I decided the overall writing was not worth it to continue the series. This book needs a copy editor to proof the story and fill in missing words. But it was the characters (most of them recurring) that I just could not deal with.

 

Mercy Watts is a great nurse and if the author focused the mystery using her medical knowledge, it would be a much better series. At that is what the story did in the beginning. But Mercy is an awful character and the biggest pet peeve I have about her character is that she is completely weak - mind, body, and emotionally. Her family/friends are abusive and she just keeps taking the abuse. She also doesn't have much deductive reasoning, making her a lousy detective despite having family members on the force and therefore (in cozy mystery land) the best amateur detective EVER (they are not all that smart either, regular group of Keystone Kops).

 

The characters fall into two groups: rich, pretty people and morbidly obese poor people. No depth whatsoever. The series is based in St Louis; I know this because in chapter twenty-two or so St. Louis is mentioned. Up to that point, I thought this might have taken place in any big city in the Mid-West (Chicago, Omaha, etc). That is how little the setting matters to the story or the author.

 

The mystery was sub-par and muddied by the constant crappy characterizations. 1 star.

I started this book because I forgot the book I was reading at home and needed something to keep me occupied while waiting on the laundry.

 

Goal for the next two days is to finish this story up and decide if I want to continue with the other two novellas I have on the TBR or cut my losses and just delete those books off the NOOK.

 

This book started with such promise, but the characterizations fall into two categories: sexy, glamorous Marilyn-Monroe/Golden Age of Hollywood or morbidly obese sexually-harassing. Oh, and the police is a parody of the likes of Keystone Kops.

 

And for the love of all that is reading, repeat after me cozy mystery writers: "Just because my daddy was a detective/investigator, doesn't mean I am a detective or should be investigating a death."

2.5 Stars.Thanks to Harlequin for the ARC of this book.Overall this was just okay for me. It had a lot of nice sexual tension and an attractive male main character and a likeable female main character, and good solid writing. As for the plot and the mystery of 'WHO DONE IT?', that was easy as peas to pick out. It was really not much of a suspense if you ask me.That was probably the biggest downfall of it for me, but also the fact that a major point felt like it was overlooked - WHO KILLED ASH'S PARENTS? - was also left unanswered. It felt a little rushed in the ending: the bad guy's big reveal, the declaration of love... all tied up so quickly at the end was kind of a let down. Sigh.