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Ellen Sparks Mysteries #2
Certainly Dead
The nice lady that works in Human Resources can't seem to get away from people who want to kill each other (even at work; how annoying!) In the novel, Certainly Dead, Ellen Sparks discovers a body at the office. To make matters worse, her boss looks like the number one suspect, (and Ellen really likes her boss!)
Now, she must use all of her powers of deduction to figure out what really happened, who was responsible, and the true motive behind the crime.
Now, she must use all of her powers of deduction to figure out what really happened, who was responsible, and the true motive behind the crime.
Unknown Binding
First published July 10, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 31, 2014
While there are some things that hinder the progress of this tale, it was an entertaining read. Karen Fields hooked me enough to want to continue reading, and the task was not a difficult one. I rather enjoyed Certainly Dead as a whole and think Karen Fields has hit upon something that has a great deal of potential.
Ellen, the main character, seems to have a lot going on in her life. This is not the first book in Karen Fields’ Ellen Sparks mystery series and there is a backstory that I haven’t read. Although that was the case, Ms. Fields did an exceptional job of filling in the blanks without being monotonous with the details. I felt that I knew enough to get a decent feel for Ellen. I liked this character a lot, but she was very controlled and seemed just a tad too perfect. If I went through what she goes through in Certainly Dead, I would not be nearly as calm or collected. I would not have an organized list in my head of the protocol one should follow after finding a dead body, and I would not be as cool as Ellen is under pressure. A little more emotion from Ellen, a little more realism in her character would have been a good and welcome thing.
Ms. Fields uses a bit of humor in her writing which was a very nice touch. It’s understated and subtle. It was good to see some spark and some vitality as many of the characters in Certainly Dead are without many highs or lows. There is little passion in them, particularly Whistler, Ellen’s niece. I’m not sure exactly what I think of her as I haven’t read the first book in which this child’s mother is murdered. I would assume that a tragic event such as this would cause a teenager to have some difficulty in moving on with her life. While Whistler intrigued me, she was somewhat flat. She is obviously a very intelligent child, but comes off a bit too easy, a bit too laid back after living through such serious trauma in her young life.
This book has several layers and that was interesting. Again, not having read the first book in the series, I wasn’t sure exactly how all the characters fit in, but it was nice to see a multi-dimensional story. A couple of examples of this would be the wildfires that are scorching the lands of California throughout the book, (which, incidentally, becomes an important detail to the story) and the return of Captain Ben Rodriguez, who, from what I gathered, was perhaps a rather important character in the first novel. Another one of these layers is Noel Benton, grandfather to young Whistler. Throughout the book, he is in the process of selling his daughter, Jana’s home, and is preparing his own move to San Diego to be near his granddaughter. Alongside Ellen’s story line, there is David, her best friend, and David’s partner, Louis who are busy running their own bakery. They serve as babysitters, sounding boards and moral support. Their inclusion in the book is a good and interesting one. There is a lot going on in this narrative, but Ms. Fields is good at bringing all of this together. It didn’t feel patchy or overwhelming, but was instead quite smooth and added a good feel to her tale.
Is Certainly Dead a good mystery? Well, it’s definitely a well-researched one. Ms. Fields is a pro at details and she writes an amusing story. There were times when it seemed as though she was explaining things in a manner much like she was using bullet points; a factual telling of events instead of a flowing narration. She was very good at telling, but not as good at showing which would have been more entertaining. The tale could have used a bit more feeling, a bit more passion. These are good and interesting characters. I’d like to have seen what made them tick a little more. I would have liked to have seen them show more emotion. It’s in there. I can sense it.
Certainly Dead was a good book. It read quickly and flowed well. This second book piqued my interest and I am curious to see what the third book in the Ellen Sparks series will bring.
Ellen, the main character, seems to have a lot going on in her life. This is not the first book in Karen Fields’ Ellen Sparks mystery series and there is a backstory that I haven’t read. Although that was the case, Ms. Fields did an exceptional job of filling in the blanks without being monotonous with the details. I felt that I knew enough to get a decent feel for Ellen. I liked this character a lot, but she was very controlled and seemed just a tad too perfect. If I went through what she goes through in Certainly Dead, I would not be nearly as calm or collected. I would not have an organized list in my head of the protocol one should follow after finding a dead body, and I would not be as cool as Ellen is under pressure. A little more emotion from Ellen, a little more realism in her character would have been a good and welcome thing.
Ms. Fields uses a bit of humor in her writing which was a very nice touch. It’s understated and subtle. It was good to see some spark and some vitality as many of the characters in Certainly Dead are without many highs or lows. There is little passion in them, particularly Whistler, Ellen’s niece. I’m not sure exactly what I think of her as I haven’t read the first book in which this child’s mother is murdered. I would assume that a tragic event such as this would cause a teenager to have some difficulty in moving on with her life. While Whistler intrigued me, she was somewhat flat. She is obviously a very intelligent child, but comes off a bit too easy, a bit too laid back after living through such serious trauma in her young life.
This book has several layers and that was interesting. Again, not having read the first book in the series, I wasn’t sure exactly how all the characters fit in, but it was nice to see a multi-dimensional story. A couple of examples of this would be the wildfires that are scorching the lands of California throughout the book, (which, incidentally, becomes an important detail to the story) and the return of Captain Ben Rodriguez, who, from what I gathered, was perhaps a rather important character in the first novel. Another one of these layers is Noel Benton, grandfather to young Whistler. Throughout the book, he is in the process of selling his daughter, Jana’s home, and is preparing his own move to San Diego to be near his granddaughter. Alongside Ellen’s story line, there is David, her best friend, and David’s partner, Louis who are busy running their own bakery. They serve as babysitters, sounding boards and moral support. Their inclusion in the book is a good and interesting one. There is a lot going on in this narrative, but Ms. Fields is good at bringing all of this together. It didn’t feel patchy or overwhelming, but was instead quite smooth and added a good feel to her tale.
Is Certainly Dead a good mystery? Well, it’s definitely a well-researched one. Ms. Fields is a pro at details and she writes an amusing story. There were times when it seemed as though she was explaining things in a manner much like she was using bullet points; a factual telling of events instead of a flowing narration. She was very good at telling, but not as good at showing which would have been more entertaining. The tale could have used a bit more feeling, a bit more passion. These are good and interesting characters. I’d like to have seen what made them tick a little more. I would have liked to have seen them show more emotion. It’s in there. I can sense it.
Certainly Dead was a good book. It read quickly and flowed well. This second book piqued my interest and I am curious to see what the third book in the Ellen Sparks series will bring.
August 21, 2014
I have mixed feelings about this book and it almost got a mere two stars, but it was redeemed by the fact that (a) it was occasionally funny, and anything that makes me laugh does not deserve two stars and (b) I actually wanted to get to the end to find out what was going on.
The book is a reasonable who-done-it set in California. The protagonist is a HR executive with a flair for sleuthing. She gets into scrapes with the criminals (sorry, saying "bad guys" makes it sound as if they should be wearing masks and stripy jumpers) and her two guardian angels cannot always be around to save her. It is the second book in a series and I have not read the first book. The fact that I could read this book without having read the previous one is another plus point for this book, as serial books can be too absorbed in what has gone before, whereas with Certainly Dead the events of the previous book which impact on the current one are the only ones which are aired, and then put down. The exception is the introduction of Whistler's grandfather, obviously important to the previous story, who gets scenes that seem irrelevant to the story beyond his arrival. He does not exactly play a pivotal role in subsequent events and while I am in favour of "real life" events occurring in fiction which do not move the story forward (such as the bakery sub-plot), they need to take on the appropriate place in the scheme of things, and grandpa's arrival seemed too important at the time of introduction - as if it would change the dynamic of the story in some way.
I found that the characters were uniformly two dimensional and the conversations between them were often terse and unbelievable. The most believable character was the protagonist's niece, Whistler, and even then a little teenage rebellion or surliness would not go amiss - the girl has lost her mother, so something should be there more than just a compliant and helpful kid.
You come to realise that if anything is ever mentioned specifically (other than the side-story of the doings of her best friend's bakery) then it will crop up again in some significant way. A sample would be that a nature reserve is mentioned in a description of a journey. By the end of the chapter they are at the nature reserve.
The book lacked mystery: the culprits are all identified quite early on in proceedings. There were absolutely no red herrings or false leads, no ambiguity, no layers of non-essential detail which keep you guessing as to culprit, motive, etc. I feel that some suspicion on other characters might have added to the story, as the protagonist eliminates dead ends and hones in on the target. I know that this is still painting by numbers in the writing of crime drama, but the reader's expectations of genre are as important as the author's treatment of those expectations. Not addressing expectations is either very bold or very foolish.
Dramatic situations came across a little flat - there was ample opportunity to pump up the tension at various times which were missed, particularly true of what should have been the key scene of the book: the rescue. I would have liked to see more obstacles in the way, perhaps an encounter with / sighting of the villain as he leaves the scene, etc. There was never a feeling of danger.
Finally, a number of repeated formatting errors occur throughout the book, especially around speech formatting. This should have been picked up and changed prior to publication.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
The book is a reasonable who-done-it set in California. The protagonist is a HR executive with a flair for sleuthing. She gets into scrapes with the criminals (sorry, saying "bad guys" makes it sound as if they should be wearing masks and stripy jumpers) and her two guardian angels cannot always be around to save her. It is the second book in a series and I have not read the first book. The fact that I could read this book without having read the previous one is another plus point for this book, as serial books can be too absorbed in what has gone before, whereas with Certainly Dead the events of the previous book which impact on the current one are the only ones which are aired, and then put down. The exception is the introduction of Whistler's grandfather, obviously important to the previous story, who gets scenes that seem irrelevant to the story beyond his arrival. He does not exactly play a pivotal role in subsequent events and while I am in favour of "real life" events occurring in fiction which do not move the story forward (such as the bakery sub-plot), they need to take on the appropriate place in the scheme of things, and grandpa's arrival seemed too important at the time of introduction - as if it would change the dynamic of the story in some way.
I found that the characters were uniformly two dimensional and the conversations between them were often terse and unbelievable. The most believable character was the protagonist's niece, Whistler, and even then a little teenage rebellion or surliness would not go amiss - the girl has lost her mother, so something should be there more than just a compliant and helpful kid.
You come to realise that if anything is ever mentioned specifically (other than the side-story of the doings of her best friend's bakery) then it will crop up again in some significant way. A sample would be that a nature reserve is mentioned in a description of a journey. By the end of the chapter they are at the nature reserve.
The book lacked mystery: the culprits are all identified quite early on in proceedings. There were absolutely no red herrings or false leads, no ambiguity, no layers of non-essential detail which keep you guessing as to culprit, motive, etc. I feel that some suspicion on other characters might have added to the story, as the protagonist eliminates dead ends and hones in on the target. I know that this is still painting by numbers in the writing of crime drama, but the reader's expectations of genre are as important as the author's treatment of those expectations. Not addressing expectations is either very bold or very foolish.
Dramatic situations came across a little flat - there was ample opportunity to pump up the tension at various times which were missed, particularly true of what should have been the key scene of the book: the rescue. I would have liked to see more obstacles in the way, perhaps an encounter with / sighting of the villain as he leaves the scene, etc. There was never a feeling of danger.
Finally, a number of repeated formatting errors occur throughout the book, especially around speech formatting. This should have been picked up and changed prior to publication.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
September 27, 2014
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I was excited to read “Certainly Dead” as I’m a fan of murder mysteries. When Ellen finds a dead body at work the story is set up for a woman sleuth to take charge. It’s clear from the beginning that’s something the main character Ellen likes to do. Lack of formal training doesn’t stop her as Ellen rushes to solve the murder.
I found the storyline itself was interesting. Unfortunately there’s no sense of urgency, no red herrings, no false leads and the conflict feels watered down. I was also disappointed the author didn’t get an editor for the book. There are typos, grammatical and formatting errors that slow progress down.
The author needs to show not tell more. There’s no excitement, emotion or depth to most of the characters. For instance, I would describe Ellen as methodical, unemotional, controlling and a bit of a know it all. I would have enjoyed her character if Ellen was more complex.
A redeeming feature of the novel is the author has a sense of humor and much of the dialogue is lighthearted and witty. If Karen Fields adds more mystery, intrigue and conflict to her plot and greater depth and vitality to her characters her next novel will be worth a read.
I found the storyline itself was interesting. Unfortunately there’s no sense of urgency, no red herrings, no false leads and the conflict feels watered down. I was also disappointed the author didn’t get an editor for the book. There are typos, grammatical and formatting errors that slow progress down.
The author needs to show not tell more. There’s no excitement, emotion or depth to most of the characters. For instance, I would describe Ellen as methodical, unemotional, controlling and a bit of a know it all. I would have enjoyed her character if Ellen was more complex.
A redeeming feature of the novel is the author has a sense of humor and much of the dialogue is lighthearted and witty. If Karen Fields adds more mystery, intrigue and conflict to her plot and greater depth and vitality to her characters her next novel will be worth a read.
November 7, 2014
I was very lucky to have been given a free ‘advance reading’ copy of this book free from ‘Goodreads First Reads’. Having not read any other Karen Fields books before I was unfamiliar with Ellen Sparks. I found the book very good and almost felt as though I was involved in a tv program rather than a book, which is something that I have not experienced before. I would definitely read more of these books and plan to do so soon.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews