Box of Rocks: A Maggie Gorski Mystery [Paperback]

Karla Telega (Author), Rosanne Dingli (Editor), Martin Rus (Editor), El Kartun (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2011

At age 55, Maggie is losing the battle with her fear of failure and small designer dogs, but her friend, Cher, is determined to rescue her from a future of scrapbooking and lace doilies. Bear has a secret worth killing for, so when an archaeology student stumbles too close to his hidden goldmine, the results range from comical to deadly. In a small South Carolina town, a secret from Cher's past entangles the girls in a murder investigation, in which they learn that the first step to surviving a mid-life crisis is: don't die.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Despite the best efforts of the psychiatric community, Karla Telega has unleashed her first book on society with Box of Rocks. She is a graduate of hot flashes, who writes mysteries, humor, and a killer Christmas letter. She lives with her husband in South Carolina, where she enjoys reading, watching football, and walking her dog. You can share adventures in aging on her humor blog, or contact her at www.telegatales.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Adoro Books (July 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615497977
• ISBN-13: 978-0615497976
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,509,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Despite the best efforts of the psychiatric community, Karla Telega has unleashed her first book on society with Box of Rocks, a humorous mystery. In March, 2013, she introduced her first humor book with I Never Drove a Bulldozer / There's a Hole in my Bucket List.

Of herself, she says, "I'm at that awkward age between hot flashes and the senior menu, so I consider myself a champion of the newly old, diffusing the terrors of aging with laughter. I live with my husband in the low country of South Carolina, where we have to dodge alligators, snakes, and freakishly huge spiders. My kids are grown, my dog's a genius, and my husband has the patience of a saint."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Karla humour at it's best!!! July 24, 2011

By Beth Muscat

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is going to have you laughing your ass off. However, sadly, my ass is still as big as ever, so don't count on it as a diet aid.

Ok, if that's not classic Karla style humour, than I don't know what is. Her new book, "Box of Rocks" is something that everyone should read if you like to laugh. Cher and Maggie are a couple of girlfriends in their 50's who are looking for a hobby to hopefully help Maggie overcome her need for therapy sessions and to bond with her already best friend, Cher.

There are some other characters in this book that will have you shaking your head. Sam is looking for the site where Paul Lakeland found this old Indian jar, but what he really wants is the directions to an old gold mine, long since abandoned. Then there's this other guy, Bear, who is out to murder someone. He does, in cold blood. But, he realizes too late that it's the wrong guy. Bear is kind of a bumbling criminal, not really thinking ahead....which then puts him behind. He kind of reminds me of the criminal running away from the scene, only to step on a rake, getting the handle in the face, sort of humour.

I'm not one for mysteries, but this whodunit is the sort of mystery book that I like. It's got everything in it. A bumbling criminal, a couple of shady characters, 2 sweetheart girlfriends that some of us can relate to. Oh, and don't forget the dogs. They're just as loveable.

I love how Karla, who has her own humour blog, has incorporated her brand of humour into her book. From the girls' mishaps while panning for gold, to them getting kicked out of the paranormal investigations class, these two will be in your hearts, and quite possibly, helping you to lose weight by laughing your ass off.

And, if you're getting up there in age, you'll understand the friendship, the love and the humour between Cher and Maggie.

This book rocks and I give it 5 stars!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars And Up Pops Karla Telega! January 12, 2012

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This reader's first introduction to author Karla Telega was in her co-editorship of 'My Funny Valentine: America's Most Hilarious Writers Take On Love, Romance, and Other Complications' - one of the funniest books to be released last year. Now she is on her own as a novelist with BOX OF ROCKS; A MAGGIE GORSKI MYSTERY and it looks as though this is a springboard for her new career as a burgeoning talent for comedic writing. She writes well with subtleties that on first reading of this book may escape the reader because of the page after page of laughter, and she understands how to sculpt a fairly large cast of characters in a manner that allows the reader to slowly understand motivation of the various directions her tale will take us by introducing each character with separate chapters. It may take a while to put the pieces of puzzle together using this technique, but in the end it does allow the reader to refer back to each character's introductory chapter (short chapter reign here) for a brush up.

Telega's book is full of wacky, irresistible folks, beginning with her main character: 'At fifty five, Maggie was already past hot flashes an irritability. She still has her looks. At least she was pretty enough if you took into account that she was ten pounds overweight, bowlegged, far sighted, and not a snappy dresser. She often felt a little awkward standing next to Cher, who was two years younger, two inches taller, and had curves in al the right places.' And Maggie has a nephew Derek who 'had not yet come to the realization that he was gay. The clues had always been there. He had an impeccable sense of style when he decorated his condominium in Mount Pleasant. His two Shih Tzus, Dolce and Gabbana, wore designer clothes and had color coordinated rhinestone collars to go with their wardrobes.' You get the idea. At any rate, back to the story. Maggie and Cher yearn for a hobby to prevent their slipping into midlife crisis, and after a smoking and drinking binge they finally settle on rock hunting, little knowing that they would encounter a quasi-with it archeology doctoral candidate Paul Lakeland (envied by his doctoral proctor Sam) who was in the process of uncovering ancient American Indian burial sites that just happen to contain gold, a fact that the book's cad and trying-to-be-evil Bear spends his one-track mind trying to access the materials and secrets and gold that Paul finds of more intellectual interest. Yes, crime raises its head and Maggie and Cher are now in the fascinating role of detectives until the conclusion of the hilarity at novel's end.

What makes this very well crafted book special is the manner in which Telega manages to insert so many contemporary social issues, able to stir her bowl of fun with some insights into human behavior that, once recognized, makes the reader realize that the biggest guffaws come when we discover we are laughing at our own foibles! This is a terrific little book, easily read in an evening or one a plane flight or waiting in the doctor/insurance person/banker office. Talega has class and style and is headed upward! Grady Harp, January 12

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars And Up Pops Karla Telega! January 11, 2012

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This reader's first introduction to author Karla Telega was in her co-editorship of 'My Funny Valentine: America's Most Hilarious Writers Take On Love, Romance, and Other Complications' - one of the funniest books to be released last year. Now she is on her own as a novelist with BOX OF ROCKS; A MAGGIE GORSKI MYSTERY and it looks as though this is a springboard for her new career as a burgeoning talent for comedic writing. She writes well with subtleties that on first reading of this book may escape the reader because of the page after page of laughter, and she understands how to sculpt a fairly large cast of characters in a manner that allows the reader to slowly understand motivation of the various directions her tale will take us by introducing each character with separate chapters. It may take a while to put the pieces of puzzle together using this technique, but in the end it does allow the reader to refer back to each character's introductory chapter (short chapter reign here) for a brush up.

Telega's book is full of wacky, irresistible folks, beginning with her main character: 'At fifty five, Maggie was already past hot flashes an irritability. She still has her looks. At least she was pretty enough if you took into account that she was ten pounds overweight, bowlegged, far sighted, and not a snappy dresser. She often felt a little awkward standing next to Cher, who was two years younger, two inches taller, and had curves in al the right places.' And Maggie has a nephew Derek who 'had not yet come to the realization that he was gay. The clues had always been there. He had an impeccable sense of style when he decorated his condominium in Mount Pleasant. His two Shih Tzus, Dolce and Gabbana, wore designer clothes and had color coordinated rhinestone collars to go with their wardrobes.' You get the idea. At any rate, back to the story. Maggie and Cher yearn for a hobby to prevent their slipping into midlife crisis, and after a smoking and drinking binge they finally settle on rock hunting, little knowing that they would encounter a quasi-with it archeology doctoral candidate Paul Lakeland (envied by his doctoral proctor Sam) who was in the process of uncovering ancient American Indian burial sites that just happen to contain gold, a fact that the book's cad and trying-to-be-evil Bear spends his one-track mind trying to access the materials and secrets and gold that Paul finds of more intellectual interest. Yes, crime raises its head and Maggie and Cher are now in the fascinating role of detectives until the conclusion of the hilarity at novel's end.

What makes this very well crafted book special is the manner in which Telega manages to insert so many contemporary social issues, able to stir her bowl of fun with some insights into human behavior that, once recognized, makes the reader realize that the biggest guffaws come when we discover we are laughing at our own foibles! This is a terrific little book, easily read in an evening or one a plane flight or waiting in the doctor/insurance person/banker office. Talega has class and style and is headed upward! Grady Harp, January 12