The mystery has center stage for this book, which takes place in Scotland, at a Castle that has been somewhat turned into a Bed and Breakfast. I have to say that I didn't quite see how the setup was all that believable. One family owns the castle, the previous owners work for him, there's a company in town causing all kinds of mischief with a wife not devoted to her husband and all sorts. You name it, this book has it, including a hamster that rides around in the back of a pizza delivery guy's car all day. (If this were reality, I'd be calling the authorities on that one.) Plenty of mysterious things happening, plenty of places to point fingers when murder is mentioned in several places, but the whole thing seems almost too complex while the characters seem to have been lost in the shuffle.I am not certain if the exchanges between the cousins were meant to be amusing, frustrating or otherwise engaging, but I found them somewhat staged at times and a complete turn around at others, when the totally random nature of one of the women seemed to make her the least likable person on the planet. I find it hard to believe that the mystery solving cousin can put up with her rude counterpart. Even if I had grown up with my own cousin and was as close to her as these two are, I would not have let her get away with all that was going on here, in fact, I would probably have tried to prevent her from making the same remarks and ending up in the same situations, for her own sake.This is one of those murder mystery books that you don't read because you're expecting to be wowed, but because you're looking to engage your brain while killing a few hours of your day. It's an interesting mystery, if complex, and its location makes it somewhat unique, but don't pick it up if you're a reader who wants something with depth in the character or location of a story. Visuals and even some of the characters (who just disappear for most of the book, brushed off like a piece of straw from someone's shoulder) are left for your imagination to come up with.
While I very much enjoy a cozy mystery, this fell short in my opinion. I had heard good things about this author's style and I was terribly disappointed. I tried for two weeks to read past the fifth chapter and the author not only repeated herself, but contradicted herself several times. Enough times that I donated the book to the library AND apologized for doing so. Cozy mysteries can sometimes be formulaic in nature, but we enjoy them for the fun characters, cozy settings, and general "who did it" theme. Recipes, tea-time hints, etc often help sell the books as well. This book had a cynical who complained about her hip CONTINUOUSLY, too many contradictions to count, and a plot that just fell flat. Even a place as pretty as Scotland sounded rather drab.
Do You like book Scots On The Rocks (2007)?
I like the change of scenery and love to laugh at Judith and Renie. I didn't like the husbands disappearing for so long though. That was quite frustrating I thought. I also thought the exposure to Harry was pretty minimal for him to be such an important part of the plot, but it was still an enjoyable light read.
—Amy
I'm pretty disappointed in this one. I don't know if its because this is my first time reading a "Bed and Breakfast" Mystery and I jumped right into the middle of the series or if it's the actual book itself?! I found it kinda boring and dull. I also had a hard time focusing on all the characters and what they mean to each other and how they relate to the plot. I was also kind of appalled to find that the main character makes her mother live in a converted tool shed! I mean... honestly... who does that?!
—Jess
I picked this up because I like what are often called "tea cosies" mysteries, I liked the play of words in the title (and others in the series), and I read lots of great reviews about this series from Amazon readers. I was quite disappointed, however. I found the main characters Judith and her cousin Renie quite irritating, especially Renie. The story also didn't hold much interest for me, and I found the writing style frustrating as well - I am not a fan of writers who overuse exclamation points, and who use too many active verbs for describing how their characters "jump" into something or "race" down the hall, etc.I finished the book only because I wanted to see what happened in the end (and it was all a twisted mess, really), and because I have an unwritten vow with myself to always finish a book I've started.The experience with this book will likely not lead me to check out any of the others in the series.
—Diana
