Customer Reviews

Corpse Pose (Mantra for Murder Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came into this expecting something like India Ink's Bath & Body mysteries - fuzzy, New Age spirituality surrounding strong female leads investigating brutal murders while starting each day with an intricately described workout routine including yoga and Pilates. And I like that. But instead, I found a really great book with winning characters, wit, and very little actual yoga. The main character eats pre-packaged junk food and bacon! Very few poses are actually described, and of the 276 pages of story, fewer than twenty have a character really doing a pose. But the book still managed to grab me by giving me a lead I could believe in who inherits herself a world of trouble and tries to get through with the help of a charmingly self-centered mother, a gay ex-husband, and a hunky-but-distant local cop. I really look forward to the next book in the series - maybe there will be more yoga, but I don't think there needs to be if this is the kind of book we're already getting.

Diana Killian already has a winning cozy series on her hands (Poetic Death Mysteries - watch for book #4 due out later this year), so for me the question was whether or not this new Mantra for Murder series would be different enough and interesting enough to warrant an entirely new series. The answer? A resounding `Yes!'

In Corpse Pose, Ms. Killian has woven an excellent mystery, a fascinating venue, an edgy and unique cast of characters, and a beautiful story about change, forgiveness, and rebirth. Even those readers who, like me, had to do modified versions of even the simplest Yoga poses in grade school - at the most limber times of our lives - will enjoy meeting and spending time with Anna Jolie and Elysia Alexander.

When the book starts out, we learn that A.J. is a successful freelance marketing consultant who's built a thriving business with her ex-husband. She's independent and self-sufficient, having spent her childhood caring for an alcoholic parent who provided little nurturing in return. Growing up, her mother's sister, Diantha Mason (Aunt Di), saw to most of A.J.'s emotional and/or spiritual needs. She was A.J.'s one constant in an otherwise chaotic existence. A phone call from Detective Oberlin of the Stillbrook PD informs A.J. of her aunt's death and shatters the calm she has so carefully constructed.

The mystery is deliciously complex, but the characters are what makes the story so intriguing. These are not cookie-cutter characters by any means. They make the story all the more believable by their breadth and depth. All in all, Corpse Pose is an excellent cozy mystery, and I look forward to future escapades featuring this endearing mother-daughter duo and the Sacred Balance Studio. Namaste!

Carol Ann Hopkins 4/20/2008

Diana Killian has outdone herself with this first book in her new series. CORPSE POSE has it all from well-written plot, sharp prose, wit and humor that had me rolling with laughter and memorable characters who I definitely want to read more about. As a heroine A.J. is delightful, witty and smart. You don't have to be into yoga to enjoy Ms. Killian's CORPSE POSE, but you may find yourself doing the downward dog before you're finished. Fun, fun, fun! I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Michele Scott
author of The Wine Lover's Mysteries and The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries

The divorce hit A.J. Alexander hard knowing her husband left her for another man, which also explains why their sex life was almost non-existent. Andy wants to remain pals, but A.J. is in too much hurt to see that happening anytime soon. Tragedy strikes A.J. when her beloved affluent Aunt Dianta Mason, owner of Sacred Balance, dies; A.J. goes to Stillbrook where her aunt lived to arrange the funeral.

From the moment she arrives in town, lead detective Jake Oberlin keeps A.J. under a microscope as the prime suspect in her aunt's murder. He constantly interrogates her as she is the only one with a motive, the inheritance. When she goes to her aunt's lawyer she learns why Jake hones in on her as she is the sole beneficiary of an eighteen million dollar estate to include the yoga studio. Lily, an employee's friend and student of her late Aunt is livid because the studio was promised to her and makes that clear to A.J. and her dingbat mother. Apparently Aunt Di had as many friends as enemies, but A.J. plans to find out who loathed her enough to kill her so that Jake will back off.

The support cast is one of the major reasons that this series is going to be a hit. For instance mom acts like a moron but has good instincts even as she drives her daughter crazy especially with her desire to have A.J. and Andy get back together. Jake is romantically interested in his prime suspect, but she drives him loony when she investigates; endangering the lives of her and her mother. Andy wants to remain friends with A.J. because he loves her, but not in a sexual way. On top of each person driving everyone else batty, the mystery is well constructed with all the clues in sight, but most readers will misread them as Diana Killian provides a delightfully entertaining amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner

I loved this book- I admit I'm a bit biased, since yoga and cozy mysteries are two of my favorite past-times, but I really thought the writing was fantastic and Ms. Killian managed to write a story about a murdered yoga teacher without making the story about yoga. Lack of a reader's knowledge about yoga doesn't detract from the story at all, because the main character barely knows anything about yoga herself when she inherits her aunt's studio. The characters were crisply drawn and realistic. The main character, A.J., has a bad haircut, has a difficult relationship with her once-famous mother, is divorced from her now out of the closet gay husband, and loves junk food. So many of these books have female leads that are effortlessly thin, fashionable, gorgeous and virtuous. It's refreshing to see a gal with a few insecurities and flaws. Okay, so A.J. is now a millionaire heiress, but that's really the only thing she's got going for her for a while. The dialogue is very believable and quite funny at times and there are enough red herrings thrown into the story to have the reader glued to the book late into the night to read 'just one more chapter.' The pace of the story is good, not heart-pounding but not slow. I found this book very satisfying, the characters likeable and the setting charming. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, out in November 09, to see where A.J.'s journey takes her next.

I'm not into yoga, but I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. The characters were all likeable and fun, and while there were a few loose ends left hanging (what happened to her dog when AJ bolted from the studio at the end?), it was nothing that detracted from the story.

Looking forward to the next in the series!

I am a big fan of cozy mysteries though clearly some series are better than others. This was an excellent book, with wonderful, well-developed characters and a good plot. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author. Loved the yoga theme!

I really liked this work. It was a nice read that merely took two or three cozy nights of reading. The characters were well done, but nothing surprising for this type of mystery and I will likely read the next book as well. I am not very familiar with the mantra's of yoga and thus am not a critic of the correctness of the antics of our heroine as the owner of a yoga type gym. It was interesting and fun and I would recommend it.

I don't often read mysteries, but I couldn't resist this one as not many works of fiction feature yoga as a theme. In CORPSE POSE, 30-something freelance business owner A.J. is still reeling from her recent divorce when she gets a call that her beloved Aunt Di has been murdered. When A.J. and her mother Elysia--who A.J. loves but who she prefers to keep at a distance--travel from A.J.'s home in New York city to the rural New Jersey town where Diantha lived, A.J. gets another shock: her Aunt Di has made A.J. her sole heir. This means that A.J. is suddenly a very rich woman, inheriting not only her aunt's farm but also her aunt's very successful yoga studio--and it also means that A.J. herself is the main suspect in her aunt's death.

With the sometimes unwanted help of her mother, A.J. tries to keep the local police at bay, to figure out what to do about her aunt's yoga studio, and to deal with her ex-husband, all while making sure that her aunt's killer doesn't come back for her! This book offered a fun, quick little read with likable characters, although I found some of the yoga characterizations to be quite implausible (eg--there is no way that a studio in a small town would hold multiple classes at one time; well-known studios in large cities only hold single class sessions at once!). Still, I liked this book enough to be willing to try author Diana Killian's next book in her "Mantra for Murder" series; according to Killian's web site, the next book will be called DIAL OM FOR MURDER.

Freelance marketing consultant A.J. Alexander is contacted at an event in New York City for an author she is promoting. She is told that her beloved aunt Di has been murdered. Her mother, the flighty and famous ex-model and actress Elysia, flies in from London, and the two drive to Di's farmhouse in rural Stillbrook, New Jersey.

Diantha Mason had run a profitable yoga studio, and had many spin-off businesses related to yoga and organic living. She was found early one morning, dead, in her yoga studio. A.J. had spent a lot of her youth with her Aunt, due to her mother's alcoholism and unusual life style and her father's working so much, and then his early death.

Despite her strained relationship with her famous mother, A. J. finds her company increasingly necessary as they try to figure out who killed Diantha. One of the reasons the relationship is strained is that Elysia refuses to accept that A.J.'s 10-year marriage to the darling Andy is over even though they have been divorced for months. Andy had left her for Nick, the handsome F.B.I. agent who ran him down accidentally during a car chase. A.J. is worried that she is the principal suspect in the murder as she is her aunt's main heir-inheriting in the neighborhood of eighteen million dollars. "That's a lovely neighborhood," Elysia remarked, "You'll enjoy living there." pg. 81.

Jake Oberlin, the hunky police detective who is trying to solve the case despite meddling by A.J. and Elysia, finds himself increasingly attracted to the quirky heiress. Will A.J. escape the clutches of the murderer? Is it the dairy farmer who felt maligned by Diantha's anti-dairy products rant on a radio show? Or the other yoga teacher who thought she was going to inherit the studio? Or the young married Olympic hopeful with a very strange relationship with Diantha?

This well written and enticing book in a new series is bound to please. It will make you feel as good as a vigorous yoga stretching session!

Armchair Interviews agrees: Stretch yourself gently and read this book.