Helpful Score: 7
What a disappointment. The premise of the book sounds great, but the author doesn't execute her idea very well. The heroine, Haley, is irritating--lazy, shallow, a near-pathological liar, and not too bright. Anyone who regularly reads mysteries will also have a good idea of who did what and why early on because the mystery aspects aren't well crafted at all. All in all, you might want to pass. I wish I had...
Nancy C. (circakona) reviewed Handbags and Homicide (Haley Randolph, Bk 1) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Not recommended if you like a character with depth.
The main character is shallow and unsympathetic. Way too much of the novel is given to her fretting over missing the chance to shop for purses and shoes, doing as little as possible in her job and avoiding most of her responsibilities. One or two moments of being a bit vain or wishful/wistful over her financial circumstances would have been fine, but a whole book of her whining about having a job and actually being expected to work at it, etcc.. fell flat very quickly. A 2nd novel is coming but I won't be reading it. Sadly, the mystery portion of the story was decent enough, which is the only reason I kept reading to the end.
The main character is shallow and unsympathetic. Way too much of the novel is given to her fretting over missing the chance to shop for purses and shoes, doing as little as possible in her job and avoiding most of her responsibilities. One or two moments of being a bit vain or wishful/wistful over her financial circumstances would have been fine, but a whole book of her whining about having a job and actually being expected to work at it, etcc.. fell flat very quickly. A 2nd novel is coming but I won't be reading it. Sadly, the mystery portion of the story was decent enough, which is the only reason I kept reading to the end.