Rating: 
Summary: Very fun and enjoyable
Review: I am exactly the same age as Tory Buaer and
grew up and still live in a small town in South
Dakota. Not quite as small and dusty as Delphine but I found myself and my friends in every page of the book. I was at first a little confused because so many characters were introduced right in the beginning. However, that soon cleared and I was pleasantly surprised at how well written it was. Anyone who grew up in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's in a small Midwestern town would enjoy this book. I will be watching for all Kathleen Taylor novels
Rating:
Summary: Very fun and enjoyable
Review: I am exactly the same age as Tory Buaer andgrew up and still live in a small town in SouthDakota. Not quite as small and dusty as Delphine but I found myself and my friends in every page of the book. I was at first a little confused because so many characters were introduced right in the beginning. However, that soon cleared and I was pleasantly surprised at how well written it was. Anyone who grew up in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's in a small Midwestern town would enjoy this book. I will be watching for all Kathleen Taylor novels
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I can tell I really like a book when I don't want to put it down at night, when I almost miss my train stop because I am too engrossed and when my husband talks to me and I don't hear him because I am reading. All of her books do that for me. They are AWESOME!
Rating:
Summary: Murder?
Review: I don't want to give away the ending, but it seems that Ms. Taylor likes her characters ("nothing like" those in her home town, according to the author's bio) too much to let anyone be too guilty - only the dead really deserve punishment. As you can see, reviewers either love or hate the series. Perhaps the real dividing line on the reviews is whether the reviewer has relatives from the upper Midwest. Yes, each book is one long piece of gossip, but that's what gives it local color and makes it seem authentic. Frankly, I feel I know Delphi better than Harrold because of this series.
Rating:
Summary: Murder?
Review: I don't want to give away the ending, but it seems that Ms. Taylor likes her characters ("nothing like" those in her home town, according to the author's bio) too much to let anyone be too guilty - only the dead really deserve punishment. As you can see, reviewers either love or hate the series. Perhaps the real dividing line on the reviews is whether the reviewer has relatives from the upper Midwest. Yes, each book is one long piece of gossip, but that's what gives it local color and makes it seem authentic. Frankly, I feel I know Delphi better than Harrold because of this series.
Rating: 
Summary: A non-mystery about people with no interests.
Review: I was extremely disappointed in this book which had been recommended highly by contributors to a mystery listserv. Not that it wasn't well-written. However, I waded through thousands of words waiting for something, anything to happen that would pique my interest. Instead, I got a running commentary on who-slept-with-whom for the past 20 or more years in a small town. Boring. I really love the idea of a slightly overweight, 40ish waitress as a heroine but Tory really needs to do some reading or find some other interests in life. Good characterization. Good writing. Just boring, boring people.
Rating:
Summary: There was no there there
Review: I was swayed by the reviews I'd read about this book. And I thought that the Tory Bauer character would be fun. I hadn't gone two chapters when I found myself wondering, "Are they going to talk through this whole book?" They did. I got to page 192 and was still wondering if a mystery would ever surface. One finally did, afterwards. This is a book about a bunch of people talking about an incident from 25 years ago, one that was significant to them, but totally uninteresting to me. And the incident was described repeatedly. A bunch of people get drunk and 25 years ago someone dies. But even at the outset of the book, no one seemed at all curious about the death. So why should the reader? Fast forward to the last fourth of the book and someone else dies. Now things heat up. Well, sort of. The reader is taken through a bunch of conversations full of false statements and minute details about an uninteresting death and... Dull. Very dull. I anticipated liking this series that I bought the next book. If it's as talky and boring as this one, with the same shallow character development, I won't wait till page 192 to find out where the mystery is.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of fun, even if you aren't a small-town Baby Boomer
Review: I'm afraid my opinion is terribly biased. I grew up in South Dakota, attended college in Aberdeen (where I met my husband) and lived in Mitchell and Huron (both on the James River, which we called "the Jim"). I'm familiar with small towns like Delphi. Hitchcock and Tulare are real, as is Redfield. (The character Janelle is vaguely reminiscent of a young girl from Huron who ended up one of Charlie's Angels.) There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. Taylor is a South Dakotan through and through. It doesn't matter that the plot is slow to develop. The characters are so well developed that one can't help but feel we know them. I recommend this book to anyone who has lived in a small town. . . or wishes they had.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of fun, even if you aren't a small-town Baby Boomer
Review: I'm afraid my opinion is terribly biased. I grew up in South Dakota, attended college in Aberdeen (where I met my husband) and lived in Mitchell and Huron (both on the James River, which we called "the Jim"). I'm familiar with small towns like Delphi. Hitchcock and Tulare are real, as is Redfield. (The character Janelle is vaguely reminiscent of a young girl from Huron who ended up one of Charlie's Angels.) There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. Taylor is a South Dakotan through and through. It doesn't matter that the plot is slow to develop. The characters are so well developed that one can't help but feel we know them. I recommend this book to anyone who has lived in a small town. . . or wishes they had.
Rating:
Summary: likeable female character
Review: In Delphi, SD, nobody's drop-dead beautiful. Nobody (except the librarian) is wealthy. And nobody's perfect. But you'll love them all. The mystery's a winner, too.
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