I'm a huge fan of Henery Press mysteries, but not a huge fan of drama, acting, drama...so take my lukewarm review in context.

I liked Ivy but struggled to respect her; she carries her past to heavily and allows it to overly define her.  She's still blaming herself for an accident she couldn't control when she was a child, even after therapy.  The rest of the cast of characters were mostly throwaways and as such not worth remembering.  Ivy's uncle seems as though he'll not only be a recurring character, but the humorous relief in future mysteries.

The plot was...so-so.  It was great because I never even guessed the culprit but meh because when the murderer was revealed I didn't feel any sense of urgency or tension.  Again, probably more to do with my lack of interest in what happens behind the theatre curtain.

All in all, well written and engaging.  Despite my enthusiasm the story held me in when lesser writing would have given me the excuse to put down the book and walk away.

#2?  ehhh, maybe.

Quite a mix this week.  

F*ck Feelings: I bought this one because Yodamom said it was funny (it is) and because... title love.

A Curious Beginning I enjoyed Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia series and couldn't wait to get this one. 

Macdeath - Another Henery Press book.  I was a little wary of the premise, but it's been rated highly by trusted sources.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare - this one has been catching my eye for well over a year now and I had a coupon.

My Life and Hard Times - Ditto above.

That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us - I am fascinated by the differences in English between the UK, USA and Australia and I've been reading a lot about it lately.  I'm looking forward to seeing what this one brings to the table - plus, I love Lynn Truss.

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments - I've actually already read this one and it was good.  Not great, but good.

Received this week:  7

Books read:  4

Total TBR (physical): 162

If I could give it more than 5, I would. (It's books like this that make me question other 5s I have given.)

It's not very often that I sit down with a book and, when done, can't find a single thing wrong with it. There always seems to be something that bugs me, at least a little bit. Either there was a character that I didn't care for, something happened that I couldn't quite understand, there are more boring points than I would have liked, the ending falls flat or *cough cough* there's editing issues *cough cough*.

The ones that I love are the hardest ones to review, harder than the ones that are full of issues. Why? Because I want to immediately start running-off-at-the-mouth about every thing that I loved, which would ruin the story for the next person. And I am the last person that would want to do that.

This is one of those books that falls into the category of perfect for me. It's a mystery, which puts it above the rest anyways (I am addicted to mysteries and horror novels). It's interesting, it's fun, it's creative - it blew me away. Each page kept me reading more and it was hard for me to put down. The characters were fantastic and I loved them all, especially Ivy and her uncle.

This is a series that I definitely want to finish and the author has joined the handful (or two) of authors that I wait in breathless anticipation for their releases, who I will put down what I'm reading to pick up their book. HIGHLY recommended.

Thank you, Ms. Brown. Thank you.

Note: I received a copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.  Please remember that this review is my opinion based on my own personal impression of the book.

Thanks Henery Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, cute little mystery set in the theatre world. The play is MacBeth and apparently it's bad luck to say the name of the play in the theatre. When things start happening, Ivy Matthews decides she is going to investigate. She does work part time for her uncles's detective agency. Ha!

The characters are quirky, the pace fast and I read it all in one sitting, which happens a lot with me and cozy mysteries.

I definitely recommend this book!

I felt like such a fool. Another Shakespearean concept. He wrote about two kinds of fools, though. There were the fools who were really wise, like Lear's fool, and then there were the poor deluded suckers like Duncan who believed in friends who killed them in their sleep. So which was I?

This book had humor, drama (well of course, they are doing The Scottish Play after all), some suspense, and a really likeable main character. I liked Ivy (Olive) from the beginning and never stopped rooting for her to be right about everything that was going on. I liked that not only was she funny but she also had some difficult things in her past that she had not yet completely worked through. Reading about her was a blast.

Now reading about some of the supporting characters wasn't such a blast (especially when everyone but Ivy's brother turned against her). I really liked Ivy's uncle until his behavior did a 180 and he said something to Ivy that I felt was completely out of character for him. Basically when everyone started treating Ivy like garbage is when I got a bit frustrated with this book. But when everything was revealed at the end I wasn't as frustrated any more.

I liked that there was some action and suspense at the end. I wasn't altogether satisfied with who was behind everything and why they did it but there isn't much I can do about that. I really did enjoy where Ivy ended up at the end and I am really looking forward to reading more of this series. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.