well), it was a little confusing in areas, and choppy. There were places where the character's conversations really made no sense. One example of this is that the main character, a woman named Jessie, has a twin brother who constantly borrows money from her. In one "scene" she and two others are sitting in the Renaissance Village cafe and the brother comes in, already owing her $100, and asks her for another $20 for a date he has. Jessie becomes embarrassed and flat out denies him anymore funds. The brother gets irritated and Jessie's "love interest" spots him the $20 to shut him up. Afterward, Jessie and her beau leave the cafe and the beau proceeds to tell her how he understands and that her brother just needs to be more responsible and learn to stand on his own two feet. This completely contradicts the fact that the beau just loaned him money! There are several of these examples throughout the book which to some may seem minor, but leave me shaking my head. Another issue I have with the book is there is a constant sexual tension or insinuation in almost every interaction that does not deal directly with the mystery storyline. Okay, she's hot for this guy, we get it. It really doesn't add to the plot and, like too much swearing, gets old after awhile. Lastly, there were some serious editing errors, which kind of jump off of the pages when you are reading. Some sentences I had to go back and read four or five times and I still don't think they were worded right, and some flat out don't make sense. There is also the inconsistent switch between "Ms." and "Miz" (both used for Jessie) and a married character is referred to both "Mrs." and "Ms." in different places. There are also quippy thoughts Jessie has that contain information that is simply incorrect. For example, in trying to be funny the authors wrote in a cute thought of Jessie's that "when the egg split" she got the brains and her twin brother got the looks. Fraternal twins do not come from the same egg and there is no such thing as identical fraternal twins. A factual reference that I would consider rather embarrassing as an author to not know. Again, a minor thing, but makes me question the authenticity of information presented. Even in fiction, an author needs to do his or her homework and stay true to the facts of these kinds of "minor" details, if for nothing else than to just not look ignorant. An editor should have caught that reference immediately. All in all, it was a cute book and I will probably read the rest when they come out in this series. You just have to overlook the editing mistakes, somewhat contradictory actions of the characters, and not assume that any kind of historical or scientific reference, in any form, is accurate.