Bonnie A. (ladycholla) - Snake in the Glass by Sarah Atwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book three in the Glassblowing Mystery series is as well-written and interesting as the previous books, and I enjoyed the cast of characters that are central to the storyline.
Em, is flying home from Ireland. She and Allison had went on a short vacation to reconnect with Allison's family and to heal some of her old wounds, but much to the dismay of Em and the rest of the cast, Allison has decided to stay on a little longer, which sends Cam, Em's brother and boyfriend to Allison, off in a sulk.
Uncle Frank shows up to visit, which is a great addition to the book. He is a character within a character and love having him in the story. It's not all fun and games, he is here for a little work, being a diamond broker from Australia, he is in Tucson for the annual Gem show. Of course, there is a little something-something going on with Frank and Nessa, but it seems to work.
A strange looking professor shows up at Em's back door wanting to rent her furnace to try out some gem heating techniques he's read about. And that is where things get strange!
Allison comes back, having made her peace with Ireland and her mother's death years before, only to find no one has heard from Cam. So being the good sister, Em talks to her boyfriend, the sheriff Matt, and one thing leads to another, between Cam being missing and the strange professor, Denis, Em and Frank and knee-deep in a mystery that somehow leads them to a dead body in the desert! All in the line of duty for a glass-blowing sleuth!
This story was well-writen, kept me entertained and guess at the killer until the very end. I loved learning more about the characters, and I really love the glassblowing information and tidbits. Also in this, there were added gem tidbits, that were fun and interesting.
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Kimberly N. (kimberlyrav) - The author did a great job instilling what the shop looks like and I would totally love to visit it even though it isn't real. Em lives in the upper portion of the shop and the downstairs houses her equipment for making glass items and where her classes are held. There is also a portion there where she sells her glass work, and so people come and go like in any store to purchase or just to look at her beautifully made glass items.
I enjoyed hearing about the glass making process, the equipment used and in the end feel people enlightened on the whole matter. The mysteries were fairly good, but weak. I wasn't all that impressed with these books but I did appreciate them.
I did learn a lot in each book about different things, gems like Periodot, which are talked about in book 3. I had no idea the history and the true bits of info the author provided to us about the stone. By the end of this book I wanted to rush out and buy some Periodot
Before each chapter the author always listed an interesting fact about whatever the book is about, so in this one, each fact was about Peridot.
Book 3 is a little long, has more pages than it needed, and when a situation occurred it was explained to a variety of characters at separate intervals, leaving you saying, "Ok, I already know and have heard about this, "Lets move on please..." Not much is spoken on the Arizona landscape either, so dont expect to hear too much about that.
All of the books in this series so far are just 3 star reads to me. Nothing to get into a dither about and nothing to go rush and buy. They would be a great read for someone who is interested in glassmaking/blowing.
