Customer Reviews

Broken Dishes

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Broken Dishes" is another example of talented writing with no distasteful innuendoes or violent interludes that curl the hair and curdle the stomach. With each installment Benni Harper gets pluckier, saucier but still has an undisguised vulnerability toward friends, family and especially her husband police chief, Gabe Ortiz. Arriving at a cattle ranch converted to a guest ranch(called The Broken Dis(hes), Benni encounters a group of liberated ladies attending a quilting seminar,a young married couple in financial straits, a head wrangler who is an emotional timebomb, and (why are we not surprised ?) a skeletal dead body.
An additional complication is Detective "Hud" Hudson, a combination of professional nemesis with a begrudging admiration and affection for Benni, who is assigned to investigate the mystery. The anxiety over an unknown "Mystery Traveller", a travel critic who could make or break the ranch financially could present another distracting ingredient.The writing is breezy without being cloying, the bantering is clever without being caustic and the characterization is droll without being outlandish. My one main criticism is how many times does Benni and Gabe's marriage have to be tested? There is a slight element of personal tension between Hud and Benni that obviously creates a jealous atmosphere with Gabe. It seems that Ms Fowler has driven down this road before and perhaps it is time to inject in their relationship a different approach. I also missed Dove, Benni's grandmother and her tried and true ,loving wisdom which keeps Benni's spirit and emotions in necessary balance. "Broken Dishes", while not being the strongest installment in the series will maintain readers' enthusiasmm but make them long for the more familiar, regular characters whose appearances are minimal in this book

I have been selling books for 30 years and have owned my own bookstore for fifteen. Bookselling is a very intimate experience. One of my greatest joys that I find fascinating is hearing how and why people are connected to books, especially series. Earlene Fowler offers all the ingredients for good entertainment. The love of characters, a sense of place, humor, and morality. You want to be where the characters are and you want to know the people. I find that Earlene's reader's connect with her charcters more than most mystery series' authors. She affects her readers deeply.
As a bookseller, I find it amusing when people feel they must finish books that they are not really enjoying or are so critical of. What this says to me is that the author has done a fabulous job writing and getting her characters into the reader's heart. In Earlene's case you actually care whether Benni has a sweater on when it's cold.
An aspect of email and Amazon feedback that I don't particulary like leads to people saying things that they would never say to an author's face or write on a card sent to them. When people tell an author, "I've read and loved all your books, BUT . . ." The word "but" erases any good feeling the reader tried to express and that the author loves to receive. The positive comments and praise readers say gives her fuel to be inspired in a very demanding, isolated life. The public will never understand the difficulites, disciplines presented daily for a writer.
The one critique that got me all fired up was when the woman called Benni a ninny. If she didn't like a character as fiercely as this woman expressed, I have a suggestion. DON"T KEEP READING THE BOOK! What I would ask her is this: "What is it about you and your life that is button-pushed by Benni?"
Earlene has done her job well with making her characters real. Keep on writing, Earlene! You are the joy of bookselling and reading. Thank you!

I have read all of the Benni Harper books written by Earlene Fowler and have enjoyed every single one of them. When I finish one of Earlene's books I always feel a little sad knowing that these characters I have read about have almost become friends and I want to continue to learn more about them and their lives.
I love the fact that Earlene keeps quilts as a theme and find it amazing that she can weave a mystery with so many threads! Great job Earlene! Until we meet again.! Watch out for the duck!

I have followed this series from the very beginning and the characters just get deeper and more like real friends. I look forward to each book for a new visit with old friends. This book throws Benni together with several old acquaintances and a group of new people who are great fun. But the real fun is the continuing back and forth with Hud. The setting is a Dude ranch that is an attempt to save a family cattle ranch by the younger generation. Old bones are found by the ranch dog and an investigation into who they are and why they are there and if there was a crime insues. In with that is the tensions among the ranch folks, the guests, Benni's family who are helping and of course, Hud. The addition of Hud's grandfather is a wonderful one and getting to know the new characters and catching up with the old ones is what her readers look for. Add possible arson, a crazy goose and lots of color and you've got a great, fun book.

If mysteries can be warm, satisfying, and exciting, Earlene Fowler does it with her Benni Harper series. For those who haven't met Benni yet, she's quite a protagonist; she's a cowgirl, a quilter, a sometimes detective, and the happily married wife of handsome San Celina , CA Police chief Gabe Ortiz.

Beginning with the cowgirl part, Benni lives on a ranch on California's Central Coast. Moving on to the quilter, Agatha Award winner Fowler has titled this book, the 11th in her series, "Broken Dishes," which is also the name of a quilt pattern. Described as a simple pattern made up of triangles "arranged in a four-patch square," it achieves the effect of broken dishes by placing the square at different angles.

Now, while the quilt pattern may be simple the problems faced by a ranch familiarly known as Broken Dishes are not. This is a 5,000 acre spread once owned by Joe Darnell, Benni's father's best friend. Joe had mortgaged the ranch to the hilt, wishing to save land that had been in his family for half a century. His idea was to turn the place into a dude ranch. But, then Joe had a heart attack and died. Now, the ranch is in the hands of his daughter, Shawna, and her husband, Johnny.

Unfortunately, it looks like the dude ranch may become a dud unless something turns business around - Benni to the rescue. Her idea is to lure customers with the promise of real Western hospitality, home cooking, hunting, fishing, trail rides, barbecues, and rodeos.

Good plan and all goes well until the first guests discover a skeleton in a poorly made grave. Of course, someone's been dead and buried for quite a while. Nonetheless, it's up to Benni to keep the guests happy and feeling safe. Her nemesis, "Hud" Hudson shows up and it's discovered that the late whoever was murdered.

To complicate matters further there are whispers that a well known travel writer is among the guests. None of this will look well in print.

Fowler fans know that she stitches a well connected plot with both surprises and fun along the way. "Broken Dishes" may well win this author one more Agatha.

- Gail Cooke

BROKEN DISHES is the 11th book in the Benni Harper mystery series. The title is the nickname for the Broken DIS Ranch where this story takes place.

Benni Harper Ortiz and her family are helping some old friends turn their family cattle ranch into a guest ranch. The timing is bad because Joe Darnell, the owner of Broken DIS, died prior to the opening of the ranch. Joe's daughter, Shawna, and her husband, Johnny, are now in charge of the endeavor. Benni has the idea to add a quilting seminar as an extra attraction for visitors. Victory Simpson, a well know quilting teacher, is hired to conduct classes for the guests. The events include trail rides, photography lessons, quilting, a domino competition and other joint activities. Benni's, Grandma Dove is also involved helping out at Broken DIS and, as usual, she provides some comic relief. A lost goose attaches himself to Dove and becomes her self-proclaimed protector. He follows her everywhere and viciously attacks any man who comes near.

After the guests arrive, a lot of things go wrong at Broken DIS, including a stable fire, a runaway bull and the discovery of an unmarked grave. Shawna and Johnny are worried because one of the guests is a nationally known vacation writer who checks out new vacation spots. A poor review of the dude ranch could be disastrous for Broken DIS.

This story brings back Detective Ford "Hud" Hudson, a handsome man that Benni's husband dislikes for good reason. Hud is very attracted to Benni and doesn't hide it. There are some fun characters in this book, including Loretta, Reba, Pinky and Gaynelle, four female cousins from Georgia, who have Detective Hudson on their most wanted list.

Gabe Ortiz, Benni's husband, has a very small part in this book and I believe it left somewhat of a void in the story. He's become as important as Grandma Dove to this series.

Set at a guest ranch with a group of quilters and a group of hunters, Benni helps her friends begin their new enterprise. All our favorite characters come into play in this book. Dove and Sam are there to help with Gabe, Elvia and Emory coming for the weekend to do their part. Even Benni's cousin Rita is back, avoiding work as much as possible. Fowler brings the reader into the dude ranch world. It's a fun, lively experience with storms, a goose in love, and, of course, a murder...

As a murder mystery, this is quite a page-turner. A human bone found, and then a shallow grave on Benni's friends' dude ranch. With some amateur sleuthing, Benni must help find the killer while at the same time keep the ranch guests from being scared away and the ranch from financially going under. Soooo, here again enter Detective "Hud". For someone like me fascinated by the old South and the cowboy mystique, I like the Western setting of the story too. I can't wait to read another Fowler mystery. This is great writing.

I like Benni Harper and don't think she's a ninny at all! She's reads like a real person who has married perhaps a little too quickly, but is doing the best she can to learn how to live with another flawed human being. I think that the reviewers who think she is a ninny are just plain wrong! If you look back at all of the other books she has shown herself to be a loyal, compassionate, loving wife, friend and child. So she flirts a little with Hud. Get over it, people. Being married to someone as attractive as Gabe, she probably has to take the backseat way too often in their relationship. All I can say is if the reviewers don't like her as a character, there's an easy solution. Read something else! I like Benni and will continue to follow her adventures for as long as the author wants to write them.

Broken Dishes, like Mariner's Compass, approaches murder from a new angle, one that is integral to the plot, but not your usual who-done-it style. I read Earlene for her incredible ability to populate the town of San Celina with such interesting characters and making me care about everyone (even Hud). The death of her first husband seems to be floating to the top of her last 3 books, and I admire her ability to touch on that while moving the story forward. It would be fun to read a "prequel" to this series back when Jack was alive. I loved Socrates! And the ending was just terrific. I think she could spin another series off several of the characters in this book. If I had a vote in the mystery awards, this would be the book I'd recommend. Should be six stars!