Customer Reviews

Bell, Book, and Scandal (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 14)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

In this disappointing entry in a usually reliable series, Jane Jeffrey has finished writing a novel and is hoping to get it published, so she and her friend Shelley Nowack attend a mystery writer's convention, and, before they know it they are investigating the poisoning of an agent, an attack on a reviewer, and a case of plagiarism.

Among other things, this book lacks continuity. In past books in this series, Jane is portrayed as being quite frugal, not willing to part with her ancient station wagon, even though it is falling apart. All of a sudden, Jane has a completely different attitude, not only willing to buy a new jeep, but have the pothole in her driveway repaired, and buys cell phones for herself and two of her children. Her decision to buy the jeep would have worked much better if it was developed throughout the course of the book and she bought the jeep at the end of the book.

Newcomers to the series will wonder how Jane, a single mother, with no apparent job, has so much money. Churchill has always explained this, and what happened to Jane's husband, in a few simple sentences in past books, and should have done it her. Jane's decision to leave her two youngest children home alone, although they are old enough to be left alone, was a decision she would have agonized about in past books and it came too easily in this one.

I did enjoy the parts about the convention, reading it, I felt like I was there. But the book felt thrown together, as if Churchill was meeting a deadline. More time should have been spent developing the characters, several of which, particularly Vernetta are written so broadly that they are unbelievable. The mystery itself is practically non-existent; the book is more about the convention than the two attacks, neither of which is fatal.

The Jane Jeffrey mysteries are usually quite good. Newcomers to the series should not let one weak entry keep them from reading the rest of the series.

Unlike most of the other reviewers of this book who gave it a low rating, I liked it very much and give it a high rating. I think it is refreshing to find a mystery book that does not involve a murder. I enjoyed spending time with Jane and Shelley in what I consider more normal circumstances. How many of us encounter a murder every few months? This book was about two women friends attending a mystery writers conference, the characters they meet, and two non-murder mysterious events. It did not have me on the edge of my seat or give me nightmares - thank goodness. It was an enjoyable, light read - no vulgar language, no vicious murder, no creepiness. I felt like I was reading about the activities of my own kind of friends - nice people who get involved, are curious, and like most women in this world, constantly change their minds! Jill Churchill took a chance writing this non-murder mystery and according to the majority of reviews, folks were not pleased. However, this happy reader enjoyed the breezy writing and the two every-day type of mysteries - and spending time with Jane and Shelley.

I used to enjoy Jill Churchill's books-- but then again, that was years ago when I was much, MUCH younger and hadn't yet discovered great mystery writers.

Since then, Churchill's books have seemed to get worse.. or maybe I've gotten too old for her work?

Bell, Book, and Scandal stars Jane Jeffry and her best friend Shelly Novak. Both seem in this novel to be middle-aged technologically-stunted (and backwards) fools, having just discovered the wonders of cell phones and car alarms. It's awful reading them rave about these things when these "innovative" inventions have been around for years and years.

This book reads like a rulebook for how to write a mystery novel, and yet Churchill breaks every rule she writes. Although the mystery begins rather early on, there is no mention of it for the next hundred or so pages, making a long, dull read. I was bored to tears reading this book, and the end was unsatisfying.

Jane and Shelly are big boring duds, and deserve each other-- after all, who would want to befriend such disgustingly boring people???

Churchill needs to come up with better storylines.. this one was simply awful.

This is said by a character in *Bell, Book, and Scandal*, and I am sad to say it's the best way to sum up the whole novel.

I love Jill Churchill/Janice Brooks. That historical romance novel she doesn't like to 'fess up to? My all-time favorite of the genre. Her historical novel about Japanese prison camps in WWII? Loved it. Her previous Jane Jeffry books? Funny and entertaining. Her Grace and Favor books? Fascinating and quite touching.

Bell, Book, and Scandal? Either ghostwritten, or written under duress to satisfy some sort of contractual obligation.

Seriously, I can't find Churchill's voice in this plodding story. There is no humor to be found. There is really no attention given to the inner thoughts of Jane, and a mind-numbing amount of attention paid to every mundane little thing she does--right down to a conversation between Jane and Shelley about how one of them is glad she brought her WaterPik because she's eating raspberries.

There is also little to no danger. The stakes are never raised.

The best scenes in *Bell* are the scenes where Jane is trying to sell her novel to agents and editors. In these scenes, we actually do get emotionally involved with the story, and Jane begins to almost sound like Jane again.

But besides that, this story plods without direction and then ends with a sudden and awkward ending that made me wonder if I was missing pages.

I miss the funny, wry Jane! Bring her back!

While this book wasn't one of Ms. Churchill's stronger books,(The mystery aspect was a little late in coming and a bit underdeveloped.),I quite enjoyed the read. I could see myself in this story. I've been to my share of workshops that had a lot of useful info, but went on too long. I also went shopping and in the end left early. While the plot lacked the usual tension, I loved that it put forth some useful info for writers who want to get published.
All in all, I thought that this was a pleasant, easy read that didn't get me all tied up in knots. I read it, then passed it on to my mom and my two sisters who enjoyed it as well. If you want nail biting suspense then this probably isn't the book for you. If you want an entertaining evening without having to work for it, then you just might enjoy this book.

I have read all of Jill Churchill's Jane Jeffry mysteries except the first two; each time a new book of hers is released, I always look forward to it. However, the last couple haven't been up to Ms. Churchill's usual standards - after all, this woman HAS been compared to Agatha Christie (my personal favorite) - and with "Bell Book and Scandal" Ms. Churchill has hit a new high in lows.

A mystery where no murder happens? Where the characters are one- and two-dimensional? Where it seems like on every other page Jane and Shelley are going shopping? Was this book even written by Jill Churchill? It doesn't seem like it - there is no vitality, no real humor (as in the past), and surely no real story. Like another reviewer stated, it seemed more about Jill Churchill airing her views (both good and bad) on the publishing industry.

Jane and Shelley decide to attend a mystery writers conference in their hometown; Jane has finally finished her novel and is aching for ideas on how to both improve and submit it. Immediately they make a friend in one of Jane's favorite writers, and everything goes smoothly ...

But the very morning of the conference a longtime editor goes to the hospital sick - possible food poisoning? Soon after, an annoying critic is found by his van in the parking lot after having been hit on the head, alive but unconscious, with a page torn from a paperback clutched in his hand - possible murder attempt? And who IS Miss Mystery, the sneaky gossip who hears all and tells all - gossip-wise - on her popular but acidic website?

Most importantly, WHO CARES?!!? Never have Jane and Shelley been more dull; indeed, the book seems to have nowhere to go, so merely fills pages with their shopping or eating. A first-time mystery writer would never have gotten this manuscript out of the slush pile - typos, wooden characters, unconvincing dialogue -- wow, these are NEVER things I thought I would find myself saying about a Jill Churchill book! And I think it's because she had gotten the "Lydia Adamson Syndrome" ...

The same thing is happening here that happened with the author who writes under "Lydia Adamson" -- you develop one series, make it strong as heck, then start another, separate series ... and the first one starts going sour. I HOPE that doesn't continue happening with Jill Churchill, but this book is so bad it feels ghost-written. A real shame. PLEASE, Ms. Churchill, stick to one series and do it right - don't rush a novel off to meet a deadline!

And a full-length mystery novel with no murder occurring in it really cheats the reader. I read that, years ago, in a book on writing mysteries. VERY true. And reading this one - particularly if you've read other, older books in the series - will make you feel cheated, indeed.

This is my first J.J. Mystery. I enjoyed reading about the apsects of the writers conference. But at times it felt like the decription of the conference was a primer for dunces on getting a book published, with Jane struggling over such issues as what cover is best to package your manuscript in (plain, not hot pink!)Several times the character says "The conference goes on one day too long." My God, if the characters in the novel think that things are dragging, how do you think we feel?
As for the mystery. Well, I give the author credit for trying something a little different, and NOT jumping right into a corpse lying on the ground.
And, finally, if the writer objects to having women's books labeled as "Powder Puff Mysteries" than she ought to keep her characters from going shopping every ten minutes!

Jane Jeffry and her friend Shelley decide to attend a writers' conference, since Jane has just finished her first novel and hopes to pick up some writing pointers and perhaps an agent or editor along the way. They become acquainted with one of their favorite authors, but also meet some less pleasant members of the writing fraternity. Among them are the chauvinistic critic Zac Zebra, and the obnoxiously aggressive Vernetta Strausmann who is pushing her self-published and poorly-written mystery. Also there is a woman who calls herself Ms. Mystery who listens in on people's conversations and then puts the gossip she gathers onto her website. When Zac is attacked and editor Sophie Smith becomes violently ill, Jane and Shelley's radar goes up and they begin to investigate. This book remarkably has no bloodshed or dead bodies, but the mysteries it does contain are not exactly riveting. Also this book lacks the laugh-out-loud humor which was so endearing in the earlier entries in the series.

There's your "plot" in a nutshell. I can buy the fact that there was no "murder" in the sense that no one actually died here. What I can't buy is the consumerism, etc. I grew to really dislike Shelley by the end. On the one hand she's frugal, and on the other she's a shop-a-holic. Which is it?

So Jane Jeffry and her friend Shelly are in a series of books related to this one? Oh, boy, I sure hope the others are better than this one, because the storyline is thinner than the paper it's printed on. All these two do is shop and eat, shop and eat, shop and eat. What is this, a rejected Golden Girls episode?

There wasn't even a murder in this mystery, and these two seemed to spend money like water, yet we never know where all this wealth is coming from. While learning something about the world of authors and publishing was decent enough, I just couldn't get into these characters. In fact, this story has more in common with Sandra Bell-Lundy's comic strip Between Friends, except that Between Friends has more substance. I understand Churchill has written better books, however, so won't pass up others just because this was so poorly received by fans who know her work better than I do. Thanks to other reviewers here, I know not to be shy about giving other books by this author a fair chance.