Andrea’s Reviews > Unlisted > Status Update

Finished Stacks of Trouble. 2.5 stars. I liked the setup, I thought the mystery was interesting, the detective cat was cute, even if there was a lot of coincidence and some odd logic errors. But the biggest problem was the unconvincing motive. I never really did understand it by the end, which made the killer not very believable. Too bad, because the pacing worked well, if only the logic was connected better.

Finished Patchwork and Peril, 3 stars. Interesting premise, I liked the use of quilting to hide secrets. Fewer continuity errors than other stories in this collection, but I still struggle with this shorter form of cozy amateur sleuth, always bouncing around town to interrogate people, always getting the answers, the perfect public reveals....maybe I'm just growing weary of these tropes.

Started Patchwork and Peril

Petals and Poison: 2.5 stars.

The ending was sweet.

It concluded strangely, leaving the major danger event unresolved, since everyone denied involvement but it also remained a malfunction rather than something normal paired with an accident. It alluded to a sequel, or at least to continued sleuthing, but I'm not sure there actually is one, at least not in this collection.

These novelettes are fine but formulaic.

A little over halfway through Petals and Poison, and this is the most unbelievable story of the collection by far. Could it have been an automated system? Was someone really doing that on purpose? This amateur sleuth broke several laws and isn't going to be charged or arrested? A life-threatening experience was exciting, not jarring or scary at all???

Finished Veiled In Villainy. 2 stars. It was fine, but this story had a lot of little continuity errors about which characters were in the room during a conversation or who knew what at that time, and there was one big continuity issue at ch. 7. Mistakes like that are distracting and can make some things seem unrealistic, but they also belay sloppy editing, which is too bad.

Veiled in Villany has an intriguing premise so far....a mother-of-the-bridezilla dies at the rehearsal dinner! Whodunnit?

Maisy Marple Publishing Free Sampler:
Dough Or Die (74pp)
Veiled In Villany (76pp)
Petals and Poison (77pp)
Patchwork and Peril (75pp)
Stacks of Trouble (72pp)
Grounds for Suspicion (76pp)
499pp total.