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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blessed is the Reader For This is a Great Debut, March 30, 2006
Aggie Sloane-Wilcox is trying to adjust to life in Emerald Springs, Ohio. Not only is this a tight knit small town, but being the wife of the new minister of Consolidate Community Church means she and her family are constantly under scrutiny. Especially since they live in the parsonage right next to the church. For example, the Women's Society Board thinks they need to come over and decide what length the bushes in the backyard should be.
But when this group of ladies shows up at the parsonage, they find a woman's body on Aggie's front porch. Worse yet, she's completely naked. The ladies are scandalized and blame Aggie for the problem. Worse yet, the police think that Aggie's husband, Ed, is the most likely killer.
Despite warnings to stay out of it, Aggie can't. The stakes are raised when some of the members of the church decide this makes a good excuse to fire Ed. So who was this woman? Why was she in town? And can Aggie stay alive long enough to find the answer?
This debut sparkles. Aggie is a fun character. She has lots of spunk, and reading about her is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face. Her first person narration adds to the fun with her commentary on the events going on around her.
The other characters are just as wonderful. Ed makes a good balance to Aggie while best friend Lucy helps stir up trouble. Ed and Aggie's two daughters are well crafted and realistic for their ages. The assorted suspects and church members are all well developed as well. Characters are obviously one of the Emilie Richards' strengths because all of these characters are great.
The only flaw in the book is an uneven plot. Around the middle, the story lags a little, and I found myself waiting for events to get moving again. This didn't last very long. Over all, the story is great with several nice twists and an exciting climax.
And I must comment on the theology. Being a series set in a church, I wasn't sure how I would like it. While this is not a church I would regularly attend in real life, it was presented as a part of these character's lives. It never once became preachy or over powered the story but added a richness and texture to the story.
It's always a pleasure to find a new series that shows promise. I hope the author delivers on that promise when the second book is released.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun, likeable characters, good plotting, April 16, 2006
This is the first book I've read by this author and the first book she's written in this series. The hero/detective is Aggie (short for Agate), the wife of a Unitarian minister who is living in a small Ohio college town with their two school-aged daughters. Aggie and family life are very much the center of this cozy story. ALthough life as a minister's wife is not easy -- and more difficult because a wealthy and strong-willed member of the congregation has taken a dislike to husband Ed and wants him gone -- you like the family and enjoy reading about them. The plot involves Aggie's amateur attempts to solve the mystery of who killed a young woman who is left naked on their doorstep, to be discovered by the Ladies Society on the way to inspect the parsonage grounds. It turns out husband Ed has been counseling this stranger to town, but he can't reveal what she told him. Aggie is worried about why this woman's body was left on her doorstep and uses that as a reason for investigating the murder herself, although the good-looking Greek detective investigating on behalf of the police keeps telling her to stay out of it. Aggie is assisted by her best friend Lucy (whose mother actually named her Lucille Ball).
Is this the best mystery I've read this year? No, and I had the killer pegged about 2/3 of the way through, but it's quite good and enjoyable reading. It's the kind of book you can safely give your grandmother or someone who is fairly traditional in taste and dosn't want explicit sex, strong violence, or bad language in their reading, and who wants likeable characters. I will definitely be reading more as they are published. The author has published quite a bit in other genres and series, so I suspect we'll hear more about Aggie and her family.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice cozy mystery, November 27, 2006
Aggie Sloan-Wilcox isn't like other minister's wives you might know. Raised by her free-spirited mother, Junie, it's logical that some of her unconventional ways have rubbed off on Aggie. Sometimes that's not a good thing when your husband is the pastor of the local Unitarian church.
But then, finding the naked body of a woman on her front porch isn't the way to win friends and supporters in the congregation. As the body count begins to rise in Emerald Springs, Ohio, Aggie must find the murderer, or her husband, Ed might take the fall. What could be worse than that? Well, Aggie could become the murderer's next victim.
Emilie Richards, first in the new Aggie Sloan-Wilcox series, is a fast-paced and fun romp with dead bodies littering the parish landscape in Emerald Springs. Aggie is smart, quirky, fearless and 'nice' even when others' behavior is nasty.
Armchair Interviews says: Richard's cozy amateur sleuth series is one you'll want to start from the beginning.
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