I just finished reading "Town in a Blueberry Jam" for a swap. I really liked the prologue - a very interesting introduction to the story using a dying man's thoughts as they "flashed before his eyes" - but the ending was horrible. The author spent a long time developing the main characters, but, in the last 30 pages or so of the book, just dumped the ending in the reader's lap.

I won't give away the ending, but I absolutely *hate* it when cozy authors end a book by having a barely-mentioned character from the beginning of the book suddenly re-enter the story, pull a gun out and say, "Yes, that's right! I killed him/her! And I'll tell you why!" How lame.

I think this was the author's first book, and it showed a lot of promise, until the characters started acting in totally unbelievable ways, just to wrap up the story. I'll probably read the next book in the series, but if it follows the same pattern, it'll be the last one.

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This book was an Easy-going cozy mystery with a tight plot and a few good twists.

Candy Holliday and her gal-pal Maggie Tremane team up to discover who murdered the town gossip. Her seemingly harmless handyman was seen leaving the crime scene and his brand new hammer (the murder weapon) was found at the scene of the crime. The entire town is in an uproar and Candy is determined to find out the killer.

I did have a few beefs with this book. The names of some of the characters were just a bit far fetched for me. A German baker name Herr Georg (gay-org) the Murder victim named Sapphire Vine???? Come ON! I can dig trying to be creative but these names were just to wierd for me. Plus the descriptions of each of the towns' buildings were a bit overdone. Many of the coversations were a tad drawn out, and I kept thinking, OK, real people dont talk like this.

Overall, It was a good book, worth reading, but not a keeper.

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After a failed relationship, Candy Holliday leaves her high powered job, moves out of the city and goes to live with her widowed father, who has retired and purchased a blueberry farm in coastal Maine. When a local handyman whom her father sometimes employs is arrested for murder, Candy feels compelled to clear his name.

I thought this book was a nice light read, and I did find myself wanting to stay up late reading it just so I could see what happened next. One thing that I did find strange, however, is that two murders occurred but Candy only investigates one. She never really looked for a connection.

I didn't guess who the killer was, and there are some surprising twists in the story that kept me interested in seeing what would happen next.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read. I'll definitely check out the next installment in the series.

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Ending my Cozy Mystery Challenge for 2011, I decided on Town in a Blueberry Jam by B. B. Haywood since this was a new author for me - I had no idea what I was getting into. Apparently, B. B. stands for the writing team of Beth and Robert (I assume Bob) Haywood but then again Haywood is not their real last name either. Ok, maybe that does not matter, but with the ever-ongoing use of pseudonyms in the writing world, I always want to know if a new author is actually new or an old author with a new name.

Hope I have not lost you yet.

This is the first book in a brand new series set in the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine. Candy Holliday has returned home to her father, Doc, and has decided to help run the Blueberry farm until she can decide what it is that she wants s to do with her life. Having given up a demanding career in Boston, Candy has returned home to figure out what her next steps should be. That is until not one, but two unexplained deaths have occurred in this tiny hamlet and wanting to clear the name of a local handyman, Candy finds herself and her good friend in the middle of a jam (ok, I wanted to say pickle, but that wouldnt fit) and with the killer having them trapped on the roof of city hall all seems doomed, that is until an apparent invisible neighbor comes to their aid. OK, that last part was a bit of a stretch, but it does open up an interesting potential for future books.

The book has a couple stutter starts - feeling as if the writing team had put down their laptops and wanted to know now what direction do we go in. What I did come away with was the hope that this series will take off. The first book spends a great deal of time introducing attention-grabbing characters and with any luck, they will be given their own center stage in the future.

This is fun brain candy and sometimes that is just what an afternoon calls for.

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A fast easy read although not terribly memorable. I really wanted to like the characters more but there seemed to be something missing. Not sure that I would read the next one in the series.

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This was a decent enough book, not horrible by any means, but not great either. The start was very slow (I suppose because this is the first in a series and the author needed to introduce the characters). The middle section was quite good though- as Candy investigated and came across some secrets. The end was OK. I wasn't thrilled with the identity of the killer or that person's motive though. I am going to give the second book in the series a try, hoping it will be better than this one.

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I really enjoyed this book and am now searching for the next books in the series. I love small town mysteries.

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Not a bad story; it shows a lot of promise, enough so that I've ordered the next two in the series. I liked the main characters and didn't have a lot of trouble with some of the unlikely names and odd people in the story.

But I did have some problems. One is not really important, but I can't help myself. What lousy proofreading at the publisher! They said, "Here, here!" Egads! Anyone who holds a copy editing job should know that should be "Hear, hear!" And using "alright," which of course is not a word.

Sigh.

Enough pickiness. The most substantial problem is the hackneyed, cliche of a bad TV show scene at the end. I was happily reading along, but had to put down the book and complain to my wife when we got the two plucky heroines being chased up to the roof of town hall by the killer. I knew--I just KNEW--how that was going to end, and sure enough, I was right. Puh-leeze!

I also had a little trouble with the relationship of grown divorcee daughter and Doc, her dad. It just didn't ring true to me.

Oh well. With all that griping done, I liked the book. The authors just need to spend a bit more time on thinking up a climax for the story. Watching bad TV shows and copying their plotting just won't do.

But read it anyway. It was fun.

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