Helpful Score: 4
First Line: Mama just wanted to look pretty for high-stakes bingo night at the Seminole casino.
Mama is a lady. A Southern lady. She prefers to wear sherbet-colored pantsuits with matching accessories. She drives a vintage turquoise convertible...and she has three daughters. The oldest, Maddie, is the principal of the middle school in Himmarshee, Florida, and she can be a bit...tense and assertive. Marty, the youngest daughter is a librarian, and after growing up with Maddie and Mace, she normally doesn't say much of anything. Mace, the middle daughter in Mama's tribe, works with wildlife in Himmarshee Park and much prefers critters to people. One of Mace's aims in life seems to be doing the exact opposite of whatever Mama and Maddie want.
When a dead body is found in the trunk of Mama's convertible, the new lawman in town, humorless Detective Martinez, sets out to prove that Mama's the killer, and he throws her in jail. Naturally all three daughters swarm to her defense.
Although the author certainly has a wonderful turn of phrase, as I read the first part of the book, I was afraid that I'd gotten trapped in a routine cozy mystery. I was wrong. Detective Martinez-- at first the run-of-the-mill book 'em regardless of the facts lawman-- has real depth, as do Mace and her sisters. The Florida setting came through loud and clear because not only did my consumption of iced tea spike during the reading of the book, I had to turn the ceiling fan to a higher speed. Sharp kept the ball rolling at a good clip, and I quite happily climbed into the backseat of Mama's turquoise convertible for an entertaining ride.
More than anything, I enjoyed Mama Does Time for the characters and the humor. Want examples of what I'm talking about? Here are a few:
"...what happened to your hair, honey? It looks like a possum crawled in there and dug a nest."
After I polished off the chicken, I ate some tortilla chips with a bowl of my homemade salsa. It's strong enough to blow the back of your head all the way to Guadalajara.
And my personal favorite...
He poked her gently in the arm with his fork. "Chill out, Maddie. If you wind yourself up any tighter, only dogs will be able to hear you fart."
Now some of you may be thinking that Mama Does Time is going to be just too Southern for your taste buds. That would be a legitimate concern; however, I have a testimonial from my Yankee book buddy in Minneapolis. Cheryl and I are both on Paperback Swap, we both love mysteries, and we tend to mail each other books on a regular basis. Here's what Cheryl wrote on the packing slip when she sent me this book: "Enjoy! I liked it, even with the 'y'all', sweet tea and yappy little dog! LOL"
Mama Does Time is an entertaining mystery with a wonderful cast of characters that is appealing regardless upon which side of the Mason-Dixon you reside. I, for one, am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Mama is a lady. A Southern lady. She prefers to wear sherbet-colored pantsuits with matching accessories. She drives a vintage turquoise convertible...and she has three daughters. The oldest, Maddie, is the principal of the middle school in Himmarshee, Florida, and she can be a bit...tense and assertive. Marty, the youngest daughter is a librarian, and after growing up with Maddie and Mace, she normally doesn't say much of anything. Mace, the middle daughter in Mama's tribe, works with wildlife in Himmarshee Park and much prefers critters to people. One of Mace's aims in life seems to be doing the exact opposite of whatever Mama and Maddie want.
When a dead body is found in the trunk of Mama's convertible, the new lawman in town, humorless Detective Martinez, sets out to prove that Mama's the killer, and he throws her in jail. Naturally all three daughters swarm to her defense.
Although the author certainly has a wonderful turn of phrase, as I read the first part of the book, I was afraid that I'd gotten trapped in a routine cozy mystery. I was wrong. Detective Martinez-- at first the run-of-the-mill book 'em regardless of the facts lawman-- has real depth, as do Mace and her sisters. The Florida setting came through loud and clear because not only did my consumption of iced tea spike during the reading of the book, I had to turn the ceiling fan to a higher speed. Sharp kept the ball rolling at a good clip, and I quite happily climbed into the backseat of Mama's turquoise convertible for an entertaining ride.
More than anything, I enjoyed Mama Does Time for the characters and the humor. Want examples of what I'm talking about? Here are a few:
"...what happened to your hair, honey? It looks like a possum crawled in there and dug a nest."
After I polished off the chicken, I ate some tortilla chips with a bowl of my homemade salsa. It's strong enough to blow the back of your head all the way to Guadalajara.
And my personal favorite...
He poked her gently in the arm with his fork. "Chill out, Maddie. If you wind yourself up any tighter, only dogs will be able to hear you fart."
Now some of you may be thinking that Mama Does Time is going to be just too Southern for your taste buds. That would be a legitimate concern; however, I have a testimonial from my Yankee book buddy in Minneapolis. Cheryl and I are both on Paperback Swap, we both love mysteries, and we tend to mail each other books on a regular basis. Here's what Cheryl wrote on the packing slip when she sent me this book: "Enjoy! I liked it, even with the 'y'all', sweet tea and yappy little dog! LOL"
Mama Does Time is an entertaining mystery with a wonderful cast of characters that is appealing regardless upon which side of the Mason-Dixon you reside. I, for one, am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Helpful Score: 2
#1 Mace Bauer mystery set in central Florida. Mace works at a local wildlife park and is dismayed one September morning to get a call from her Mama saying she's at the jail--the dead body of a man was found in the trunk of her car when she came out of the bingo parlor and she's been hauled in for questioning. Mace rallies with her two sisters, Maddie and Marty, and they essentially overwhelm the police station trying to get her out. Detective Carlos Martinez, new in town from Miami, locks Mama up which puts him in a costume with horns and a pitchfork in the girls' eyes. Soon they provide evidence that Mama couldn't have committed the crime so she is released, but Mace and her mother get a threatening letter with a decapitated, stuffed dog that looks suspiciously like Mama's Pomeranian, Teensy, so Mace figures no one is safe until the real murderer is caught.
It turns out the dead guy was an ex-gangster in a witness protection program and Mace and her sisters immediately suspect their mother's boyfriend, Sal, who hails from New York and looks and talks like a gangster. He moves down the list when Mace runs into an old boyfriend, whom she learns has borrowed a lot of money from the dead man--and was seen arguing with him. More suspects come to light, and Mace continues investigating behind the scenes, much to the chagrin of Detective Martinez. I have to admit that Mace was actually better than many "cozy" mystery heroines at keeping the police informed of what she was doing--although that might have had something to do with the fact that Det. Martinez is quite a hunk. LOL
I really enjoyed this book--Mace is a great character that I really like, although I am generally not a fan of "southern" books, this one was okay because of Mace. Even the yappy-little-dog-in-a-sweater-toting Mama, the epitome of the petite, polite Southern lady with all accessories color matched, didn't put me off. LOLThe writing style was easy to read and relaxed, the only downfall being that the dialogue felt somewhat stilted and unnatural at times. (If you are alone in a room with someone and you're talking privately, do you keep interjecting their name into the conversation every few sentences? I don't...I mean, they're the only one there so they know I'm addressing things to them, and vice versa, so there's no need. I find that it's fairly common with newer authors to do that, though--it's not really bad writing, just sounds awkward, at least to me.) At any rate, I'm glad I took a chance on this mystery when the "Southern" bit could have easily put me off, as I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to the next one!
It turns out the dead guy was an ex-gangster in a witness protection program and Mace and her sisters immediately suspect their mother's boyfriend, Sal, who hails from New York and looks and talks like a gangster. He moves down the list when Mace runs into an old boyfriend, whom she learns has borrowed a lot of money from the dead man--and was seen arguing with him. More suspects come to light, and Mace continues investigating behind the scenes, much to the chagrin of Detective Martinez. I have to admit that Mace was actually better than many "cozy" mystery heroines at keeping the police informed of what she was doing--although that might have had something to do with the fact that Det. Martinez is quite a hunk. LOL
I really enjoyed this book--Mace is a great character that I really like, although I am generally not a fan of "southern" books, this one was okay because of Mace. Even the yappy-little-dog-in-a-sweater-toting Mama, the epitome of the petite, polite Southern lady with all accessories color matched, didn't put me off. LOLThe writing style was easy to read and relaxed, the only downfall being that the dialogue felt somewhat stilted and unnatural at times. (If you are alone in a room with someone and you're talking privately, do you keep interjecting their name into the conversation every few sentences? I don't...I mean, they're the only one there so they know I'm addressing things to them, and vice versa, so there's no need. I find that it's fairly common with newer authors to do that, though--it's not really bad writing, just sounds awkward, at least to me.) At any rate, I'm glad I took a chance on this mystery when the "Southern" bit could have easily put me off, as I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to the next one!
Helpful Score: 2
You need to read this book before your read Mama Rides Shotgun. This book sets the stage at the beginning. I love these books. I hope to see more from Sharp in the future.
Helpful Score: 1
Fun cozy mystery about hijinks in a small Florida town where Mace Bauer and her sisters attempt to prove their Mama wasn't responsible for the body of the dead mobster in the trunk of her Caddy. First of a series.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved the series from Anne George about the Southern sisters and Peggy Webb's Elvis series. So I knew when I picked this book up it would be an funny and quick read. The only thing wrong was the book ended too soon.
