I'm leaving this unrated, which is something I do not normally do.

The writing is good, but I lack enough knowledge about sailing for some parts and am finding myself getting confused as to who is on what ship.  He has a list of rescue vessels and crew at the end, why he couldn't add on about the ships when he keeps jumping around so much, I'm not sure.

This book is as good as any suspense/thriller novel I have read. Even though I don’t know much about sailing I have worked in pre/hospital care so I have some idea about rescues, effects of injuries. How there weren’t more fatalities is beyond me, the bravery of the competitors was astonishing & the skill, composure & also bravery of the rescuers left me speechless.

I come from Sydney, and this race is a big part of Christmas in Sydney, just as it is in Hobart, so this meant it had another means of interesting me.

Mundle’s writing is pretty good. You are immersed in the events. I was exhausted at times reading this book. But that is an indication of the quality of the writing. All up a good read.

See this and all my reviews at Mystereity Reviews

In A Killer Location, realtor Sam Turner is back in Arlinda for book 2 in the Home Sweet Home mystery. Life is good for Sam, she's settling into the home she was finally able to buy, her romance with Bernie (her sister's ex, Arlinda's police chief) is heating up and her real estate career is starting to take off, thanks to an opportunity to stage an open house in a very exclusive neighborhood. But, of course, nothing is every easy for Sam. Her sister (Bernie's ex-wife, no less!) and the open house from Hell leads to a corpse in the garden, Sam's boss is arrested for the murder. Desperate to save her boss (and her job!) Sam sets out to find a killer before she loses everything.

This book was hilarious and every bit as good as the first in the series. Poor Sam, even something as simple as an open house doesn't go right. You really have to feel for her, she's got so many things going on; making a success as a fledgling realtor, supporting herself and her son, a dodgy ex-husband, and trying to enjoy her new romance with Bernie and then it all blows up. I loved the catastrophic open house, it had me laughing out loud - especially the fleas!

This was a great plot, very tricky with plenty of misdirection and plot twists to keep readers guessing. I thought I had it all figured out but no, I didn't.

As with any book, the story is only as good as its characters and this is where the author succeeds; quirky, colorful and entertaining, they add so much dimension to the books. Smart and sassy, it's easy to relate to Sam and her hapless struggles, and Sam's neighbors are a hoot. I hope to see more of them in the next book!

Overall, A Killer Location is a great addition to what is shaping up to be an outstanding cozy mystery series. I definitely recommend the series to cozy mystery fans; with a lot of humor, a strong, independent single woman and great plots, it will appeal to fans of Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Milhone.

 

Thank you to Random House - Alibi and Netgalley, who provided an advance copy in return for my honest review.

It is more of an estate than a house, this massive home situated amongst the hillside. Sam and Biddie were investigating the property to see if it might be an option for one of their clients as this property had just been listed for sale. Sam’s son had informed her that the house had been known to be haunted but that is yet to be seen in Sam’s eyes.   Sam is a newly appointed real estate agent and working with Biddie, she is learning the tricks of the trade. Biddie is all business and seems to be in a hurry, where Sam follows her along slowly and is noticing the smaller things in life.   Within a day, Sam has three individuals who are interested in the house. These individuals all came to her out of the blue which I thought was strange, each of them with a different reason for wanting the property. It’s almost too good to be true, how fast this listing is getting individuals in the door.  She is hoping that one of them will be a buyer for this estate but as the day approaches for the showings, not all of the clients make it to their showings. It’s as though they were not meant to see this house, as their death cancels their time slot. Sam handles their death as if it was an every occurrence in her life, she brushes it off and that bothered me.   People were dying around Sam and it’s as though they didn’t even matter, what is wrong with her??  I found it difficult reading this novel. I didn’t care for the character of Sam, I didn’t understand what she was trying to accomplish in her life, and it felt as if the storyline was jumbled together for me.   When her sister’s ex-husband was making the move on her, she thought for a minute how wrong the situation was becoming but only for a minute did she ponder this thought.   She thought of what awaited her and then she based her decision on that and went for it.   I thought I had something I could follow and then this storyline frazzled out for me. I tried to piece this all together but it made no sense to me. I tried, I really did.

I received this novel from NetGalley and Chatterbox Party in exchange for an honest review.

Death at a Fixer Upper is the first in the Home Sweet Home mystery series.  Sam Turner is a fledgling real estate agent with three offers on a decrepit mansion. One by one, the prospective buyers turn up dead. Can she solve the mystery before she turns up dead?

 

Fantastic book! It grabbed hold of me from the very first page.  I made the mistake of starting this late one night, then spending all of the next day counting the minutes until I could get back to it.

 

I loved the  main character, Sam Turner, who I thought was a Kinsey Millhone lives-by-her-wits kind of woman. A single mom juggling a teen-aged son, closing on the house she just bought, a potential romance with the chief of police and her career, Sam is like most women; lots to do and no time to do it.  Who can't relate to that?  I loved the home ec. story, it made me giggle, thinking of the teacher's face.  

 

The plot spanned the book quite well, with many twists and turns and an ending that I didn't expect.  Lots of action filled out the story, from the kinetic sculpture race to the murders and the investigations.  At the beginning of the book, it was mentioned that the locals thought the house was haunted and various paranormal events occurred, but it disappeared from the story pretty early on in the book.  I would've like to have seen that explored some more. 

 

The other concern I had is that the first murder had a lot of detail, but the second murder really didn't.  I was left confused wondering which person killed Ray.  Didn't detract from the story, but I felt it was detail that shouldn't have been omitted.

 

Lastly, there were a few moments in the book where it seemed like it was recapping an earlier book in the series.  I was surprised when I found out this was book 1.  Again, it didn't detract from the story or confuse me, but I thought those elements could've been integrated into the story in a way that didn't lead the reader to believe there were other books in the series.

 

 

Laugh-out-loud funny, with a riveting plot, gorgeous locale and charming characters, Death at a Fixer Upper will appeal to any fan of cozy mysteries or chick lit.