Customer Reviews

A Dinner to Die for (Center Point Premier Mystery (Large Print))

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

 

 

Meg and Andy are about to be married, and Quill is working hard at making sure that happens. Meg seems determined to mess it up. Plus Jerry Grimsby seems to be mucking things up. He's supposed to be filling in as chef at the Inn at Hemlock Falls while Meg is on her honeymoon.

In the midst of all this, there's a fire at the old MacAvoy barn and a body is found. Then it is announced that Leo "Boom-Boom" Maltby and his business partner Norwood Ferguson will be opening Lovejoy's Nudie Bar and Grill in Hemlock Falls. Many of the women of the village protest it.

Quill has her own problems at the Inn. Doreen steps in to help, only does it really help? Quill ends up giving some promotions that provide their own challenges.

Can Quill find the murderer while making sure Meg and Andy get married in a few days? And can she do it without putting herself in danger?

I always devour the books in this series. I would love to spend a week at the Inn at Hemlock Falls. Quill and Meg are great characters and have really grown with the series. I love all the peripheral characters and the roles that they play. They really add to the story, especially all the town folks and the Chamber of Commerce members.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Claudia Bishop is on a roll with her story line about two sisters who own an Inn in mid-state New York. Both are a bit wacky, funny, and like to get into other people's business. The is always a murder or two to solve and this edition is no different. If you like light bed cozy type mysteries, then this will be a new favorite of yours.

These are individually pleasant, competent mysteries. There is a fairly large continuing cast of characters that are well differentiated from one another and a fair amount of humor. Given the length of this series, obviously a lot of people like it; I think that a fan of the series will be very happy with it.

I find them extremely repetitious - if you've read one, you've pretty much read them all except for plot details. I don't find the two main characters, Sarah (Quill) and Meg particularly endearing. Sarah is a fool and Meg is an explosive tantrum thrower, which I find a little wearisome. An exemplar of what I don't like about this series is Max the dog. For five or six books at least, Max has been running wild, infuriating the other townspeople, and causing various kinds of damage. Get a dog chain! Get kennel fencing! Get a leash! This might be amusing if I didn't have to carry a large stick to ward off other dogs when I walk my own.

I'm also not terribly fond of "gourmet" food - I wouldn't care to even taste most of the dishes that this celebrated chef prepares, but clearly that does interest a lot of people, so take that into consideration when deciding. There is usually at least one recipe in each book.

Another point is that if I'm going to read farce, I want it completely off the wall, not mixed with reality. I know that some people will be extremely amused by things that leave me rolling my eyes.

If you're looking for something to read, you could do a lot worse, and indivudually they can be cute and charming.

This book isn't all that great and I was surprised to find that it's a fairly lengthy series. The character of Meg is that of a whiny spoiled brat (and I don't mean that in a cute way). She's pouty, cranky, difficult and completely unlikeable. Her sister, Sarah, who is known as "Quill" isn't all that likeable either. There's no action at all in this book, mostly a lot of people sitting around in a small hotel who solve the mystery by chatting about it in the innkeeper's living room. Not terribly interesting. Plus the motive for the murder was very silly. This book worked as a pretty good sleeping pill for me.