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Melody and Murder
When Melody Reed is offered the librarian position in her hometown of Lake Hare, she packs her cat, Mao, and her accordions and leaves Detroit for the Great White North. But she soon learns that Lake Hare is no longer the tiny, sleepy town where everyone looked out for one another.
When one of the residents dies from a possible poisoning, she’s shocked by the apathy of the police and citizens. Melody decides that if the police won’t investigate the death thoroughly, she’ll take matters into her own hands to make sure that justice is served.
When one of the residents dies from a possible poisoning, she’s shocked by the apathy of the police and citizens. Melody decides that if the police won’t investigate the death thoroughly, she’ll take matters into her own hands to make sure that justice is served.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2015
29 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 30, 2015
What a sweet little read – nice bit of mystery fluff perfect for an afternoon with your feet up. Melody returns to her hometown after scoring the job as the head librarian. She renews old acquaintances, and meets people who have moved in since she left. First one body, and then a second turns up and it is only Melody who suspects foul play. Somehow she needs to get the police to (a) admit it was murder, and (b) find the killer; she manages to do it with a little help from some dead pigeons.
May 28, 2016
Difficult to rate this one. I enjoyed reading it, I liked the main character Melody and all in all I found it to be a nice surprise. However, I think a lot of potential was lost on this one. It wasn't much of a mystery and the story felt undeveloped. Add 150 or 200 pages more and you have more time to work on the plot and the characters. I wish the author had taken that time because in my opinion her writing was pleasant and this could have been a very nice cozy mystery.
April 27, 2018
Cute story, good idea that could have benefited from some more development as it is quite pertinent to modern day society, but very short.
The writing also needed some getting used to as it was generally kept fairly simple and then the author would throw in a few big words here and there or police officers suddenly started speaking like they came straight out of a different novel. (Verb tenses were an issue.too.)
The writing also needed some getting used to as it was generally kept fairly simple and then the author would throw in a few big words here and there or police officers suddenly started speaking like they came straight out of a different novel. (Verb tenses were an issue.too.)
November 26, 2015
2 1/2 stars
This book was a Kindle freebie and had an intriguing premise but was ultimately lost. Usually, my most uttered phrase in reviews was that book could've been a bit shorter and it would be perfect. Not this time. If the author had spent more time developing the plot a bit more, it would've easily been at least a 4 or 5 star book. As it is, most of the book was taken up with Melody's move from the big city back to her tiny hometown. And as there was only 141 pages, that meant there was little or no attention paid to the plot, the victim or the suspects. In fact, there were no suspects. The murderer just randomly confessed to the deed, right in front of a news crew, no less. The plot, what little there was, could've spanned a cozy-length mystery very easily if expanded.
The MC seems like a cute little geek, spending her evenings at home with her mother playing her accordion. No, really. Melody's mother is an annoying shrew, goading her daughter to get married and have babies and trying to play matchmaker. Really didn't add anything to the story and I was kinda hoping she'd get killed. And really, I was a tiny bit disappointed when she wasn't.
There was also no time spent proofreading, given the typos and grammatical errors. A few typos, I can understand and forgive, but in this book, words were in the wrong place or the wrong word was used or misspelled. Ugh. Really bad. It read like a 9th grader's creative writing paper.
Overall, on the low end of mediocre, but very sad that the potential to be a great book was lost.
This book was a Kindle freebie and had an intriguing premise but was ultimately lost. Usually, my most uttered phrase in reviews was that book could've been a bit shorter and it would be perfect. Not this time. If the author had spent more time developing the plot a bit more, it would've easily been at least a 4 or 5 star book. As it is, most of the book was taken up with Melody's move from the big city back to her tiny hometown. And as there was only 141 pages, that meant there was little or no attention paid to the plot, the victim or the suspects. In fact, there were no suspects. The murderer just randomly confessed to the deed, right in front of a news crew, no less. The plot, what little there was, could've spanned a cozy-length mystery very easily if expanded.
The MC seems like a cute little geek, spending her evenings at home with her mother playing her accordion. No, really. Melody's mother is an annoying shrew, goading her daughter to get married and have babies and trying to play matchmaker. Really didn't add anything to the story and I was kinda hoping she'd get killed. And really, I was a tiny bit disappointed when she wasn't.
There was also no time spent proofreading, given the typos and grammatical errors. A few typos, I can understand and forgive, but in this book, words were in the wrong place or the wrong word was used or misspelled. Ugh. Really bad. It read like a 9th grader's creative writing paper.
Overall, on the low end of mediocre, but very sad that the potential to be a great book was lost.
August 8, 2019
Librarian moves back to her small town home and discovers a dead body on the library steps. She figures out it was murder, then is surprised by a confession.
September 27, 2015
Cutesy vs cozy...Just not for me.
"Melody and Murder" was my first exposure to Ms. Leigh's work. Although defined by genre as a "cozy" mystery, this novella had little more than quirky characters to offer in the way of entertainment, and was more cutesy than cosy. Melody, the protagonist was more a caricature than a rounded character one could relate to. The only characters I found to be in the least realistic was Michael, her brother, the detective and Miriam the retiring librarian. I can't even recommend it to the Nancy Drew crowd due to Melody's mother's encouragement to stay out all night, which the author suggested was due to her need to be a grandmother. There were other similar remarks or jokes not appropriate for younger readers but the book itself lacked the substance to hold this more mature reader's attention. Other cozy readers may feel differently. I'm glad because I'm sure the author invested lots of effort. I applaud her for addressing the homeless problem, but this just wasn't the book for me.
"Melody and Murder" was my first exposure to Ms. Leigh's work. Although defined by genre as a "cozy" mystery, this novella had little more than quirky characters to offer in the way of entertainment, and was more cutesy than cosy. Melody, the protagonist was more a caricature than a rounded character one could relate to. The only characters I found to be in the least realistic was Michael, her brother, the detective and Miriam the retiring librarian. I can't even recommend it to the Nancy Drew crowd due to Melody's mother's encouragement to stay out all night, which the author suggested was due to her need to be a grandmother. There were other similar remarks or jokes not appropriate for younger readers but the book itself lacked the substance to hold this more mature reader's attention. Other cozy readers may feel differently. I'm glad because I'm sure the author invested lots of effort. I applaud her for addressing the homeless problem, but this just wasn't the book for me.
October 1, 2015
Nice quick start to a series. Not sure if the whole series will be short stories, but this was cute and the story has potential. I think the mom's character leaves a lot to be desired...bizarre. Leigh fit quite a bit into so few pages, giving a bit of background on Melody's life, her brother, and the small town she calls home (again). Melody returns to her hometown to take over for the retiring head librarian. The reader gets to be introduced to the townsfolk as Melody is reintroduced herself. For now, she's living with her mom, though Melody thinks of renting elsewhere...I could see a whole short story on her finding another dead body while house hunting.
Also, I found this perhaps needed a read-through by an editor. Perhaps that's just an issue with the kindle edition (word placement) but there were also grammatical issues that can't be attributed to formatting.
Also, I found this perhaps needed a read-through by an editor. Perhaps that's just an issue with the kindle edition (word placement) but there were also grammatical issues that can't be attributed to formatting.
January 6, 2016
“Navigating through a job interview is an emotional tight rope, for sure.” (LOC 34)
Melody is a snappy and witty librarian. It begins with a job she’s trying to land in her hometown. The first five chapters are all about her waiting for a reply while she talks to her cat and serenades herself with her accordion. What a nerd! This was a very slow start. When was the murder coming?
Someone finally was found dead at the new library where she works. It was a homeless guy that often went there. Was he murdered? I would hope so, but the story wasn’t that compelling for me to find out.
Overall, I expected a good, clean murder mystery, and that’s not what I got.
Melody is a snappy and witty librarian. It begins with a job she’s trying to land in her hometown. The first five chapters are all about her waiting for a reply while she talks to her cat and serenades herself with her accordion. What a nerd! This was a very slow start. When was the murder coming?
Someone finally was found dead at the new library where she works. It was a homeless guy that often went there. Was he murdered? I would hope so, but the story wasn’t that compelling for me to find out.
Overall, I expected a good, clean murder mystery, and that’s not what I got.
September 26, 2015
This book is full of typos and wrong words in place. I think someone forgot to have it edited. :( I decided to stop reading this book at Chapter 7 it wasn't keeping my interest and there were just to many errors. When in the first paragraph of Chapter 7 yet another wrong word error appeared I gave it up.
This really is the type of book I like to read so I was pretty disappointed with it. Maybe if it gets edited I'll download the revision and read again.
I downloaded this book as a Free book I've never read any of the books by this author.
This really is the type of book I like to read so I was pretty disappointed with it. Maybe if it gets edited I'll download the revision and read again.
I downloaded this book as a Free book I've never read any of the books by this author.
September 24, 2015
"A familiar, but popular tune"
A piece of harmless fun; this book sets the scene for a series based around Melody's home town, now she's ensconced in the library. A murder tends to bring things to a sudden halt and this story ended a little abruptly too. All the loose ends were tied up very swiftly. As long as you don't expect anything too serious, then this sort of book will deliver a couple of hours distraction from your busy life. For that, sometimes, we are very grateful.
A piece of harmless fun; this book sets the scene for a series based around Melody's home town, now she's ensconced in the library. A murder tends to bring things to a sudden halt and this story ended a little abruptly too. All the loose ends were tied up very swiftly. As long as you don't expect anything too serious, then this sort of book will deliver a couple of hours distraction from your busy life. For that, sometimes, we are very grateful.
November 15, 2015
This is a story about a librarian that begins finding homeless people dead. You start looking at even the police as being the culprits of this mystery. The person killing the homeless is a shocker. You would never think of them as being the murderer. But this librarian finds out the truth and I believe she is even shocked. It is a good mystery with a light hearted flair. I think you will enjoy it as I did.
September 24, 2016
I enjoyed reading it. I like MC & the plot was pleasant.
Returns to her hometown as the head librarian, Melody discovers that her hometown, Lake Hare, was no longer the tiny, sleepy town where everyone looked out for one another.
When dead bodies turns up one after another, it was only Melody who suspects foul play. Somehow she needs to get the police to admit it was murder, and find the killer; she manages to do it with a little help from some dead pigeons.
Returns to her hometown as the head librarian, Melody discovers that her hometown, Lake Hare, was no longer the tiny, sleepy town where everyone looked out for one another.
When dead bodies turns up one after another, it was only Melody who suspects foul play. Somehow she needs to get the police to admit it was murder, and find the killer; she manages to do it with a little help from some dead pigeons.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2015
This was a good little read. I enjoyed the small town librarian protagonist and the way the crime was completely dismissed by the local police chief who wanted to sweep it all under the rug since the victim was someone he considered to be unsavory. Maybe a bit cliched, but still a sweet little cozy for a quiet evening.
October 13, 2015
This was a fun cozy mystery novella. I'm glad I read this book. Everything about it was fun. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline very much. The only downside was 'whodunnit'... The killer confesses in the end and it isn't who I expected the killer to be, which was a good thing. But the reason the killer gave for doing the killings was lame. Otherwise Melody & Murder was a good read.
October 30, 2015
Melody Reed
A short little my story about a woman named Melody Reed taking a job as a librarian in the small town, Lake Hare, where she grew up. She soon realizes there is a small problem of homeless people in the community, some of which aren't treated very well. To her dismay, someone starts killing them. With the help of her cop-brother, they figure out who's doing the deed.
A short little my story about a woman named Melody Reed taking a job as a librarian in the small town, Lake Hare, where she grew up. She soon realizes there is a small problem of homeless people in the community, some of which aren't treated very well. To her dismay, someone starts killing them. With the help of her cop-brother, they figure out who's doing the deed.
Read
January 27, 2016Heartfelt compassion combined with intelligence, and a brother in law enforcement, make Melody the librarian the perfect heroine. I enjoyed this fast read and look forward to the rest of the series. I loved the quirky accordion references, and her empathy for the homeless, the single mom and her daughter, and her matchmaker mom!
September 13, 2015
This was an excellent cozy mystery. The characters were relatable, the story was well structured, and I was left wanting to go on another adventure with Melody.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
September 9, 2016
I picked this book up because the main character was a librarian. The beginning started off interesting with setting up the characters and the town but the rushed ending with a so-so mystery made the story fall flat.
June 28, 2016
This was a quick read. I would say the storyline is quite average, it could have finished sooner & it lacked a bit of creativity. Otherwise I didn't dislike or like this book. It was a nice quick read.
Not so keen to read the following books of this short story...
Not so keen to read the following books of this short story...
October 1, 2015
It was a nice read, however, I found the ending to just suddenly wrap up before I knew what was happening.
October 3, 2015
I love finding these fun inexpensive novels
Interesting characters. Libraries. Small town. Murder. What's not to like?
Background music to my life.
And this one is well written.
Interesting characters. Libraries. Small town. Murder. What's not to like?
Background music to my life.
And this one is well written.
October 13, 2015
Was a cute story. And I had no idea,who the murderer was.
June 27, 2016
Quick easy read. Nice people. One very incompetent buffoon who could be scary with power on his side. Another nice cat.
December 21, 2015
Ok
It was an OK book. It was very short complete plot but the characters were not really developed. I hope the author does better next book.
It was an OK book. It was very short complete plot but the characters were not really developed. I hope the author does better next book.
December 27, 2015
Fun easy read..Loved it
March 25, 2016
Great Rainy Day Mystery Read
This book was a great rainy day read. The story is very well put together. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
This book was a great rainy day read. The story is very well put together. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews