Stephanie C. (crawford) reviewed on 8/1/2008 + 59 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 10

I was very excited to read this book, as I love "cozy" mysteries and I'm a HUGE movie nerd- especially classics (and classic comedies!) This book is an endless reference to old classic comedies, especially the Marx Brothers. He also had my dream job, which is owning a small theater and showing films you want to show. While I enjoyed that, I wish he would have included more than just quick name checks. Honestly, the lead character didn't even seem to LIKE movies- he constantly complained about the theater and how nobody under 40 appareciates old comedies, and those that do are lonely and out of touch (as a 24 year old female this pissed me off.) There's also endless drama with the lead's ex-wife and the other women in his life... he doesn't seem to appreciate women beyond being beautiful, then he wonders why he has problems relating to them. This is tedious and doesn't involve any romance or comedy or even character insight, so I didn't much see the point.

The mystery in and of itself, which deals with a mysterious death and DVD pirating, was enough to keep the plot moving but not very engaging. At the end when one mystery is solved the lead character just forgets about the rest of them and I think the author expected us to stop asking questions at that point as well, which was a cheap, lazy and ineffective way to do a "surprise" ending. All in all, this was a decent book and a quick read, but both as a classic film fan and a mystery addict I was left dissapointed. If anymore books are released in this series I'll get them at the library or used.

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