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First Ladies Mysteries #2
If Words Could Kill: A First Ladies Mystery
Ever hear of the Lost Speech of Abraham Lincoln? Neither had Liv, the owner and manager of the First Ladies White House Dollhouse Shop in Minneapolis. And when clues and bodies begin popping up, well, what's a girl to do, but investigate!
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 24, 2016
About the author
Barbara Schlichting
29 books101 followersBarbara Lindquist Schlichting is the author of the play: From Corresponding Lives. It is a tribute to her pen pall of fifty-five years. The play has two characters, an American, myself, and my pen friend, Chris, who lived in England. It's about friendship and overcoming cultural differences.
I am also the author of the WHITE HOUSE DOLLHOUSE Mystery Series where Modern characters make History. Middle school readers also.
I am also the author of the WHITE HOUSE DOLLHOUSE Mystery Series where Modern characters make History. Middle school readers also.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 17, 2016
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I broke my rule and accepted the offer from the author to review this book without reading the first book in the series and this time that really hurt. It made it hard for me to get a grasp on these characters and things that happened in the previous book are mentioned frequently without enough of the backstory for me to sink my teeth into. I almost stopped reading this one to go back and read the first book but my reading schedule was just too full to do that.
Liv has a shop dedicated to First Lady White House Dollhouses, complete with the proper furnishings, rugs and even dishes. She is somehow related to Dolley Madison. This second book in the series has a Lincoln theme. An Mary Todd Lincoln impersonator comes to town to talk about clues she has uncovered regarding a lost Abraham Lincoln speech. Before she can give her presentation she is found dead outside Liv’s store. Liv gets right into the middle of the investigation assisting the police with clues she finds in the deceased belongings.
Liv’s family is all very supportive of her store and they help her out there often. She seems to get several customers for what to me is quite a specialty store. In this story she held an event where she sold many dollhouses in one day. That was good because she also picked up a couple of pricey Lincoln pieces online during the same time period.
The premise of the mystery is a good one, and maybe because I was trying so desperately to get a handle on all the characters I had an idea of whodunit quite early in the book. I will say I was surprised to find out I was actually right.
I have read a few books about Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln but didn’t know anything about a lost speech. With a little internet search I learned that the speech was indeed lost but that is where the rest of this story becomes fiction. It seems his friend H.C. Whitney did take notes of the speech, which were later published. I enjoyed this author’s little twist on history and it brought the speech to my attention. I can tell the author did a great deal of research not only into the speech but Mrs. Lincoln and several other first ladies. Her character Liv is very knowledgeable about the first ladies and through her the author was able to share many little tidbits.
In this case I highly recommend reading The Blood Spangled Banner before reading this one. I am sure I would have enjoyed this one much more had I stuck to my rule and done just that.
I broke my rule and accepted the offer from the author to review this book without reading the first book in the series and this time that really hurt. It made it hard for me to get a grasp on these characters and things that happened in the previous book are mentioned frequently without enough of the backstory for me to sink my teeth into. I almost stopped reading this one to go back and read the first book but my reading schedule was just too full to do that.
Liv has a shop dedicated to First Lady White House Dollhouses, complete with the proper furnishings, rugs and even dishes. She is somehow related to Dolley Madison. This second book in the series has a Lincoln theme. An Mary Todd Lincoln impersonator comes to town to talk about clues she has uncovered regarding a lost Abraham Lincoln speech. Before she can give her presentation she is found dead outside Liv’s store. Liv gets right into the middle of the investigation assisting the police with clues she finds in the deceased belongings.
Liv’s family is all very supportive of her store and they help her out there often. She seems to get several customers for what to me is quite a specialty store. In this story she held an event where she sold many dollhouses in one day. That was good because she also picked up a couple of pricey Lincoln pieces online during the same time period.
The premise of the mystery is a good one, and maybe because I was trying so desperately to get a handle on all the characters I had an idea of whodunit quite early in the book. I will say I was surprised to find out I was actually right.
I have read a few books about Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln but didn’t know anything about a lost speech. With a little internet search I learned that the speech was indeed lost but that is where the rest of this story becomes fiction. It seems his friend H.C. Whitney did take notes of the speech, which were later published. I enjoyed this author’s little twist on history and it brought the speech to my attention. I can tell the author did a great deal of research not only into the speech but Mrs. Lincoln and several other first ladies. Her character Liv is very knowledgeable about the first ladies and through her the author was able to share many little tidbits.
In this case I highly recommend reading The Blood Spangled Banner before reading this one. I am sure I would have enjoyed this one much more had I stuck to my rule and done just that.
August 25, 2017
3 stelle e mezza
La storia è buona ed interessante, anche se ho capito ben presto quali fossero i colpevoli. Il problema è come è raccontata: più volte ho avuto l'impressione che fosse saltato un passaggio logico, per così dire. Nonostante tutto credo che continuerò a leggere questa serie, anche perché ogni volta imparo qualcosa di più sulla storia americana, di cui so davvero poco, se non nulla.
La storia è buona ed interessante, anche se ho capito ben presto quali fossero i colpevoli. Il problema è come è raccontata: più volte ho avuto l'impressione che fosse saltato un passaggio logico, per così dire. Nonostante tutto credo che continuerò a leggere questa serie, anche perché ogni volta imparo qualcosa di più sulla storia americana, di cui so davvero poco, se non nulla.
October 10, 2017
This book is in a series called "First Ladies White House Dollhouse Shop" and I just love it. The plot in every books is so different and she always involves her grandma which I love. This is a well written and fun book to read and I look forward to reading another. Barbara hit a home run with this book!
December 28, 2018
Great Book
Olivia "Liv" Reynolds is back in another first ladies themed mystery adventure. In this one, the first lady in question is Mary Todd Lincoln. The mystery in question is the murder of a Mary Todd Lincoln impersonator, named Blanche. Who is found dead near Liv's first ladies / the White House dollhouse shop, a combination of her love of miniatures, and her knowledge and passion for history, mostly first ladies. Like the previous novel in the series, it's like a cozy murder mystery combined it with the National Treasure movies. So there are two mysteries to solve, one being the murder mystery in the other being the history related one, (i e finding a lost items of historical significance, through Clues and puzzles). I really enjoyed this book.
Olivia "Liv" Reynolds is back in another first ladies themed mystery adventure. In this one, the first lady in question is Mary Todd Lincoln. The mystery in question is the murder of a Mary Todd Lincoln impersonator, named Blanche. Who is found dead near Liv's first ladies / the White House dollhouse shop, a combination of her love of miniatures, and her knowledge and passion for history, mostly first ladies. Like the previous novel in the series, it's like a cozy murder mystery combined it with the National Treasure movies. So there are two mysteries to solve, one being the murder mystery in the other being the history related one, (i e finding a lost items of historical significance, through Clues and puzzles). I really enjoyed this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews