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Liz Lucas Mystery #1
Murder in Cottage #6
Liz Lucas, a 52 year old widow, is beginning to think she’s been given a second chance at life by owning a successful spa located in a beautiful forest area on the coast north of San Francisco.
What could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, discovering that a guest staying in cottage #6 at the spa has been murdered.
In order to save the spa’s reputation, Liz, along with her two dogs, Brandy Boy and Winston, sets out to find the killer. The cast of characters includes a handyman, spa employees, the bumbling police chief, the owner of Gertie’s Diner, the dead woman’s husband (the mayor), his girlfriend, and a Tiffany glass collector. One of them probably committed the crime, but it’s up to Liz to quickly find the culprit.
What could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, discovering that a guest staying in cottage #6 at the spa has been murdered.
In order to save the spa’s reputation, Liz, along with her two dogs, Brandy Boy and Winston, sets out to find the killer. The cast of characters includes a handyman, spa employees, the bumbling police chief, the owner of Gertie’s Diner, the dead woman’s husband (the mayor), his girlfriend, and a Tiffany glass collector. One of them probably committed the crime, but it’s up to Liz to quickly find the culprit.
140 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 18, 2015
615 people are currently reading
750 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
May 17, 2015
This book shocks me that it is published! I downloaded for free, just amazed that anyone thought this is good enough for publishing. the writing is stiff, so unbelievable is the action and plot that while reading this I kept thinking...how did this get published?! I was in a camper and it was raining, the end made no sense, the only good part of this book was the dog, but after being introduced he got left at home. What a waste.
April 28, 2015
While this was a pleasant read it lacked warmth and realism. The writing style is too formal and stiff. The conversations and dialogue didn't seem like ones normal people would have.
I had a hard time following our main character's dialogue, especially when she was on the phone. I kept waiting for the other person's response (whoever she was talking to at the time) and it wasn't there. This whole book lacked regular banter type dialogue. I love good bantering.
Also the mystery itself was way too easy to figure out and the fact Liz missed the glaring clues was pathetic.
I only finished this book so I could give a fair review. Unless this author's writing style greatly improves, I will not be reading anymore of her books.
I had a hard time following our main character's dialogue, especially when she was on the phone. I kept waiting for the other person's response (whoever she was talking to at the time) and it wasn't there. This whole book lacked regular banter type dialogue. I love good bantering.
Also the mystery itself was way too easy to figure out and the fact Liz missed the glaring clues was pathetic.
I only finished this book so I could give a fair review. Unless this author's writing style greatly improves, I will not be reading anymore of her books.
July 31, 2020
Audio Review
Dianne Harman and cozy mysteries are new to me but after listening to this book I will certainly be checking out previous books and other books in the Liz Lucas Mystery Series.
Liz Lucas is a likeable amateur sleuth who decides to take matters into her own hands when she comes across a dead body at the spa she runs.
This mystery has some great characters, even the creepy local chief of police is interesting and what can I say about her trusted companion Winston the guard dog apart from I want a Winston by my side. The story is interesting and narrator Erin DeWard did a great job bringing the story and the beautiful setting to life. Looking forward to more from this author
Dianne Harman and cozy mysteries are new to me but after listening to this book I will certainly be checking out previous books and other books in the Liz Lucas Mystery Series.
Liz Lucas is a likeable amateur sleuth who decides to take matters into her own hands when she comes across a dead body at the spa she runs.
This mystery has some great characters, even the creepy local chief of police is interesting and what can I say about her trusted companion Winston the guard dog apart from I want a Winston by my side. The story is interesting and narrator Erin DeWard did a great job bringing the story and the beautiful setting to life. Looking forward to more from this author
May 3, 2015
This is the first book I have read by Dianne Harman. It is the first book in the new Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery Series.
I gave this book only three stars due to some things I felt slowed down the book. Of course, this is my opinion and may not be shared by other readers.
I found the thoughts of Liz, written in italics, took my focus off what was happening at the time. I actually had to re-read the lines to figure out what was happening.
Also, I did not like Roger, who is a criminal attorney that is the 'love interest' of Liz. I found his actions to be very unprofessional.
I do hope to re-read this book in the near future to find out if I was just having a bad day and, in turn, it caused me to feel this way.
I do look forward to reading the second book in the series.
I gave this book only three stars due to some things I felt slowed down the book. Of course, this is my opinion and may not be shared by other readers.
I found the thoughts of Liz, written in italics, took my focus off what was happening at the time. I actually had to re-read the lines to figure out what was happening.
Also, I did not like Roger, who is a criminal attorney that is the 'love interest' of Liz. I found his actions to be very unprofessional.
I do hope to re-read this book in the near future to find out if I was just having a bad day and, in turn, it caused me to feel this way.
I do look forward to reading the second book in the series.
June 11, 2015
Managed to slog through this.
The story idea was good, but the writing was contrived. The characters were not fleshed out well. The conversation was stilted and repetitive. The author tried to portray the main character as kind and generous but she (Liz Lucas) also came across as a dimwit. It was painful for me to read this book but I forced myself to finish it. This rather surprised me because I love cozy mysteries, even the ones that are a little awkward or unbelievable. This one was just written poorly. The author may have improved her writing in subsequent books of this series but I don't think I want to chance being disappointed again.
The story idea was good, but the writing was contrived. The characters were not fleshed out well. The conversation was stilted and repetitive. The author tried to portray the main character as kind and generous but she (Liz Lucas) also came across as a dimwit. It was painful for me to read this book but I forced myself to finish it. This rather surprised me because I love cozy mysteries, even the ones that are a little awkward or unbelievable. This one was just written poorly. The author may have improved her writing in subsequent books of this series but I don't think I want to chance being disappointed again.
April 24, 2015
Honestly, half the things in this book would never happen. For instance, a non-police person would never be permitted to go and tell someone that his wife had just been probably murdered in one of her cottages. The police or ministers do that. And the idea of hopping on a plane to chase someone instead of telling the police and letting them do their job (because she knew they would never listen anyways) was laughable. In fact, I spent time thinking ahead as to what possible inaccuracy was coming next, and I wasn't disappointed.
May 11, 2025
Murder in Cottage #6 is book one in the Liz Lucas Mystery series by Dianne Harman. At Red Cedar, a small town on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco, Spa owner Liz Lucas started to think she had the right to feel happy again after the death of her husband, twelve months ago. When the Mayor's wife was found dead in her Cottage #6, Liz Lucas decided to investigate to find the killer to save her Spa's reputation. The readers of Murder in Cottage #6 will continue to follow Liz Lucas to discover what happens.
Murder in Cottage #6 is the first book I read by Dianne Harman, and I enjoyed reading this book. I engaged with the characters and the story from the beginning. I love how Dianne Harman included the four-legged characters and how they interact with the human characters. I also understand the problems of running a small business. I was surprised to start a new series from the first book instead of the traditional way from the middle of the series.
I love Liz Lucas's portrayal of her characters and the way they interact with each other. Murder in Cottage #6 is well-written and researched by Dianne Harman. I like Liz Lucas's description of the settings of Murder in Cottage #6, which allowed me to imagine being part of the book's plot.
I recommend this book.
February 17, 2021
I listened to the audiobook edition. A pretty good cozy mystery. A few of the voices the narrator used were irritating. Overall a fun book.
June 26, 2024
Murder in Cottage #6 is a cosy mystery novella by Dianne Harman. It is the first in the “A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery” series, featuring the main character Liz Lucas. She is the owner of a lodge that has a spa nearby. However, things get messed up when she’s informed about a death in one of her cabins. She feels she needs to investigate the crime, so she goes around town, interviewing all sorts of people; in the hopes that she can find out who committed the murder. There are twenty-six chapters, an epilogue and a recipe section.
My first thought about the book is that I feel like the author goes into too much detail about irrelevant things, such as taking multiple paragraphs to talk about a dog who lives at the spa, and huge paragraphs to talk about things like food for the guests. Does it turn out to be relevant to the plot? Not really, to be honest. Even later when she gets a guard dog, the author makes it out as if it’s hugely important to the plot, but it ends up being super irrelevant. All the dog ends up doing is a few tricks and then growling at one person. And the authors also put a lot of things in the wrong order. For example, when one of the guests at the lodge turns out to have died, the employee and Liz discuss it for a while before even considering reporting to anyone. She even goes into detail about the stress the woman might have been under, and the woman’s husband’s stress. Whereas the majority of the conversation should have taken place AFTER reporting the death. Heck, I think the employee should have made the call to report it from the room itself, long before mentioning it to the boss. It felt really off for me. And then, when she finally does make the call, she really takes her time with it. She doesn’t just tell the operator that a person has died; she instead asks for the Chief and then takes ages to tell him to come along, and she doesn’t even make it clear that someone has died. Honestly, what the heck? It really felt like she was so uncaring. It’s not until the Chief is actually standing outside the cottage that she tells him that someone has died in there. It was just time wasting on her part. Realistically there’s all sorts of people who needed to be informed in due time, who the police Chief could have notified before leaving the station; and he could have made sure the husband could have been notified sooner. Yet Liz chose to just waste everyone’s time by not being clear in the first place. It felt really clear she just didn’t want a visual police presence at her business; worrying so much about having official police/ coroner vehicles around. Ironically, there’s a remark about her thoughts on the police Chief, “Liz steeled herself not to comment on his insensitivity.” What? And what about her own insensitivity? She couldn’t even notify the police Chief about the death in a reasonable time frame; she didn’t even tell him until he was literally outside the cottage door. Sure, the police Chief doesn’t seem like a good guy. But Liz seems just as bad as he is; the majority of the book she’s just doing the investigation to protect her own “reputation”. It’s pretty selfish. And the employee has clearly had such a massive, upsetting shock. Yet Liz basically just puts her back to work, instead of letting her have a bit more time to settle her nerves. Am I meant to think that Liz is a good person? She clearly isn’t.
And, to continue with that, there’s so much about the case that doesn’t make sense; primarily her behaviour about the death, and the way she investigates the death. The way the police officers were written to be so incompetent was just cringeworthy. For some reason, she decides she needs to be the one notifying the husband of the death, she explains, “Since it happened on my property, I should be the one to tell him.” Ummm… No? The police should be the one to notify him. Get the officers to do it. Then, as soon as the police leave, she gets one of her employees to clean the cottage. What? No. That would be a crime scene, and sealed by the police/ forensics people. Then she goes and gossips about the death to multiple people, even going so far as to reveal private details about the death to the business partner of the victim. Ironically, she complains that other people will be gossiping about it at a diner; which is something she herself does. Then she gets back some pretty bad advice from a lawyer associate, that since the police Chief guy is incompetent, “it would only make sense for you to do everything you can to solve the crime and protect the reputation of the spa.” What? No… Honestly, what? She’s just as incompetent as the police Chief at investigations, though, as she’s already proven. And, even if she weren’t incompetent, the reputation of the spa really isn’t in trouble from the murder. So, the advice the lawyer is telling her about contacting the newspaper and to solve the crime herself is really bad. If anything, her actions in the investigation cause her a bad reputation, in my opinion. She reveals private details about the crime to all sorts of people during a criminal investigation, and clearly has a huge disrespect for the victim in the first place. And, weirdly, the coroner calls her personally to inform her of the autopsy findings… Why, though? It’s explained that the coroner is telling her because he thinks that the police chief will gossip about it. That makes zero sense that he would tell her at all. As for the gossip, that’s what she does; even before getting these autopsy results, she had been gossiping to all sorts of people about the death. She even informs a journalist about the autopsy findings.
Then, when the characters figure out who the killer is, it just doesn’t make sense in the way the author thinks it does. I know what the author is sort of aiming for. But, for me, it just feels like it wasn’t thought through very well. Especially the motive, and who the killer chose to target because of this motive. Also, Liz made one of the weirdest statements, “You wouldn’t need gunpowder for a gun, but you would for a bomb.” What? Gunpowder is used for bullets all the time.
Way too much of the book felt like advertisements for brands; the author kept mentioning them over and over again. Such as a liquor brand, a lingerie brand; it felt highly irrelevant. Even once we get into the recipes at the back of the book, the author mentions brand name store-bought items to use in the recipes. Which isn’t great for recipes, because a substantial number of readers might not even have access to those ingredients. I myself would not be able to get the majority of brand name items listed by the author in those recipes.
Overall, my main thought about the book is that the author needed to do a lot more research about a lot of relevant fields, such as police investigations and the behaviour of police during investigations, evidence collection, the way businesses like lodges and spas are run, etc. There were just so many ways that character behaviours around such things were flawed. The murder case would never make it to a proper trial because of the way the majority of evidence was gotten, and mishandled; the information they got was mostly through gossip and hearsay. Liz herself is certainly not a reliable witness or investigator. Anyway, apart from that stuff that needs more research, I didn’t like any of the characters. Especially Liz. Her treatment of others was just appalling. She would think and say such rude things about people. She’s really quick to judge and bully people. The rest of the characters were also unlikeable for me, and there seemed to be a really unnecessary amount of characters; many of which had no real importance to the story. I definitely did not like this book. It was pretty bad, in my opinion.
My first thought about the book is that I feel like the author goes into too much detail about irrelevant things, such as taking multiple paragraphs to talk about a dog who lives at the spa, and huge paragraphs to talk about things like food for the guests. Does it turn out to be relevant to the plot? Not really, to be honest. Even later when she gets a guard dog, the author makes it out as if it’s hugely important to the plot, but it ends up being super irrelevant. All the dog ends up doing is a few tricks and then growling at one person. And the authors also put a lot of things in the wrong order. For example, when one of the guests at the lodge turns out to have died, the employee and Liz discuss it for a while before even considering reporting to anyone. She even goes into detail about the stress the woman might have been under, and the woman’s husband’s stress. Whereas the majority of the conversation should have taken place AFTER reporting the death. Heck, I think the employee should have made the call to report it from the room itself, long before mentioning it to the boss. It felt really off for me. And then, when she finally does make the call, she really takes her time with it. She doesn’t just tell the operator that a person has died; she instead asks for the Chief and then takes ages to tell him to come along, and she doesn’t even make it clear that someone has died. Honestly, what the heck? It really felt like she was so uncaring. It’s not until the Chief is actually standing outside the cottage that she tells him that someone has died in there. It was just time wasting on her part. Realistically there’s all sorts of people who needed to be informed in due time, who the police Chief could have notified before leaving the station; and he could have made sure the husband could have been notified sooner. Yet Liz chose to just waste everyone’s time by not being clear in the first place. It felt really clear she just didn’t want a visual police presence at her business; worrying so much about having official police/ coroner vehicles around. Ironically, there’s a remark about her thoughts on the police Chief, “Liz steeled herself not to comment on his insensitivity.” What? And what about her own insensitivity? She couldn’t even notify the police Chief about the death in a reasonable time frame; she didn’t even tell him until he was literally outside the cottage door. Sure, the police Chief doesn’t seem like a good guy. But Liz seems just as bad as he is; the majority of the book she’s just doing the investigation to protect her own “reputation”. It’s pretty selfish. And the employee has clearly had such a massive, upsetting shock. Yet Liz basically just puts her back to work, instead of letting her have a bit more time to settle her nerves. Am I meant to think that Liz is a good person? She clearly isn’t.
And, to continue with that, there’s so much about the case that doesn’t make sense; primarily her behaviour about the death, and the way she investigates the death. The way the police officers were written to be so incompetent was just cringeworthy. For some reason, she decides she needs to be the one notifying the husband of the death, she explains, “Since it happened on my property, I should be the one to tell him.” Ummm… No? The police should be the one to notify him. Get the officers to do it. Then, as soon as the police leave, she gets one of her employees to clean the cottage. What? No. That would be a crime scene, and sealed by the police/ forensics people. Then she goes and gossips about the death to multiple people, even going so far as to reveal private details about the death to the business partner of the victim. Ironically, she complains that other people will be gossiping about it at a diner; which is something she herself does. Then she gets back some pretty bad advice from a lawyer associate, that since the police Chief guy is incompetent, “it would only make sense for you to do everything you can to solve the crime and protect the reputation of the spa.” What? No… Honestly, what? She’s just as incompetent as the police Chief at investigations, though, as she’s already proven. And, even if she weren’t incompetent, the reputation of the spa really isn’t in trouble from the murder. So, the advice the lawyer is telling her about contacting the newspaper and to solve the crime herself is really bad. If anything, her actions in the investigation cause her a bad reputation, in my opinion. She reveals private details about the crime to all sorts of people during a criminal investigation, and clearly has a huge disrespect for the victim in the first place. And, weirdly, the coroner calls her personally to inform her of the autopsy findings… Why, though? It’s explained that the coroner is telling her because he thinks that the police chief will gossip about it. That makes zero sense that he would tell her at all. As for the gossip, that’s what she does; even before getting these autopsy results, she had been gossiping to all sorts of people about the death. She even informs a journalist about the autopsy findings.
Then, when the characters figure out who the killer is, it just doesn’t make sense in the way the author thinks it does. I know what the author is sort of aiming for. But, for me, it just feels like it wasn’t thought through very well. Especially the motive, and who the killer chose to target because of this motive. Also, Liz made one of the weirdest statements, “You wouldn’t need gunpowder for a gun, but you would for a bomb.” What? Gunpowder is used for bullets all the time.
Way too much of the book felt like advertisements for brands; the author kept mentioning them over and over again. Such as a liquor brand, a lingerie brand; it felt highly irrelevant. Even once we get into the recipes at the back of the book, the author mentions brand name store-bought items to use in the recipes. Which isn’t great for recipes, because a substantial number of readers might not even have access to those ingredients. I myself would not be able to get the majority of brand name items listed by the author in those recipes.
Overall, my main thought about the book is that the author needed to do a lot more research about a lot of relevant fields, such as police investigations and the behaviour of police during investigations, evidence collection, the way businesses like lodges and spas are run, etc. There were just so many ways that character behaviours around such things were flawed. The murder case would never make it to a proper trial because of the way the majority of evidence was gotten, and mishandled; the information they got was mostly through gossip and hearsay. Liz herself is certainly not a reliable witness or investigator. Anyway, apart from that stuff that needs more research, I didn’t like any of the characters. Especially Liz. Her treatment of others was just appalling. She would think and say such rude things about people. She’s really quick to judge and bully people. The rest of the characters were also unlikeable for me, and there seemed to be a really unnecessary amount of characters; many of which had no real importance to the story. I definitely did not like this book. It was pretty bad, in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2021
I looked forward to reading more of this mystery each night
Very good mystery with interesting characters that I liked very much. I do look forward to reading their next mystery.
Very good mystery with interesting characters that I liked very much. I do look forward to reading their next mystery.
April 2, 2015
Murder in Cottage #6 is another winner for this bestselling author. This book gets her new series off to a great start--bearing all the hallmarks Dianne Harman's cozy mysteries feature. That includes a likable amateur sleuth, Liz Lucas, who takes matters into her own hands when a dead body turns up at the spa she runs. Like her other series, the Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery series, this one has great food [with recipes penned at the back], a great dog, Winston, who becomes Liz's steadfast companion, a gorgeous setting, friends and fun. Just a great, quick read to take with you when your out and about or to enjoy at home with a good cup of tea. More to come, I'm sure, from this productive author. Can't wait!
September 22, 2020
if you’re looking for a little relief from the pandemic, and everything going on in today’s world, this is an excellent read. Not only will you find this relaxing, but you will find it thrilling, suspenseful, and at the end, there are quite a few wonderful surprises! Love and romance, betrayal, and just to top it off, murder!
May 4, 2018
It is rare for me to not finish a book, but by page 20, I'd had enough! The characters are so wooden that it's impossible to really care about them. She spends way too much time trying to establish background via stilted dialogues, and 1 of the 1st characters she introduces is a thoroughly unpleasant chief of police. Her attempts at "dialect" are painful. I should have been warned about the quality of the book when, in the acknowledgments, she thanks her husband for his "thoughts and connemts (sic)". Glad I only bought #1 in the series; I won't be reading any more.
December 7, 2015
This was another freebie offer that I didn't manage to finish. Life is too short for poor writing. Chapter 1 is a backstory info dump, much of which is not necessary at the time and which could have been woven into the story along the way. Then when a body is found we have another info dump about the dead woman and her troubles.
I found the 'inner thoughts' in italics irritating and pretentious. They could with better effect have been written into the main body of the text.
I found the 'inner thoughts' in italics irritating and pretentious. They could with better effect have been written into the main body of the text.
November 9, 2017
Seriously? Who is writing the good reviews for this? I downloaded the box set because there were so many good reviews. I could not even read half of the first book before giving up. And I HATE to leave a book unfinished. The police chief is a caricature. This is a cartoon character and not even close to being a personality that would exist in real life-never mind end up police chief! The dialogue is absolutely ridiculous! Do not waste your time unless you are at a 4th grade reading level.
May 24, 2015
It was a quick and entertaining read but the ending seemed a bit far fetched. The dialogues were strange. The main character had to find the killer because the police chief was completely dumb and as mentioned in every other conversation to protect the reputation of her spa....
I don't think I will read any further releases in this series.
I don't think I will read any further releases in this series.
April 30, 2015
Cozy
A quick read, quick moving, quick murder and quick murderer captured. Didn't need the "extra" book at the end of the story.
A quick read, quick moving, quick murder and quick murderer captured. Didn't need the "extra" book at the end of the story.
January 21, 2016
Wonderful read
I enjoyed this book, it had twists and turns that made be want to keep reading to find out who done it. I look forward to reading more books in this series.
I enjoyed this book, it had twists and turns that made be want to keep reading to find out who done it. I look forward to reading more books in this series.
July 27, 2016
This book was great, and really funny.
January 13, 2020
Talk Talk Talk
The writing style of this book features one long quote after another, back and forth, with little description or action in between. Internal thoughts are mainly expressed in italics and are really just the lead character talking to herself. Time, action and place are tucked into tiny paragraphs, often within the same paragraph as a long quotation, but not part of what someone is saying. The plot is moved primarily by the conversations.
The story has possibilities, but lots of unlikely things happen, such as numerous professionals seeing no problem with a spa owner carrying on her own investigation without any background or skill in detective work. She tells people too much about other people when she interviews them, and they tell her far more than anyone normally would under such circumstances.
She also has conveniently timed ESP types of “niggles” that come on just as the plot requires a push to move it along.
She and her friend follow a crazy woman who is obviously buying the makings of a bomb. Though they are warned by knowledgeable people who care about them, as well as by the police already on watch at the scene, to keep back from the nutjob, they burst forth out of hiding and run toward the crazy lady at the crucial moment, when they have just observed her placing what they’ve already construed as a bomb on a back porch. Who does that but foolhardy people?
Frequently when the lead character has been given all the facts, she still says she doesn’t have a clue what the people involved are doing or why. Why do people say they don’t have a clue, when they have plenty of clues?
The result is a lot of characters without much substance and of very little interest, including the lead character.
So why did I keep reading when so little was happening? I wanted to see what trick Winston the handsome boxer would show his new owner. Winston was the star of the show.
The conversations lack spirit, the characters lack personality, and the plot lacks suspense. Oh, dear.
Enough said.
The writing style of this book features one long quote after another, back and forth, with little description or action in between. Internal thoughts are mainly expressed in italics and are really just the lead character talking to herself. Time, action and place are tucked into tiny paragraphs, often within the same paragraph as a long quotation, but not part of what someone is saying. The plot is moved primarily by the conversations.
The story has possibilities, but lots of unlikely things happen, such as numerous professionals seeing no problem with a spa owner carrying on her own investigation without any background or skill in detective work. She tells people too much about other people when she interviews them, and they tell her far more than anyone normally would under such circumstances.
She also has conveniently timed ESP types of “niggles” that come on just as the plot requires a push to move it along.
She and her friend follow a crazy woman who is obviously buying the makings of a bomb. Though they are warned by knowledgeable people who care about them, as well as by the police already on watch at the scene, to keep back from the nutjob, they burst forth out of hiding and run toward the crazy lady at the crucial moment, when they have just observed her placing what they’ve already construed as a bomb on a back porch. Who does that but foolhardy people?
Frequently when the lead character has been given all the facts, she still says she doesn’t have a clue what the people involved are doing or why. Why do people say they don’t have a clue, when they have plenty of clues?
The result is a lot of characters without much substance and of very little interest, including the lead character.
So why did I keep reading when so little was happening? I wanted to see what trick Winston the handsome boxer would show his new owner. Winston was the star of the show.
The conversations lack spirit, the characters lack personality, and the plot lacks suspense. Oh, dear.
Enough said.
July 20, 2020
3 Star review Murder in Cottage # 6 (Liz Lucas Mystery #1) by Dianne Harman
AUDIO REVIEW:
Dianne Harman is a new author to me although I have listened to several books by the narrator Erin deWard before. This is a cozy mystery and although I had a few issues, overall I did enjoy the story and the performance was solid by Erin deWard.
This story focus’s on Liz Lucas, a 52 year old widow and the murder that occurs at the spa she owns. She is horrified when she learns that the dead woman was in fact murdered. There were some interesting secondary characters although I did find that some were a tad too over the top, particularly the creepy Red Cedar Chief of Police.
Some of the circumstance that Liz finds herself are so unbelievable and unrealistic that it detracted from the story line which is a shame. There is a fair bit of stilted dialogue in this story and at times it was a little distracting. I had a hard time warming up to Liz’s love interest Roger, can’t quite put my finger on why but I did like that he got her a dog, Winston for protection.
The story itself was interesting, if predictable and although I was a little frustrated at times, I am interested to listen to other books by this author.
AUDIO REVIEW:
Dianne Harman is a new author to me although I have listened to several books by the narrator Erin deWard before. This is a cozy mystery and although I had a few issues, overall I did enjoy the story and the performance was solid by Erin deWard.
This story focus’s on Liz Lucas, a 52 year old widow and the murder that occurs at the spa she owns. She is horrified when she learns that the dead woman was in fact murdered. There were some interesting secondary characters although I did find that some were a tad too over the top, particularly the creepy Red Cedar Chief of Police.
Some of the circumstance that Liz finds herself are so unbelievable and unrealistic that it detracted from the story line which is a shame. There is a fair bit of stilted dialogue in this story and at times it was a little distracting. I had a hard time warming up to Liz’s love interest Roger, can’t quite put my finger on why but I did like that he got her a dog, Winston for protection.
The story itself was interesting, if predictable and although I was a little frustrated at times, I am interested to listen to other books by this author.
June 3, 2018
Murder in Cottage #6 could be a pleasant afternoon read.
I found this first book in the series somewhat lacking. Maybe the series improves with subsequent books.
Liz Lucas is a good cook, but not a good detective. The story does mention that she has no sleuthing experience, but even an amateur detective wouldn't share all she knows or suspects with everyone she interviews. In fact, sometimes Liz seems actually stupid. If the police tell someone to stay put during a dangerous situation, that person should not try to interject herself into the situation without overwhelming reasons (which Liz did not have).
The dialog was a little off. Ordinary people don't use phrases such as "the night in question" if they aren't in a courtroom.
The romantic scenes with Liz's boyfriend are gratuitous. Although they aren't explicit, they add nothing to the plot.
The solution seemed unrealistic.
I found this first book in the series somewhat lacking. Maybe the series improves with subsequent books.
Liz Lucas is a good cook, but not a good detective. The story does mention that she has no sleuthing experience, but even an amateur detective wouldn't share all she knows or suspects with everyone she interviews. In fact, sometimes Liz seems actually stupid. If the police tell someone to stay put during a dangerous situation, that person should not try to interject herself into the situation without overwhelming reasons (which Liz did not have).
The dialog was a little off. Ordinary people don't use phrases such as "the night in question" if they aren't in a courtroom.
The romantic scenes with Liz's boyfriend are gratuitous. Although they aren't explicit, they add nothing to the plot.
The solution seemed unrealistic.
March 28, 2020
Murder in Cottage #6 is the first book in the Liz Lucas mystery series by Dianne Harman. Liz Lucas is a fifty-two year old widow who owns and operates Red Cedar Spa. Located one hour north of San Francisco on the outskirts of Red Cedar, it includes ten cottages in addition to the spa. Liz's manager, Bertha, discovers the mayor's wife, Mrs. Barbara Nelson, dead in her cottage! Liz knows that grossly obese Police Chief, Seth Williams, won't be of any help in figuring out what happened, so she takes matters into her own hands. She gets help from her lawyer boyfriend, Roger Johnson, friend, Judy Rasmussen, and guard dog, Winston. This is a fun cozy mystery! I liked the fact that the heroine is middle aged, that intimate moments happen behind closed doors, and that the series is set in Northern CA, where I live. I will definitely be reading more books in this series!
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February 25, 2025I did not care for the main character much less any of the other characters.
Read 20% and stopped.
Amazon synopsis:
Liz, a widow, feels she’s been given a second chance at life by owning a successful spa located in a beautiful area on the Pacific coast north of San Francisco. The fact she’s found a romantic interest only adds to the new beginning. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, for starters, discovering that a spa guest has been murdered. In order to save the spa’s reputation, Liz, along with her two dogs, Brandy Boy and Winston, has to find the killer.
The cast of characters includes a handyman, spa employees, the bumbling police chief, the owner of Gertie’s Diner, the dead woman’s husband, his girlfriend, and a Tiffany glass collector. One of them committed the murder, but Liz has to find out who before it’s too late and she’s the next victim.
Read 20% and stopped.
Amazon synopsis:
Liz, a widow, feels she’s been given a second chance at life by owning a successful spa located in a beautiful area on the Pacific coast north of San Francisco. The fact she’s found a romantic interest only adds to the new beginning. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, for starters, discovering that a spa guest has been murdered. In order to save the spa’s reputation, Liz, along with her two dogs, Brandy Boy and Winston, has to find the killer.
The cast of characters includes a handyman, spa employees, the bumbling police chief, the owner of Gertie’s Diner, the dead woman’s husband, his girlfriend, and a Tiffany glass collector. One of them committed the murder, but Liz has to find out who before it’s too late and she’s the next victim.
October 6, 2018
Life is too short to read crappy books. I should have read reviews but I just needed a dog on the cover for a challenge. Shame on me.
As some other reviewers said before, how did this get published? How did this get positive reviews?
First chapter is exposition dump: buy lodge, set scenery, kill off husband, get new love interest lined up. Second chapter: kill guest, skip over anything realistic (i.e. emotions, thoughts, procedures) about finding dead body in order to introduce ridiculously over-the-top, offensive cop character. I just couldn't take anymore, and I RARELY DNF. I am too OCD to leave something unfinished, but this... I just can't.
Unfortunately, this is one of those books that breeds other bad books: "Hey, if that lady can self-publish, so can I!"
As some other reviewers said before, how did this get published? How did this get positive reviews?
First chapter is exposition dump: buy lodge, set scenery, kill off husband, get new love interest lined up. Second chapter: kill guest, skip over anything realistic (i.e. emotions, thoughts, procedures) about finding dead body in order to introduce ridiculously over-the-top, offensive cop character. I just couldn't take anymore, and I RARELY DNF. I am too OCD to leave something unfinished, but this... I just can't.
Unfortunately, this is one of those books that breeds other bad books: "Hey, if that lady can self-publish, so can I!"
August 23, 2020
This is the first book in the series. A good mystery with some twists. The Sheriff made my skin crawl. Liz was lucky to have people that cared about her. They enabled her to solve the murder and other nefarious incidents that happened around the spa.
As in small towns, there is tendency for everyone to know everyone’s business or think they do. There is always a place (s) to get the local gossip. You know what they say about gossip- it’s based on an element of truth.
I liked the run down of the potential serial characters.
I listened to this book. The narrator/reader did a wonderful job. Her performance would round this to a 4.5 rating.
Looking forward to the next book.
As in small towns, there is tendency for everyone to know everyone’s business or think they do. There is always a place (s) to get the local gossip. You know what they say about gossip- it’s based on an element of truth.
I liked the run down of the potential serial characters.
I listened to this book. The narrator/reader did a wonderful job. Her performance would round this to a 4.5 rating.
Looking forward to the next book.
August 31, 2020
Quite an interesting book. A murder took place but the cottage was locked from the inside and the body has no visible signs of why they died.
The town Sheriff is a write off as far as being either motivated or having the desire to do his job. Thus the Spa owner where the murder occurred takes the reins and does her own investigating.
The pace is a bit slow but the “help” she receives from advisors is really very good. I only give it three stars because I do not feel it was that powerful a story to keep one enthralled and motivated to get it read just to find out who the murderer is.
I do intend to read a few of her many books to get a feel for the author’s style, pace and researching of material used.
The town Sheriff is a write off as far as being either motivated or having the desire to do his job. Thus the Spa owner where the murder occurred takes the reins and does her own investigating.
The pace is a bit slow but the “help” she receives from advisors is really very good. I only give it three stars because I do not feel it was that powerful a story to keep one enthralled and motivated to get it read just to find out who the murderer is.
I do intend to read a few of her many books to get a feel for the author’s style, pace and researching of material used.
November 29, 2017
I had this written on my kindle last night; but kindle lost it.
This was a very boring book with dull characters. The dogs seemed awesome but hardly played a role in the story at all. Very droll and tiresome. Characters and scenes not well developed. I would not recommend this book to true mystery lovers. Doesn't read like cozy mystery. The spa sounded very uninviting. It's very predictable with no real action, mystery or magic. I read the entire book as I paid for it. In the few pages they gave for a sample, it looked like it might be good. It was so methodical and no spark of life in it. Amen. Mouth zipped. sorry :(
This was a very boring book with dull characters. The dogs seemed awesome but hardly played a role in the story at all. Very droll and tiresome. Characters and scenes not well developed. I would not recommend this book to true mystery lovers. Doesn't read like cozy mystery. The spa sounded very uninviting. It's very predictable with no real action, mystery or magic. I read the entire book as I paid for it. In the few pages they gave for a sample, it looked like it might be good. It was so methodical and no spark of life in it. Amen. Mouth zipped. sorry :(
February 11, 2020
Disappointing cozy mystery
First in a series of cozies, I read it with genuine interest for about the first half of the book. There were some caricatures( police officers), and dialogue, initially that seemed not to ring true, but the story was ok . When Liz's friend arrived at the spa for facial and massage, the story went off track for me. And when a dangerous suspect was identified and disappeared from the area, Liz's decisions and actions "jumped the shark" for me. Police dialogue and behavior in the last several chapters were not believable to me.
Hopefully future works in the series will improve on this start.
First in a series of cozies, I read it with genuine interest for about the first half of the book. There were some caricatures( police officers), and dialogue, initially that seemed not to ring true, but the story was ok . When Liz's friend arrived at the spa for facial and massage, the story went off track for me. And when a dangerous suspect was identified and disappeared from the area, Liz's decisions and actions "jumped the shark" for me. Police dialogue and behavior in the last several chapters were not believable to me.
Hopefully future works in the series will improve on this start.
April 2, 2025
Audiobook: I was entertained by this story. I had a problem with Liz Lucas' actions which were very unbelievable as she took on the murder investigation with no previous experience and no acceptable explanation other than the police chief was inept. I didn't understand why the other characters would answer Liz questions regarding their whereabouts on the night of the murder. I admired the setting. I loved the dogs. I enjoyed Erin deWard's narration and I thought her performance enhanced the story's entertainment. I was given a copy of the audiobook. I volunteered, without financial gain, to post this review which reflected my honest opinions regarding this audiobook.
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