I really liked the idea of this book...a cozy mystery centered on a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian and missing Russian jewels. I was severely disappointed in its execution, though.This just simply was NOT a well-written book. Cliches, awkward dialogue, and a plot that darted around everywhere was the least of its issues. My main complaint is the main character, real estate "mogul," Mitzy Neuhaus.I understand that this was supposed to be a Christian based mystery and that no one, Christians included, are without their faults. However, Mitzy came across as an arrogant, self-righteous *itch. As hard as she pretends to be, she's not a nice person and even worse, she's a hypocrite. She makes it her personal mission to attack the wrong-doings of society, but doesn't give a second thought to trespassing and even going through her sister-in-law's office without permission. She also seems to think that everyone else in the world is an idiot besides herself and its her other personal mission to educate we poor fools about how not to fall victim to the 2008 economic collapse that is discussed ad nausem throughout the book! Seriously, I wanted to strangle this girl, and was deeply disappointed that no one in the story ever got around to it, lol. Apparently saving the world does not entail, oh, I dunno...actually doing charity work or donating money to causes that actually help people in need. Rather, Mitzy would rather spend her cash reserves on a $50,000 art museum gala to sell a house she has no right to sell (and make her sister in law look bad). She's quite impressed with herself, constantly admiring her image in the mirror, bragging about the square footage of her penthouse and talking about how a local daytime talk show NEEDS her and her expertise. No wonder the only men who take an interest in her are a perverted radio jockey and a slimy businessman who gets so angry with her that he smashes his Hummer into an armored vehicle.And what the heck is with the "stuck in the 80s thing?" This book takes place in 2008 and Mitzy is constantly referred to as young. What is with the big hair, blue eye shadow, and blazers with shoulder pads? That isn't even retro-cool 80s...that's just sad, lol.Anyway, as you can gather, I did not care for this book. Luckily, I downloaded it for free from Amazon, so only my time was wasted. I will not be looking for any others in the series, free or not. I loved the cover so that tweaked my interest to buy the kindle read. It caught me right away. I can't put my finger on why but it kept me reading. I wanted to find out more. It was a comfortable read that kept me wondering. Part of what was running through my mind was trying to figure out if the characters she introduced were really who they seemed to be and would she end up with one of the men even if their characters seemed a little sketchy and kept us wondering. I will read more books by this author.
Do You like book Foreclosed (2000)?
A nice read. Just enough mystery and suspense to keep you interested.
—NEDILIN
Nice, soft story. Easy to solve. Some likeable characters.
—kalalove
this was a very good read, really enjoyed it
—nkosi