Customer Reviews

A Bad Day for Pretty: A Crime Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stella Hardesty returns from the hospital after her adventures in "A Bad Day for Sorry."

She had been abused by her husband for years and ended the abuse and Ollie's life. Now, she helps other women get out of abusive situations.

She's having dinner at Sheriff "Goat" Jones' home. They have been building up to a more physical relationship and just as things are getting warm, the Sheriff's scheming, ex-wife, Brandy, arrives.

Brandy hasn't seen Goat for three years and each claims that the other never got around to signing the divorce papers so they're still legally married.

As this is transpiring, a tornado rips through town and blows over the snack shop at the demolition derby track at the fair grounds. Under the rubble is a mumified body of a woman.

Neb Donovan had been in charge of the construction and he becomes the leading suspect. His wife, Donna, hires Stella to look into clearing Neb's name. Donna had asked Stella to intervene in the past when Neb had been addicted to Oxycontin. It appeared that his recovery had gone well, until now.

This is another entertaining novel from the author. There are some laugh out loud moments and the author keeps the reader's attention as layers of the puzzle are peeled away and a possible solution is arrived at.

It is refreshing to see a female protagonist who won't be pushed around and Sara along with her new associate, Chrissy, show that they have the strength to take matters into their own hands.

Great fun.

This is the first book I've read by this author, so I missed Stella's first adventure. I thought the author did a great job of bringing new readers up to speed, so if you're like me, you can probably jump in with this one too. Having said that, I think the first one must of been a bit more exciting, so you might want to start there anyway. This book reads like a cozy mystery, since Stella is officially an amateur, but make no mistake, it has quite a bit more language and sexual innuendos than your average cozy. It seems to straddle the middle of two genres, not exactly a cozy and not exactly a typical mystery complete with clues, violence, sex and truly nasty guys you really have to chase down. This story didn't work for me because I think I'm more used to mysteries with a bit more edge. I didn't find it compelling at all and found myself struggling to keep with it, especially during the first half of the book. There is no page turning suspense, and in fact I wasn't really that interested in finding out who did it! I needed a LOT more excitement, and a lot less repetition of Stella's philosophies of life. It seems like the author kept saying the same thing over and over, when I got it and liked it the first time.

Still, I would give this book a solid 3.5 stars, maybe even 4 just because I loved this character so much! Stella Hardesty is a middle aged woman looking out for all the women out there who are abused and taken advantage of. She's a Robin Hood in rubber clogs and the author does a great job of giving her an authentic voice filled with homespun wisdom and humor. She's a character I would love to have a drink with, and along with her partner Chrissy Shaw, they provided enough humor and charm to keep the so-so story humming along. I might even look for the next installment for this series just so I can see if Stella finally gets her man. I just hope the author let's Stella and Chrissy go a bit more next time so they can really have a good adventure. If you're looking for a cozy with a bit more grit than usual, you'll like this one OK, but if your tastes run to the edgier side of things, better pass Stella on by for now.

If you can't wait for Janet Evanovich's SIZZLING SIXTEEN to be released on June 22, Sophie Littlefield's BAD DAY series will make your day at the beach. If Stephanie Plum had an aunt living in the Show Me State (Missouri), it would be Stella Hardesty. Stella's a younger version of Grandma Mazur and gets herself into as much trouble.

Stella and her new side-kick Chrissy Shaw are survivors of domestic violence. A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY opens with a PTSD flashback to the day a tornado took out Stella's beloved uncle. Stella and Chrissy are still recovering from the wounds sustained in a tussle with the Mob at the end of A BAD DAY FOR SORRY.

The pair, however, find themselves lusting after new men. Stella has the hots for Sheriff Goat Jones, and Chrissy charms the pants off a computer geek named Larry Klipsinger. He teaches her how to become a computer hacker.

Goat's estranged wife Brandy Truax blows back into his life like the tornado that's brewing outside, and she creates the same level of chaos and destruction.

The tornado uproots the snack shack on the county fairgrounds revealing the mummified body of a blond. Neb Donovan, a husband rehabilitated from his wife-beating ways by Stella, is the prime suspect. He was addicted to OxyContin, a hillbilly's heroin.

There are so many whacky plot twists loaded with humor and romance that I forgot the book is a who-done-it until the identity of the killer is revealed at the end. The clue was so subtle that I missed it entirely ~ my favorite kind of mystery.

The mystery within the mystery is which woman in the trio making eyes at Goat will capture his heart. He and Stella are the "yin and yang of holistic justice." He thought he was divorced from Brandy. And, ambitious co-worker Daphne Simmons is sexually harassing him.

A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY is laugh-out-loud funny as well as thought-provoking. A great read.

I really enjoyed the debut novel featuring Stella Hardesty, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY, and was really looking forward to this. Verdict: Good, but not quite what I'd hoped.

On the positive side, Littlefield's a good writer and she's created a just-quirky-enough cast of soap-opera-like characters to populate a bunch of future books. While I found some a bit overly stereotyped (including Stella's sidekick, Chrissy), for the most part I like the cast and think it's drawn with broad, sympathetic strokes. And Propser, Missouri is much more to my taste than that saccharine Three Pines and its treacly characters (those of you who read crime fiction will know whom I'm referring to). While the humor is broad, it's not forced, and Littlefield does knock off some memorable one-liners. I have to say, though, that the grammatical error in the last line of the acknowledgments, before I ever got to the first chapter, almost put me off before I got started! (I know, I'm a little uptight about this stuff).

On the negative side, I thought the plotting on the debut was a little skimpy, and the same's true here, which makes the book seem overly long and padded with filler. And, strangely, I think what made Stella so appealing in the first book were the detailed exploits of the not-so-subtle whup-ass she does on men who mistreat their women. That's absent here, except for a few flashbacks about men Stella had gotten in line, and I really missed that as part of the book. I also felt the book started to falter when this light-hearted read attempts to make some "serious" feminist statements, and (call me unromantic) I sort of got tired of reading the physical descriptions of Sheriff/Adonis Goat Jones--and I hope Littlefield doesn't make the mistake that Louise Penny makes of falling absolutely in love with her own creation. That's a small quibble, though, because I think Littlefield handles the chemistry between Stella and Goat quite nicely for the most part.

A fun read, but definitely start with A BAD DAY FOR SORRY.

Stella Hardesty plunges into trouble again in Sophie Littlefield's A Bad Day for Pretty, second in this series about a fifty-year-old self-made widow who metes out justice to abusive men and force them to follow the straight and narrow. This time, however, Sally is trying to prove Neb Donovan, "the one man she considered to be fully rehabilitated", is innocent of murder.

Neb's wife, Donna, asks for Sally's help when he is arrested after a tornado exposes the mummified body of a woman, who was buried under a concrete slab in a building Neb worked on when he was not the upstanding citizen he is now. Not convinced Neb is blameless - the woman was murdered when Neb was an avid drug user and he can't remember much about what he did back then - Sally nevertheless agrees to look into the matter. To help, she enlists former client Chrissy Shaw, who is becoming an expert hacker and who works in Stella's sewing shop.

As Stella tries to stay one step ahead of the law, she also must deal with unhappy childhood memories and what seems to be a mutual attraction between her and Sheriff Goat Jones. Things get more complicated with the appearance of Brandy, the wife she did not know Goat Jones had, and someone who seems to know all about Stella's not-quite-legal dealings with abusive men.

The characters, especially Stella and Chrissy, are entertaining and the dialogue funny, but the plot is less focused and tight than the first novel in the series, A Bad Day for Sorry. Littlefield spends a bit too much time on Stella's conversations justifying her actions to the "Big Guy". But readers should enjoy Stella, who is still her "badass self" and her observations on life including, "God help a world that handed over the keys to every important organization - the United Nations, NASA, professional sports - and in effect said, `Here, boys, go on ahead and drive.' When would women wake up and start running things?"

Not too many second books follow a great debut in a series and don't disappoint the reader but "A Bad Day For Pretty" follows up A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel with a bang. Tornadoes, mummies, almost ex-wives and all these just when Stella was thinking things were heating up for her and Sheriff Goat Jones (and she and her daughter put so much effort into Stella's mini-makeover).

Good, consistent tight writing. Lots of humor. Maybe a little thin plot-wise but I don't think these books are going to be known for heavy, thought provoking reads. But saying that, both the first book and this one surprised me a couple of times - hard to do. I like that Chrissy is developing into a strong character, too, with a lot of inner strengths of her own.

I very definitely recommend this and the previous book to anyone who needs a good laugh, or wants to see the bad guys get what's coming to them. There is some rough language and some violence.

Okay, there's a little bit of rest. Sophie Littlefield's second Stella Hardesty novel opens about three months after the events of A Bad Day for Sorry. Readers of that novel will realize that Stella was in no shape to rush back into the thick of things, so there was just a bit of rest and recuperation. And it looks like there may be a bit of relaxation in store with the last person Stella should be cozying up to, Sheriff "Goat" Jones. However, this is quickly solved by the inopportune arrival on the scene of Goat's not-quite-ex-wife, Brandy.

Now, Brandy is a pain in the patootie, and she brings a host of trouble with her, but Stella has other concerns. An old friend and client is in trouble. One of the few worthwhile men that Stella has ever had to scare straight is a suspect in a murder. Stella has a hard time imagining the gentle man is a killer, but all signs point to his guilt. Stella launches an investigation in her own inimitable fashion, assisted--you'll be glad to hear--by Chrissy Shaw, a character far too entertaining to have been left behind in book one.

Actually, in this novel we meet several more of the people in Stella's support network. The mysteries that Sophie Littlefield spins are well-plotted and compelling, but I'll be honest, it's these characters and the relationships of this quirky tribe that will keep me coming back for more.

It is hard not to be captivated by Stella Hardesty, the centerpiece character of Sophie Littlefield's rambunctious debut "A Bad Day For Sorry" and its soulful follow-up "A Bad Day For Pretty." Stella, on the wrong side of fifty, has had a hard life. Trapped in an abusive marriage for most of her adult years, Stella is reinventing herself as a woman of action. Having been pushed too far and subsequently dispatching her no-account husband--Stella's clandestine new profession is to help women in equally dire straits. And Stella is up to the challenge! Tough and brutal, Stella is a classic no-nonsense heroine for the modern age. Whether it's romancing the town sheriff or engaging in a bloody shoot-out, she is never less than convincing. You become so caught up in the character of Stella Hardesty, the "Bad Day" stories seem almost secondary in importance.

But that's OK. "A Bad Day For Sorry" is a rather extravagantly wrought tale involving a missing child and local mobsters. Not particularly convincing or realistic from a plot standpoint, "Sorry" is still wildly entertaining. The final confrontation is a stand-off worthy of a Tarantino film finale with bullets blazing and bodies falling! "A Bad Day For Pretty" is a decidedly more subdued affair. That's just fine, though, because it allows more time with the characterizations. When a long-buried body is uncovered in a tornado, Stella must work to prove a friend's innocence in the murder. At the same time, Stella's romantic life (which was just starting to blossom) hits a major snag when her paramour's wife returns with a hidden agenda of her own. Seemingly unrelated, these two events might have more in common than meets the eye!

Again, the plots (while fun) are not the major selling point of Littlefield's novels. Filled with interesting characters and snappy dialogue, "A Bad Day For Pretty" expertly delivers on the promise of the first book. An easy recommendation for those familiar with "Sorry" or to followers of crime fiction, I think Stella and her travails deserve to be discovered by the masses. I look forward to seeing where Littlefield will take us next and with Stella at the wheel--I'm along for the ride.

I'm not going to attempt a synopsis here, because other reviewers have done a fine job of it.

This book initially took my interest because I was looking for a new series, and I enjoy something a little different sometimes. Most of all, it is important to me to read about everyday people, as opposed to those who are wealthy, beautiful, rich, and powerful. Reading about a wealthy protagonist alienates me a little bit, plus it lets the author off the hook when it comes to solving problems. In other words, if someone just broke into your house, or attempted to do so, do you have to fix the screen door yourself, or is there a "Jeeves" who melts in from nowhere and automatically has it "taken care of"?

I was drawn by this, and also, of course, by a sympathetic view toward abused women.

Like many of the other reviewers, I had not read the first of the series, and have just ordered it.

The characters and plot are original, intriguing, and lovable. Unfortunately, she has so many characters that she isn't really able to develop any of them right now. I'm hoping this will change, as she appears to be under contract, which gives her some opportunity to grow as a writer. I'd like to see some flesh and blood (well, okay, there's enough blood already) to further shape and define the protagonist and a small number of key characters. Right now it's interesting and amusing, but a little bit too sit-com-like.

I give her points for choosing a setting that hasn't been done to death. I've had a little too much of NY City and Los Angeles as settings. A small town in Missouri adds color and a mid-western flavor.

One more struggle that Littlefield will continue to face as long as she sticks with her series, is the edginess of the vigilante crime-fighter as protagonist. Many of us (especially in big cities) understand that no one but the wealthy sees a whole lot of justice from conventional law enforcement. The police aren't there for the little guy. But many of us are also squeamish at the notion of someone without official credentials taking on the authority of breaking open someone's head, or kneecap, or whatever.

Thus far, Donna, our protagonist, has only actually killed in self-defense. That's good. But this is hard territory to work in. I will continue to follow this writer, in hopes she is up to the challenge of slithering through the ethical morass of deciding when someone has done something wicked enough to justify having her main character do them physical harm, without benefit of judge or jury. It's sticky work, and I am intrigued by her efforts.

Hopefully the next time I write about Littlefield's work, there will be sufficient character development to add another star. I am pulling for her.

If you like a good story, and are not bothered by some language, this is a great second novel. It was great to revisit the characters in the first novel, and I'm looking forward to the third book soon.