Review: What Happened on Beale Street by Mary Ellis

Not up to expectations

I had two problems with What Happened on Beale Street. The first was that solving the question of what happened on Beale Street—the murder of Danny Andre—didn’t seem to be the focus on the novel. Instead, it seemed like it was little more than a handy plot device to get newly-licensed private investigator Nicki Price from her home in New Orleans to Memphis, so she could investigate a fifty-year-old mystery in hotel.

My second problem was that I didn’t warm to Nicki Price, and I liked her fiancé, Hunter Galen, even less. This is perhaps my fault, because this is the second book in Mary Ellis’s Secrets of the South Mysteries series, and I haven’t read the first, Midnight on the Mississippi. This Nicki and Hunter, and maybe I’d have liked them better if I’d read the first book. As it was, Nicki came across as naïve and lacking intelligence, while Hunter came off as arrogant and controlling.

Having said that, Nicki and Hunter weren’t meant to be the focus of What Happened on Beale Street (even though Nicki did her best to steal the show, and the climax of her subplot was actually more satisfying than the payoff from the main murder plot, and I did enjoy the scenes where we got to explore the opulent Peabody Hotel).

What Happened on Beale Street centres aroud Nate Price (Nicki’s cousin and boss) and his search to find out what happened to Danny Andre, Nicki’s best friend, a some-time saxophone player in some of the blues clubs on Beale Street. He reconnects with Danny’s sister, Isabella, an old acquaintance from school days, and that provides most of the relational interest in what is otherwise a straightforward mystery novel (well, as straightforward as a mystery novel ever is, with all the requisite twists and turns on the journey to find whodunit).

Overall, while What Happened on Beale Street is a solid mystery novel with a developing romance, it wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped.

Thanks to Harvest House Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about author Mary Ellis at her website.

Review: Like Never Before by Melissa Tagg

Melissa Tagg's Best Contemporary Romance Yet

Amazon Description

Maple Valley became Amelia Bentley's haven after her heart and her dreams of a family were shattered. But her new life as a newspaper editor is shaken when the small-town paper is in danger of closing. Her one hope: A lead on an intriguing story that just might impress the new publisher...if only she knew who he was.

After his biggest campaign success yet, widowed speechwriter Logan Walker now has the chance of a lifetime--a spot on a presidential campaign. But his plans are interrupted when he finds out he's inherited his hometown newspaper. He travels home intent on selling the paper and spending some much-needed time with his young daughter before making the leap into national politics.

But instead of a quick sale and peaceful break from his hectic career, Logan finds himself helping Amelia chase her story. She's scrappy, but wounded. He's dependable, but lost. They may butt heads more than expected, but a series of leads on Maple Valley's quirky unsolved mystery is just the start of the sparks that fly in the office and in their hearts.

My Review

Like Never Before is the third book in the Walker Family series, but can easily be read as a standalone novel (thankfully—while I’ve read the previous two, I read so many books I can’t keep up with complex plots that require me to remember every detail of the previous novels).

I thought Like Never Before was excellent. Amelia and Logan were both great characters—totally opposite in many ways, but both doubting their Christian faith since the loss of their respective spouses. The writing was excellent, with the romantic tension between Amelia and Logan so strong it almost flew off the page. Just what we need in a romance . . .

I also enjoyed the interplay between the Walker siblings (and Amelia), and the sense of family that showed. And I liked the mystery around aviation pioneer Charles Lindberg, local eccentric Kendall Wilkins, and the empty safety deposit box (and not just because it forced Amelia and Logan to spend more time together. But that was part of it).

There were a couple of editing glitches (wrong character name, a repeated paragraph), but I read a review copy, not the final text, so these will hopefully be corrected before final publication (ditto for the typo in the Amazon book description). And sometimes the writing sounded more like Susan May Warren than Melissa Tagg, but SMW is one of my favourite authors, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing . . .

Overall, I agree with Susan May Warren that Melissa Tagg just keeps getting better and better. This is definitely her best yet. Recommended for contemporary romance fans.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

5*

Review: Breaking Free by Jennifer Slattery

A Thought-provoking Read

Amazon Description

Sometimes it takes losing everything to grab hold of what really matters.

Women’s ministry leader and Seattle housewife, Alice Goddard, and her successful graphic-designer husband appear to have it all together. Until their credit and debit cards are denied, launching Alice into an investigation that only leads to the discovery of secrets. Meanwhile, her husband is trapped in a downward spiral of lies, shame, and self-destruction. Can they break free from their deception and turn to the only One who can save them? And will it be in time to save their marriage?

My Review

Breaking Free isn’t a fun read. It’s a hard-hitting story of a disintegrating marriage. At first, I thought gambler Trent was the one with the problem. But by halfway through, I was equally annoyed with both characters (and with Alice’s mother, and Trent’s boss. And both their children). Sure, Trent was taking the lead in lying, cheating and stealing to fund his gambling habit, but Alice wasn’t helping. She wasn’t addressing the issue. She wasn’t asking for help. She wasn’t even admitting there was a problem.

On one hand, I understood why. Alice and Trent were good church-going Christians (although Trent’s salvation may well be in question), and the church isn’t generally in favour of divorce. The novel opened with Alice having lunch with a group of her church “friends”, with the implication she didn’t really like any of them because they were all fake. Yet she was as fake as any of them, not trusting anyone—even her best friend—with the truth of what was happening in her life. This was annoying, as the opening implied a strong woman of God, but she was more doormat woman of mammon (on the plus side, this did give her plenty of room for character growth, which did happen albeit perhaps too quickly to be believable).

And that meant that instead of being a story of a disintegrating marriage, Breaking Free turned into a story of a disintegrating family. I couldn’t help but think things might have been different if Alice had been more Christian and less churchgoer. If she’d asked for God’s help.

That if she’d been a little more open about the problems between her and Trent, especially the money problems, that her sons might have had a little more grace and understanding towards her. On the other hand, should you tell your children stuff like that? They were teenagers, old enough to understand. Or is that turning the children into pawns?

Yes, Breaking Free was a frustrating read, but that’s what made it good. While Trent continually had the choice between good and bad decisions (to gamble or not to gamble, to pay the household bills or to use that money for gambling, to pay back the money he owed or to steal), Alice didn’t. Alice’s choices were between bad and bad, with no right answer. A best answer, perhaps. But no right answer. After all, there is no perfect formula for a marriage breakup.

But I did expect Alice, as a Christian and a women’s ministry leader, to turn to God, at least occasionally, even if she couldn’t turn to her friends. This is what made me think she was as big a fake as her so-called friends (and a hypocrite as well, for judging them). I found her passivity frustrating—she let a lot of this happen through her personal inaction. Sure, Trent’s gambling wasn’t her fault. But her lack of reaction was. So that was frustrating as well.

And the ending . . . too quick. And I’m not convinced it was believable, or that it would last. However, it’s still a solid read with an excellent message. You can find out more about author Jennifer Slattery at her website (http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com/), and you can read the beginning of Breaking Free here:

Thanks to New Hope Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

ACRBA Review: Twice Stolen by Susanne Timpani

4 - 8 April

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Twice Stolen

(Armour Books, 14 February 2016)

by

Susanne Timpani

About the Book:

After the death of his grandmother, Dimitri finds he's been lied to most of his life. His journey into the Outback to unravel the mystery of his identity leads to an encounter with Leah, a nurse with a tragic secret.

About the Author

Susanne is married, has four beautiful children and works as a community nurse with children and families. Themes of her work and her faith appear in her writing. 

Susanne is the author of the blog, 10 Minute Daily Retreat. These twice weekly reflections on scripture can be read via:

http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/ 

https://www.facebook.com/10MinuteDailyRetreat

Her first novel, Twice Stolen, was released in February 2016. It fits the genre of Inspirational Fiction, has Australian Aboriginal themes and is flavoured with a sprinkling of Medical Romance. 

Twice stolen won the CALEB prize for an unpublished manuscript.  The book is published by Armour Books

My Review

Dimitri is an aspiring photographer who is also looking to discover more about his heritage, having lost his parents in a plane accident when he was a small child. He wins a short-term apprenticeship with a landscape photographer which takes him to the Bilyaj region, on the edge of the Outback—where his parents died. Leah is a student midwife assigned to the Bilyja region, where she meets the handsome Dimitri, but she’s nervous about getting involved with him—especially after she has a health scare.

The story revolves around a lot of secrets, which makes it difficult to describe without giving away spoilers. It also made parts of the story frustrating for me. Dimitri’s grandparents lied to him and it was never explained why (and I don’t understand how they got away with one of the lies). The ongoing conflict between Leah and Dimitri could have been solved with a conversation (while I understood why Dimitri stayed away from Leah, his initial assumption was ridiculous. So ridiculous it took me a while before I worked out what he’d thought).

There were issues about timing that either didn’t make sense, or skipped forward in time without adequately covering what one of the characters had been doing in the intervening timespan. I noticed this especially around Leah’s health scare. And I thought Leah needed her head examined (but to tell you why would be a spoiler).

Overall, the idea of Twice Stolen was excellent, but there were too many problems for it to be a truly outstanding novel, at least for me.

Thanks to Armour Books for providing a free ebook for review.

I'm Reviewing Thin Ice at Suspense Sisters Reviews

I'm visiting Suspense Sisters Reviews today, reviewing Thin Ice by Irene Hannon. Click here to read my review.

You can read the introduction to Thin Ice below: