Another Fine Mess

Bridget Montrose #2

by Lora Roberts

Writer Bridget Montrose finds that the rarefied world of the literati can be hazardous, not only to her self-esteem but also to her life. Bridget is delighted to be accepted at a prestigious writer's retreat on the California coast and is looking forward to high-minded conversations at the dinner table. High-mindedness is, however, in short supply. Instead, Bridget gets an up-close, personal look at the writing and publishing world: authors of pot boilers and of literature, e-published authors and perennially best-selling authors. The eccentric billionaire owner of the retreat, the jealous manager, surfers, and cops enliven the literary mix. Readers will be fascinated by the insider's detail enlivening this closed-circle-of-suspects mystery.

Genres: Mystery

100 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2002

About the author

Aka Lora Roberts Smith, Lora R. Smith.

Lora Roberts was born and raised in Missouri, She's lived for twenty years in Palo Alto, California, where her two mystery series featuring homemaker/writer Bridget Montrose and vagabond Liz Sullivan take place. After doing newspaper work, public relations work, technical editing, and romances, She really enjoys writing mysteries.

Reviews

[Lisa Brick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not very good at reviewing books, but this one really had me guessing who the killer was. I loved the surprise ending. This was a quick read and I will probably look into other books by Lora Roberts.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this had been Lora Robert' first book, I would have thought it a promising start. Even if it had been his first book about Bridget Montrose, I would have passed over its weaknesses, figuring the author was just getting her stride with a new character. But it's one of eight books where Bridget is mentioned, at least, and the second where she is the viewpoint character, and it's just limp, like a piece of notebook paper left out on the beach and caught in the spray.

The main mystery and the misdirection subplot mystery are both clever, but there's no reasonable way for the police, let alone the readers, to have actually figured out what happened. Gathering people into a room and pushing them to confess is a cliche that should have been left behind when the twentieth century ended, if not before.

The writing has been phoned in. One chapter actually begins, "It was a dark and stormy night." Is that a conscious bid for the Bulwer Lytton prize? And both Bridget Montrose books have titles that refer to classic comedy (Laurel and Hardy in this case, and W.C. Fields for Revolting Development...but why?

I have to conclude that Bridget Montrose is just not as inspiring a character as Liz Sullivan, either for me to read about or for https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...Lora Roberts to write about.