Irish Chain

Rating:
Summary: I'm hooked!
Review: It's so much fun to read about many of my favorites... I love California, love quilts, love murder mysteries and fun characters! I liked this one so much I bought the rest of the series....

Rating:
Summary: Characters that leap off the page - and a plot, too!
Review: Some mystery authors I read for plot, some for setting, and some for characters. Earlene Fowler's setting is vivid, and the plot of Irish Chain certainly works - but buy this book for the characters! Benni Harper, Gabe Ortiz, Gramma Dove, and all the folks at the retirement home truly leap off the page. Benni brings to life the poignancy of love after loss. She still mourns her husband Jack, killed a year ago in an automobile accident, while she gradually gives in to her new passion for police chief Gabe Ortiz.

Don't worry - the mystery works, too. Two people are found dead in one of the rooms of the retirement home where Benni is organizing a "senior prom," and Benni must find the link between the victims. Unraveling the murder leads into real episodes in California history, and the reader will be satisfied with the conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: I had expected much more from this author
Review: This is my first by Earlene Fowler, and as a quilter, I was really looking forward to a quilting mystery. It wasn't. QUilting was extremely tangential to the plot and in fact, there's not a lot of mention of quilting at all. I could have forgiven that, but there's too little time spent on the mystery, in my opinion, and too much time spent on our heroine's love life, most of which seemed to consist of passionate urges and fights with her boyfriend (and frankly, he had my sympathy as much as she did).

The plot involves two residents of a nursing home found dead in a room. Our heroine Benni Harper gets involved because she discovers the bodies (the night of a prom she's putting on in the nursing home). Her boyfriend is Acting Chief of Police and warns her not to get involved, that it's dangerous and it's not her job to solve this murder. If she had listened, the book would have ended there.

For not very good reasons (mainly, that she's stubborn and doesn't listen to anyone), Benni begins poking around investigating these murders. At the same time, she re-establishes relationships with a couple of men who have reappeared in town, including an old flame (who is, of course, one of the prime suspects -- but does that slow her down any? not our Benni -- she continues to find herself alone with him despite her boyfriend's warnings.)

The book was good enough that I kept reading it and finished it in a few days, but to be honest, I was disappointed because I'd heard such good things. Maybe people who like a lot of romance and not much quilting or mystery will like this book a whole lot more than I did.

Rating:
Summary: I had expected much more from this author
Review: This is my first by Earlene Fowler, and as a quilter, I was really looking forward to a quilting mystery. It wasn't. QUilting was extremely tangential to the plot and in fact, there's not a lot of mention of quilting at all. I could have forgiven that, but there's too little time spent on the mystery, in my opinion, and too much time spent on our heroine's love life, most of which seemed to consist of passionate urges and fights with her boyfriend (and frankly, he had my sympathy as much as she did).

The plot involves two residents of a nursing home found dead in a room. Our heroine Benni Harper gets involved because she discovers the bodies (the night of a prom she's putting on in the nursing home). Her boyfriend is Acting Chief of Police and warns her not to get involved, that it's dangerous and it's not her job to solve this murder. If she had listened, the book would have ended there.

For not very good reasons (mainly, that she's stubborn and doesn't listen to anyone), Benni begins poking around investigating these murders. At the same time, she re-establishes relationships with a couple of men who have reappeared in town, including an old flame (who is, of course, one of the prime suspects -- but does that slow her down any? not our Benni -- she continues to find herself alone with him despite her boyfriend's warnings.)

The book was good enough that I kept reading it and finished it in a few days, but to be honest, I was disappointed because I'd heard such good things. Maybe people who like a lot of romance and not much quilting or mystery will like this book a whole lot more than I did.