Customer Reviews

Design on a Crime (Deadly Décor Mysteries, Book 1)

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

 

 

Design on a Crime by Ginny Aiken is a completely different book than I thought it would be. It's the first book in the Deadly Decor mystery series. Haley is just getting started in her own interior decorating business when her mentor is murdered. When it's revealed that Haley is the woman's heir, Haley becomes the prime suspect and has to figure out who the real murderer is before she's thrown into prison. It sounds like just another light, humorous murder mystery of the type that are glutting the market right now, filled with quirky characters and silly situations, but this book is nothing like that. Haley has faced much darkness in her past and struggled through it. She's just starting to regain her self-confidence when this murder throws her back into fear and depression. This book is about losing faith and finding God, even in the dark places. While there are some quirky characters and the occasional laugh, this book delves into some deep subjects and treats them well. Aiken writing alternates between short, choppy bits and long, almost flowery descriptions. I'm not sure if that is to help with characterization, but it sometimes makes for awkward reading. My one complaint is the marketing of the book. The silly title, pastel cover and blurb on the back make this out to be murder-mystery lite. This book is much better than that, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has the whole package - humor, mystery, suspense, spirituality and a hint of romance. Haley Farrell is a strong female character whose father is the minister for the local church. Not only does Haley have a knack for interior decorating, but soon develops the knack for sleuthing as well. I am looking forward to more books in this series by Ginny Aiken.

I love this series and can't wait to read it again on my kindle.

I find the heroine genuine and likable. I love it when the people in the books are a mess and learning to live life in a real way. The mystery is fun and interesting. And the character interaction leaves me chuckling, sighing, crying...

For the relevance to this review... I love mysteries of all types. This appeared to be a cozy mystery and as it started out, it went along as such (btw, formatting on my Kindle was fine)- Part of the mystery is not only about Haley having to clear herself of being accused of murder, but also, what it is that happened to her in a heinous, violent crime some 4 yrs or so earlier and why that incident caused her to fall away from her faith in God... yes, the author has brought in religion as to how this young woman needs to recognize, as much as she feels let down by God, that God should not have turned His back when she needed Him during that time... She is alive, prospering, and actually doing pretty well... considering... (this is mentioned a lot)- The obstacles she has to overcome in her faith (which is equally hard since her father is the priest of the local church), the obstacles she has to overcome to get past the incident 4 yrs earlier, and how she feels she has to be strong and take control now to catch the real killer. The writing is done well in my opinion. At least on a level as many other cozy mystery writers- nothing wrong with a light, easy read.
After a bit, the focus does come to her faith more than solving but "things" come out in her conversations with friends, her sensei, doctor, father, and others. I actually could have seen more written in here in various places so the aspect of her faith was not beginning to overshadow the story itself, however, I would read the next in series. I will also look to read other books by this author. It doesn't bother me to read a book that reminds us all in a very creative way to be aware and thankful for God. I don't feel it is any different than someone reading books about occult and wican subjects.
The book had a good story line, no matter that I didn't care for who the "perp" turned out to be. The author did write well and kept you engrossed which is the main thing I look for in a well written book. I do hope the story lines in the future don't get lost in the message for Christianity but this did not make it a bad book. If you are a cozy mystery fan, this will fill that void. Done with this ramble, I hope this helps some make a better decision to give this book a chance. If I relied on the reviews here, I would have missed out on a pretty good read.

Not the most empathetic protagonist I've ever read. To me Haley's extreme approach to catching the killer of her friend lacks any sensible thought. She runs from here to there making off the cuff accusations that anyone in their right mind would temper for fear of being the next victim.

Thank goodness this was a free title, not sure how much if anything I would pay to ready further titles by this author.

This isn't a mystery, it's a convert to religion book. The focus of the book is converting one to religion under the guise of a mystery. Mystery solved when conversion complete.

I went ahead and downloaded this book despite the negative reviews. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty good little mystery, albeit with some holes in the story.
I thought the title character was interesting. I started reading with some trepidation as I have been disappointed by 'silly heroine' stories in the past. I found Haley to be pretty down to earth, however. True, there were some silly 'blonde' moments, but not what I had feared.
It wasn't until rather late in the book that I started seeing what the outcome would be, which is a pleasant surprise.

There were a few points that I found off putting:
1) The character of Dutch. He is completely annoying. As someone who has been falsely accused himself; I found his insistence of Haley's guilt without giving her any benefit of the doubt and focusing only on how the situation affected him to be moronic. I was disappointed that author did a last minute 'redemption' of the character. Perhaps this works well with the sequels, but honestly I was hoping he would turn out to be the murderer and end up in the slam for the rest of his life.

2) The Christian slant. I don't mind Christian literature at all. It can be powerful and enriching. However, I have never held with the 'just sit around and expect God to take care of everything' thought process. I firmly believe that God takes of those who take care of themselves. I found Haley's father's disapproval of Haley's ongoing quest to clear her name to be irritating. While Haley clearly needed to face her past and reconnect with her faith, I thought her father's behavior was weak and unsupportive.
The same holds with Haley's therapist. While having a therapist who has faith in God is a plus, this character quickly dissolved into preachy and unbelievable. Again, like Haley's father, this character seemed to espouse letting God do all the work rather than encouraging Haley to be an advocate for herself.
I also found the argument for 'choice' where sin is concerned to be overly simplistic. I think many things can contribute to criminal behavior, emotional and mental challenges to be among these. The suggestion that every wrong doing is simply a choice by the perpetrator and had they had 'faith' they wouldn't have commited the crime to be blatantly incorrect.

3) Plot holes. **Spoiler** The turning point in the investigation seemed to be when Haley discovered the sculpture at the home of her longtime family friends. When she takes the sculpture and gives it to the lead investigator and they both realize that what Haley took for aged patina might just be blood from the murder victim, a lightbulb miraculously goes off in the investigator's mind. Suddenly, it's probable that Haley actually didn't commit the crime. To me, this was ridiculous. *Had* Haley been the perpetrator, then she would very likely have the murder weapon. Nobody but Haley knew that the sculpture appeared in the couple's home until after the murder. Her own photographs of the prospective spaces being designed showed no sculpture. She, as much as anybody, had access to the sculpture at the auction.
I just found it strange that the piece of 'evidence' that suddenly seemed to point to her innocence would more likely be a solid clue *against* her.

4) Editing problems. As is the case with many free and reduced downloads, the editing left a lot to be desired. Incorrect spelling and grammar was prevalent in this book.

I am not sorry I downloaded and read this book, but it had more potential than the final product.

There are a few issues with the Kindle version of the book. First, as another reviewer noted, the "Beginning" of the book is 28% into the book (Loc 645 of 2290 / page 82 of 270), which is way beyond the real beginning (Loc 9 / page 7). Second, there is something wrong with the font settings of this book - they appear to be one size too large. I set my Kindle Touch to the second smallest font setting, which gives me a comfortable 26 rows per page in most books. In this book, the same setting gives me only around 20 rows per page, which is too sparse for me (I already have line spacing set to small and words per line set to default). I have to set the font to the smallest size to get comparable density, but then the fonts become too light for me. The Typeface options are grayed out and cannot be changed at all. I suspect that the design-oriented author/producer locked down font settings in the Kindle version, and the "design" turns out to produce very poor results for this reader.

As for content... well, this is really a religious fiction about a vulnerable soul in the sinful world finding solace and strength in the arms of God. The crime is straightforward, and the sleuthing is at best ineffective (and at worst counterproductive). You can probably take out the murder and still keep a similar ending, which tells you how unimportant the murder is to the plot.

Read this book only as a religious novel (albeit one with almost no theological discussions). For mystery and suspense, look elsewhere.

DESIGN ON CRIME is the first of three novels in Ginny Aiken's series. These books are very creatively written and enjoyable to read. The wit and humor are unique and an integral part of the story. How many books have a young female trying to solve a murder and the lead detective is Karate Chop Cop (Lila Tsu) with her band of Smurf cops? In the end, the villain is revealed to show that not everyone who says that he is a follower of Jesus is perfect or truly his.

This book wasn't really that bad; it had room to be a really good mystery but it dragged on for far too long, and the heroine came across as naďve, childish and annoying too many times to count. I definitely will not be reading the rest of the series.