This is the debut novel from Anna Michaels. It is a magical journey from start to finish. I loved every word. Beautifully written with characters that are incredibly real. It has gotten rave reviews from Pat Conroy, Mary Alice Monroe, Cassandra King and Patti Callahan Henry. Discovering a new author is a wonderful thing. A MUST READ.

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Sad, sweet and suspenseful, The Tender Mercy of Roses is an enjoyable, touching story of family loyalty. Its also a cautionary tales of what bad things can happen when people take that type of loyalty way too far.

Anna Michaels is a pseudonym for Peggy Webb, author of the Southern Cousins Mystery series. She paint a beautiful landscape with her words and carries the reader along smoothly through this unusual crime thriller. But Ms. Michaels used, what I felt was, an excess of metaphors. While most of them were creative and colorful, two or three per paragraph is overkill.

Also, I wish Pony had not been quite so idolized. Other than her mangling of the English language, Pony is an absolutely perfect person. This made it hard for me to find her character believable. Were all flawed -- it would have made for a better story if Pony had had some realistic flaws too.

The other players -- Jo Beth, Sam, Titus, even the cheerleading Maggie -- were well thought out and convincing. I was really pulling for all of them, hoping that everything would work out okay and that they could solve the murder without destroying their own lives.

All in all, I found The Tender Mercy of Roses to be a great book. Ms. Michaels can really spin a magical webb (sic) that will snare you and hold you until the last page is read!

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I LOVED this book. It was a quick read and beautifully written. I love the Author's prose, the Native American folklore weaved into the story, and the characters are memorable. I would LOVE to see this made into a movie. It's that good.

This is the perfect kind of book IMO. It's got a great story, full-bodied characters that you come to love in spite of their deep flaws, a love story, and best of all it is magical--full of mysticism. Reminiscent of The Lovely Bones (without the searing pain)in it's dealing with the subject of death, I found it to be deeply touching.

If I could write a book--this is what I'd write. Beautiful.

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Author Anna Michaels (who also writes the Southern Cousins mystery series as Peggy Webb) has probably bitten off more than she can chew with this supernatural murder mystery that tosses in way too many plot elements -- a disgraced ex-cop, the ghost of the murder victim, Native American spiritualism, long-buried family secrets, and professional rodeo.

It's an engaging, but somewhat uneven read, as Jo Beth Dawson, alcoholic ex-cop, discovers the body of a young woman at a remote trailer campground, buried under a blanket of Cherokee roses. Michaels immediately establishes that a form of magical realism is going to permeate this story, as the roses have, in just a few hours, overgrown Pony Jones' body and burst into blooms which begin to wither as soon as the young woman's body is removed. Her spirit, it turns out, is hanging around, explaining herself to the reader, and bugging Dawson to pull herself together and find the killer. The sudden appearance and scent of the wildflowers permeates the story, often heralding the touching of this world and the other.

Some scenes, some moments, are lovely; others get buried under an avalanche of complications as Pony's mountain-man father inserts himself into the investigation, long-buried family secrets are revealed, Pony's Native American uncle tries to head off the grieving father, and the local cops (one of whom is Jo Beth's ex-partner) try to keep the civilians out of the way long enough to identify and catch the killer.

Overall, it's not a bad read, but it is a bit rough around the edges, and the supernatural elements may prove a bit tough for some readers to swallow, particularly in the denouement.

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