Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing laughs, romance and a mystery - summer bliss!
Review: Like the first swim of summer, Suzann Ledbetter's EAST OF PECULIAR is a refreshing splash of laughter, romance and mystery! Hannah has had it. Kissing her high-pressure advertising executive job in Chicago goodbye, she says hello to Valhalla Springs, a retirement community in the Missouri Ozarks. Thinking she's found a place to rest and recoup, Hannah instead finds herself in the deep-end of a murder with an unlikely victim, and way over her head with the handsome local sheriff! I found myself laughing out-loud while reading of Hannah's predicaments and her wry view on life. As a newly turned forty-year old woman myself, I related to this 43-year-old heroine's 'younger-man' dilemma. I also loved the various residents at Valhalla Springs - an eclectic collection of some of the most loveable retirees you'd ever hope to meet! The mystery and danger in this story is perfectly blended with laughter and romance - giving the reader non-stop entertainment. I found the author's sense of humour and fast-paced plot impossible to put-down, and it was with regret that I said good-bye to the residents of this fictional corner of the Ozarks. Grab up EAST OF PECULIAR and take a vacation from the everyday in Valhalla Springs! I did, and I loved every minute!
Rating:
Summary: A real zinger of a read!
Review: Suzann Ledbetter has done it again, this time with a rip-roaring mystery -- her first -- and I'm looking eagerly forward to the others in the series! Who killed the retired schoolteacher with her own rolling pin? Hannah, the new caretaker of Valhalla Springs, an upscale retirement community, is confronted with the body before she has her bags unpacked. What's a girl to do? Solve it, of course, although this is somewhat difficult when the community's computer system has been "requisitioned" by the mother of its owner, people keep making extra keys to the locks on your front door, well-meaning residents insist on "fixing" your plumbing and electrical appliances -- badly -- and the rinse you just put on your hair has turned it flaming red.Hannah meets her intellectual match in David, the solid-as-rock, handsome (and totally yummy) sheriff. Helped and hindered by a wonderfully detailed cast of quirky old-agers and townspeople, this delightful hero and heroine try to solve the crime and end up falling for each other. EAST OF PECULIAR is full of the flavor of the Missouri Ozarks, observed by a master storyteller with a keen eye and ear, right down to the nuances of spoken language and the inner workings of a small Missouri town. I simply loved this book! It's a terrific mystery that's cheeky and surprising, warm and witty, and I read it in two sittings. I can't wait to see what Hannah and David will get up to next!
Rating: 
Summary: East of Interesting
Review: Suzann Ledbetter spent more time creating interesting scenery than fleshing out two very flat characters. The romance between these two dimensional people felt forced at best. I skimmed through the book and found myself skipping large sections. In the end, it was a very disapointing novel. I actually tossed it across the room when I was done, angry with myself for not setting it aside when I was bored at page 50.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting premise for a mystery series
Review: The author has a breezy, enjoyable style of writing and has created a quirky, endearing ensemble of characters as well as a hunky cop hero. I like the premise of a mystery series set in a retirement community, and using older characters in supporting roles. I feel the publisher did a disservice to this author by labeling her book a romance, though--it's not a romance. It's clearly intended to be an ongoing mystery series, and labeling it romance means the book misses its targeted audience. While I did enjoy the story and will read this author's next book in the series, I did find the humor at times labored, and the focus of the book not as tight as it could be--for me this was because there were too many secondary characters who were largely interchangeable, and a mystery that wasn't as central to the book as it should've been. I kept getting the feeling the author was trying to write a romance, a mystery, a comedy, and a women's fiction type of book all in one, which for me resulted in a plot that meandered a lot. I'm hoping in her next book she focuses more on the mystery.
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Summary: Oh, those crazy Seniors!
Review: The only reason I read this book was that it was the pick for a book group that I'm in. It was billed as a romance and I thooght I'd hate it (I'm not a romance fan). Was I ever surprised! Suzann Ledbetter has created a quirky cast that will keep a smile on your face as you race through this great whodunit! From the "Senior Commando Neighbor Patrol" to the barge-in-any-time ladies aide group, this book hold the interest of anybody who takes the time to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, those crazy Seniors!
Review: The only reason I read this book was that it was the pick for a book group that I'm in. It was billed as a romance and I thooght I'd hate it (I'm not a romance fan). Was I ever surprised! Suzann Ledbetter has created a quirky cast that will keep a smile on your face as you race through this great whodunit! From the "Senior Commando Neighbor Patrol" to the barge-in-any-time ladies aide group, this book hold the interest of anybody who takes the time to read it.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: This book has a lot going for it--a clever setting, cute characters, zippy dialogue, but I desperately wanted to take my red pen to the prose. There's nothing wrong with metaphors or original descriptions. (Personally I hate the current trend of books written entirely in dialogue with no sense of time or place.) But there was a lot of overwriting here and it ended up feeling very self-conscious--milking the prose of its suspense, and slowing down the flow of the story to a crawl in spots. ...
Rating:
Summary: A Great Mix Of Romance and Mystery !
Review: This is the first Suzann Ledbetter book I have read. It was a nice mix of romance and mystery. It had a wonderful mix of quirky character's and the story kept you turning the pages to find out what would happen next. I look forward to her next book "South Of Sanity", which is do out in March of 2001.
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