Geraldine Porter thought that being the chairwoman of the local Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair would give her leisure time to spend on her favorite craft. That was before a fellow miniatures afficionado is suspected of murder, leaving Gerry to prove the woman's innocence-or die trying.
4.5 stars - Murder in Miniature by Camille Minichino is the first book in the Miniature Mysteries series. I first read this book when it was originally published in 2008 under the author’s pen name, Margaret Grace. I fell in love with the book then and read each of the other books as they were released. I was excited to see the book is being released again so hopefully more people will be able to enjoy it.
I had fun reading this book again and it reminded me why I liked this series so much. The main character, Gerry Porter, is a widowed, retired school teacher in a small town in northern California. When a longtime friend starts acting strangely, Gerry can’t help but get involved in finding out if it has anything to do with either a recent robbery or murder that just occurred and helping her friend if she can.
When Gerry isn’t solving crimes, she enjoys spending time with her ten-year-old granddaughter, Maddie. However, the precocious young lady also enjoys investigating, and that worries her doting grandma. I love their relationship and the way they work together on the case, even though Gerry doesn’t want to put Maddie in any danger. They also work on creating miniatures together and the information about dollhouses and miniature rooms is really interesting. There are detailed tips at the end of the story, too.
Gerry also has a wonderful friendship with her sister-in-law Beverly. Beverly often gives Gerry a sounding board for the clues she finds, but their rapport also adds depth to the characters and makes them more real. Although this is a cozy mystery, the plot is fairly complex with a few surprises and a dramatic ending. Thank you to NetGalley, Crossroad Press, and Gordian Knot for the advance copy of this ebook. It was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.
Not only a great plot - but now I can't wait to try my hand at making miniatures!
Okay I'm not going to go all out - I've ordered some kits - but am dying to try my hand at making miniatures. A book of handy tips would be a terrific idea if the author could get one together. Back to the story. What a terrific plot with great twists and some turns that will throw you. Great characters and it's loved the contrast between the know it all Madden and her slightly more naive grandmother. Although I can truthfully say that I felt all the characters were well rounded, realistic and terrific in the role assigned to them. Her granddaughter has come for a month long visit and although she isn't a girly girl, she certainly has a mind like a steel trap. When a burglary and a murder takes place in their peaceful community the two are drawn into investigating as they had been close to the scene of the murder. Throw in fraud, stolen jewels, a young boy and another murder for an absolutely terrific read. Next!!
Murder in Miniature is the first book in the A Miniature Mystery Series, and although it was a good book, i can't say that I am climbing the walls looking for book two. The story was fine, and I enjoyed the details of the miniatures world, but something about it made it difficult for me to read.
Maybe it was having grandma as the heroine, but I don't think it was that, but no matter how I tried i just could not relate to this book.
Geraldine is a grandma who lost her husband two years ago, and gets caught up in the only two murders in her small town in forever, while her granddaughter is here for a visit. She reasons through the questions and makes wonderful conclusions, not far fetched jumps, but yet at the same time I couldn't get into it and I find I am even having a hard time writing about it! Wow, that almost never happens with a book.
This is the second time I've read this book, and I had just as much fun reading it the second time around. Geraldine is a sweet character that has a knack for building miniature dollhouses and the furnishings. It seems she also has a knack for solving mysteries. I love the relationship she has with her granddaughter and her nephew. Fun, interesting book that will make you happy you read it. #MurderinMiniature #NetGalley
Geraldine Porter is a miniaturist who's taken on the role of chairperson of a local Dollhouse and MIniatures Fair. When Gerry notices her friend Linda behaving oddly, she fears the worst after a local townsperson turns up murdered. Clearing her friend's name will be no small feat!
This book was really charming! Gerry is sweet and I love her relationship with her family. Her granddaughter, Maddie, is really sweet, though the poor girl gets left behind an awful lot. Gerry's house is really cool (do a Google search of Eichler houses, you'll want one too) and the town of Lincoln Point is perfect. There was a bit more intrigue than a typical cozy, which made for less investigating but kept things interesting. I really enjoyed this!
This series was originally published under the name Margaret Grace and Minichino publishes under the name Elizabeth Logan also. I highly recommend anything she writes.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
murder on Miniature by Margaret Grace is the first book in A Miniature Mystery series. retired English teacher and miniaturist, Geraldine Porter, is phoned in the middle of the night by a friend to be picked up at an abandoned gas station. Shortly after this the police find a woman shot dead at the same place. I found this book very slow and confusing. I have loved the other series by the same author but this one seemed to drag. Geraldines involvement in trying to solve the murder was tenuous and the clues were flimsy. The author tried too hard to involve the miniatures but they really played very little part, even though a lot of the book was about this hobby.
Geraldine "Gerry" Porter is concerned when her friend Linda disappears from a craft show. She's even more concerned when Linda turns up in the middle of the night near the scene of a murder and refuses to talk about what happened to her. I loved the characters, except for Linda. Just could not stand her. The plot was decent if slow at the beginning.
Margaret Grace writes well, however, I had a little trouble getting interested in her characters, the mystery was acceptable. While I would not rush out to buy a second in the series, I would probably buy it in paperback form if I was searching for something to read.
I'm glad I was able to read this ARC because I discovered a new interesting cozy series. It's entertaining, well written, quirky and likeable characters. The mystery is solid and kept me guessing. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I enjoyed the plot and some of the secondary characters but Gerry was hit or miss with me and some of the others really irritated me. Not sure if I'll read the rest of the series or not.
I enjoyed this book. It's a very different craft and one that I know nothing about but that doesn't matter because despite the series being called the miniatures the author doesn't go into any detail and it's not the main focus of the story, which is the mystery. The home life was fun, especially the grand daughter. The characters were mostly like able but I did get annoyed with the friend who wanted help but wouldn't talk to her. The mystery was interesting and took many different directions. Geraldine's left manning two stalls when her friend and fellow crafted disappears before the doors are opened. In the middle of the night she is woken up by a frantic phone call asking for help and a middle of the night pick up. Her friend refuses to explain but Geraldine suspects it has something to do with her adopted son. Then a dead body is found nearly the same location and Geraldine really starts to worry about her friend. With her nephew leading the investigation into the murder Geraldine can't help but get involved. Then another body is discovered and some gems are stolen from the jewerly store. Are the two cases connected? Geraldine can't help but think so when the gems turn up in her belongings and her friend gets her to give her a chance to talk to her son before handing them. But by doing so is it putting her life in danger I liked the narrator. She used her voice well to give the characters there own voice. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Making miniatures is what Geraldine Porter loves to do, but being in charge of a miniatures and dollhouse fair is more than she bargained for. Her granddaughter Maddie keeps her on her toes, altercations between local political candidates, and her friend Linda disappears just before the public is allowed into the fair. While she is curious Gerri might not have become involved in a murder mystery if Linda hadn't vanished and then called for help in the middle of the night. The creation of miniature items was interesting and the nosy solving of the murder mysteries was almost secondary. A pretty good start to the series.
This book had me smiling most of the way through it. It's such a cozy mystery on of of my favorite hobbies. I like that there are so many people in this town that like minis and help each other craft. I wish I lived there. The mystery was very much like a Murder She Wrote mystery and I liked how it wasn't too intense of heavy. I wish the actual case had more to do with miniatures. I think there's a lot you can do with dollhouses in that regard but I still liked the mystery. The twists kept me hooked and I liked the added pressure of having her granddaughter there to protect. Overall, super cozy mystery.
The book was well written and the story moved along at a quick pace, but I just never really got invested in any of the characters, or the murders. I did not care that the first murder ended up being Jason's biological mom, nor did I care that both his biological father and adopted father were the ones behind the robbery, or that his biological father was the murderer. I did like that the egotistical Jack got his comeuppance when he was found guilty of insurance fraud. Otherwise, this book just did not capture my attention.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
It takes place in a fictional town on the San Francisco Peninsula.
I enjoyed the characters and was delighted to learn a bit about the hobby of miniatures. I remember Margaret/Camille bringing miniatures to the convention auctions when she was writing this series.
This was a fast read, no gratuitous violence or swearing. Great for my reading group, who each got one of this series as their Christmas gift. We will be meeting later this month to discuss.
Loved the maps, but why put them at the back? Move them forward!
An enjoyable mystery that entwines the world of miniatures in it. Geraldine: widow, grandmother, miniature enthusiast, was a likeable character. Linda, one of her friends, seems like a royal pain in the ass. (I'd drop her as a friend)
Early in the book, this start to go awry when Geraldine and Linda are at selling their crafted miniatures, when Linda goes missing. This is where the mystery begins and pulled me in.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crossroad Press for the eArc. #MurderinMiniature #NetGalley
Gerry Porter, retired, loves to make rooms and buildings in miniature scale. Her ten year old granddaughter, Maddie, is visiting. Gerry's friend, Linda, also makes dollhouses and has gotten herself in a pickle. She was at the scene of the crime and around the time of the murder. Gerry and Maddie went to pick her up that night, but Linda won't say what she was doing out there. So that leabes Gerry to figure it out.
I wasn't sure if this book was written by a miniaturist who also liked murder mysteries, but it turns out it was written by a mystery writer who also likes miniatures. The book wedded two of my favorite things, and I really enjoyed both the mystery and the details on dollhouses. I already bought the next four in the series. The mystery was suspenseful enough to keep me intrigued and guessing, and I enjoyed getting to know all the characters.
I'm not usually one for cozy mysteries, but the title of this book reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books, The Dollhouse Murders, so I picked it up. I didn't particularly care for it, but I'm not sure how much I can adequately review it since I don't read a lot of books in this genre. I can't say that I liked it that much, but it might be something that people who like cozy mysteries find enjoyable. It's hard for me to say.
This is charming! Anyone who likes miniatures should pick up this cozy mystery, which harkens back to the Miss Marple mysteries. The plot is nicely twisty, the characters are great and the main character defeats the bad guy in the most "little old crafter" way possible, which I'm still giggling about. Recommended!
Sometimes when you read these themed mystery books they have way too many background plots going on or they are hardly about what the theme is. This one was perfect!
There was just enough of a miniature theme. The tips were fun and the mystery was engaging.
This is the first book in a cozy mystery series that I know I'll enjoy. The world of dollhouse miniatures is fun to learn about. The supporting characters include relatives on the police force, a grouchy but goodhearted friend, and a spunky grand-daughter who'll hopefully show up a lot.
I’m not sure what piqued my anticipation for a novel called “Murder in Miniature.” It might have been my seemingly endless fascination with the cozy mystery genre, which, unfortunately, has far too many misses than hits. It might have been the fact that the book takes place adjacent to my hometown San Jose, California. It might have been the fact that the author, under her real name Camille Minichino and her pseudonym Ada Madison, has written a variety of mysteries about professional scientists. Those are rarities among the countless domestic professionals that are anything but dispensable in the cozy mystery genre. Whatever the reason, I approached “Murder in Miniature” with hopes that were continually dashed to pieces as I slogged my way through all of the book’s 237 pages. I can’t tell you how relieved I felt to discover that the remaining four were just tips for aspiring miniaturists.
The warning signs for the book’s badness were pretty obvious in the first chapter. For one thing, the book is set in the fictional Lincoln Point, California, which is described as a small town founded by President Abraham Lincoln himself in the Bay Area between or near Stanford University in Palo Alto and San Jose. Geraldine Porter, retired English teacher, widow, and enthusiast, for miniatures describes the town as being very fun for all of its annual activities inspired by the President, like a parade that takes place on his birthday regardless of whether February 12 is a weekday or weekend. I know my hometown has made me too cynical, but the description was ridiculous since, even in 2008 when the novel was published, all traces of small town America have been eliminated from San Jose and the surrounding communities and I know that none of them would halt weekday traffic or close schools for a parade even if it was in honor of a great President whose Wikipedia page makes no reference of him spending enough time in California to found a town. The references to Lincoln are just fluffy filler written either to pad pages or under the pretenses of being cute and clever, a great bugbear throughout the cozy mystery genre.
Gerry takes her miniatures seriously. When we first meet her, she is heading a fair in honor of local miniaturists and other enthusiasts. She works alongside her friend Linda, whom I felt oddly sympathetic for. Linda is a nurse down on her professional luck, twice-divorced, living paycheck-to-paycheck, and trying to raise an unruly son who is suspected of stealing a large sapphire. She is against anything that will bring more people to live in her already crowded little area of the Bay Area. She also helped Gerry’s husband Ken during the last days of his battle with cancer. Gerry doesn’t speak all that highly of Linda and doesn’t really need her friendship, which leaves me to wonder what they ever had in common besides a love of miniatures. Linda should have been the protagonist! Her crusty demeanor aside, she has all the qualities of the typical cozy mystery heroine, but instead we have Gerry and her granddaughter Maddie. Maddie is actually quite delightful; it isn’t often that I come across a child in a cozy who has that much intelligence and spunk, but it is overshadowed too much by the novel’s flaws. For example, the first victim, whom we never meet prior to her death, is of no consequence to Gerry. Gerry’s nephew Skip is a police officer who probably shares too many details of the case with her and Maddie, like inviting them to watch a surveillance tape of the area where the first murder took place? Isn't that a violation of professional ethics among law enforcement officers?
There are too many gaps in the pages between the clues and Gerry's need to keep Maddie entertained and the author’s need to describe things like food and architecture; she goes into plenty of detail on the pros and cons of living in an Eichler house and goes back and forth about how police station and library really ought to be renovated for modernity and comfort. And to top it all off, the author’s prose is terrible. I can’t tell you how many times she stopped mid-sentence to insert a trivial afterthought in parentheses: Page 88, “ . . . then swept the coins into the pocket of her LA Dodgers (I remembered when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers) sweatshirt.”; page 107, “Once or twice I nearly laughed out loud (LOL, in e-mail and text-messaging language, Maddie had taught me) at the image of Linda and Just Eddie on a date; page 112, “Flustered (Ken said I always let her get to me) I came up with . . .; page 113, “He’d close his door and crank up (I still liked that obsolete phrase) the volume on his stereo.” Was the author being paid by the number of words she wrote? Who knows.
This is bad writing that ultimately diminished my anticipation for the book’s ending; by the time I got to it, I was so alienated from it that I didn’t care about the killer’s identity or motives and forgot them altogether within a few hours, but the book’s many flaws remain memorable. No more miniatures for me!
And by the way, if readers ever wonder whether high paychecks and high word counts go hand-in-hand, chances are your novel sucks.