Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: I just picked this book up at the Pacific International Quilt show. I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading more in this series. I found the prickly nature of Benni to be most compelling. I wish there were more quilt involvement in the story but still I really did enjoy it. Having been a resident of San Luis Obispo (disguised in these stories by another name), I enjoyed them even more. Give it a try!
Rating: 
Summary: BEST Mystery series around !
Review: I love the Benni Harper Mysteries they grab you and make you feel like you actually know the families and leave you wanting and waiting for more !!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!!!!!
Review: I loved this book from the first page I read! I felt like I was in San Celina and now want to live there. Benni is someone you would want to be friends with, her interaction with the other characters is wonderful, especially her developing relationship with Chief Ortiz! I can't wait to find out what happens in her next book!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: I not only thoroughly enjoyed Fool's Puzzle, I felt I was there as the plot unfolded. Earlene Fowler has a way of writing that makes the characters real, drawing me into the story. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: I obtained Ms. Fowler's second book, Irish Chain, through the Mystery Guild. I loved it! When I found out that there was a first, I haunted my local used book store until I came across it. I definitely wanted to know what happened in the first book. I think Benni is great, and I like the story line with her romance and new marriage to Gabe. Of course I'm crazy about the mystery plots and the writing. I really enjoy sitting down and following the fun characters. I like the setting of the Central California coast, I place that I find truely beautiful. I appreciated Ms. Fowler even more when I found out that she is from my neck of the woods, Southern California. I was born and raised in Santa Ana, which is just down the road from her home in Fountain Valley. I think it would be great fun if she were to write a little something that takes place in Orange County. How 'bout a mystery set at South Coast Plaza? Anyway, I am enjoying the series greatly, and recommend them to all!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice location, characters, relationships need work
Review: I prefer English mystry writers, although there are some good American ones - Mary Robert Rienhart for one. However, this book provided me to chance to look at a part of the country I have not visited. I enjoyed learning about the west and its customs. I felt that it was too predicitable to have Bennie become involved with Sherrif Oritz. I would have preferred her to develop as an independent, single woman capable of developing a life of her own with out the dependence on a man. There should be more single, strong, independent women in mysteries and novels to provide role models for our younger generation of women. I am not saying she shouldn't have a male companion, but this plot moved too fast into a romantic relationship after only 9 months of widowhood. I would have preferred Bennie to discover more about herself before committing to an involvement. I will read another of the books to see if the characterization and interactions between characters improves.
Rating:
Summary: This book got me hooked on the series
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Fool's Puzzle and had to keep reading the rest of the books in the series. Ms Folwer brings the characters to life and you will feel as though you know each and every one!
Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I was annoyed with Benni for doing stupid things, disappointed at the lack of quilting references, and occasionally frustrated with the writing. However, the most important quality in my enjoyment of a book is caring about the characters - and I quickly cared a lot about Benni and her family and friends. Also, the setting in central California was fresh and different. I look forward to reading more!
Rating:
Summary: California cozy - chuck off your boots and grab a latte
Review: Meet Benni, sort of the 90s, west coast, grown up Nancy Drew. Her chum Alvia is an independent book seller. Her husband's cow punching family is worthy of an Anne Tyler novel. Her trusty roadster is a pickup. And we sense the Nancy Drew propensity to rush in and sustain innumerable blows to the head. Will this girl always beat the cops to the punch and be neatly rescued by her man? But I loved Nancy Drew, and I love Benni. Benni's battle with grief over her husband's death rings true and gives depth to the character. If you can't take a trip to the California coast this summer, a Benni Harper Mystery will give you the same feel. The book artfully brings to life a small town with a compatible mix of ranchers, working artists, and the coffeehouse chic set interlaced with Latino and cop culture. And as in all small town mysteries, you just never know who will snap. Earlene, you go girl!
Rating:
Summary: Hang in there!
Review: OK, so the title of my review doesn't make you think this book is going to be any good. It was hard to rate. Up front I have to warn you: The plot is contrived; The dialogue gets on your nerves; and The writing is clumsy. BUT . . .Hang in there, read this one, then sit back and enjoy the ride!!! In all honesty it was very difficult to get through this first book in the Benni Harper series. Despite all the negative things I mentioned, I got through the book and started the second (Irish Chain) and immediately picked up the third (Kansas Troubles)and have just finished the fourth (Goose In the Pond) after a marathon, all-night reading session. There was something about the budding relationship of Benni Harper and Gabe Ortiz that made me continue reading, and I'm glad I did. The writing gets better, the mysteries get better and the romance gets hotter and stronger. Right now I can hardly wait to start on the next book and I won't/can't stop until I catch up to the 9th book and current installment, Steps to the Alter. I'm not even thinking about what I will do when I finish that one and need to wait months for the next one! I'd strongly urge you to give this series a chance. You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy the books, but the author's use of quilt patterns is really clever. Anyway, hang in there, the adventures of Benni and Gabe get better and remember it had to start somewhere!
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