Customer Reviews

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (Wheeler Cozy Mystery)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The publisher description for this book was a bit minimal, but I was keen to try a new writer and luckily Harriet K's review inspired me to buy it as I really loved it and can't wait to read the next story dealing with these interesting and realistic characters. Each chapter ended in a way which made you want to read the next one, and the use of the emails to create suspense at the beginning of each chapter was really good. I could not put this book down.

Event planner Sophie Winston and lifestyle columnist, TV celebrity Natasha Smith have been rivals since childhood. And now Natasha is living with Sophie's ex and coveting Sophie's house, which belonged to her ex's deceased aunt. Sophie has a busy Thanksgiving planned, with her mother, father, sister and sister's fiancé coming to visit. But things get off to a bumpy start from the get-go, when Sophie discovers the dead body of a private investigator in a dumpster. She quickly becomes a suspect when the police find her name and photo inside the dead man's car. Sophie engages in some amateur sleuthing and learns Natasha hired the PI. If that isn't bad enough, dead bodies keep turning up, all with a connection to Sophie and Natasha. On top of which, Sophie is attracted to the detective who seems convinced she's a murderer.

The first book in the Domestic Diva series starts the ball rolling with a glorified bang. This cozy mystery delivers a plethora of useful household tips and mouth-watering recipes immersed within a keep-you-guessing plot filled with suspicious-acting characters and twists and turns around every corner. Davis's smart writing style and engaging characters are sure to garner fans anxious to read future books in the series.

Krista Davis serves up a delightful read with this faced-paced, fun, and scrumptious first mystery. Between eccentric neighbors, quirky relatives, and a hunky cop who thinks she just might be a killer, domestic diva Sophie Winston definitely has her work cut out for her. And if she doesn't figure out who the real killer is soon, she might find herself sporting a decidedly unfashionable prison-orange jump suit! I'm anxiously looking forward to the next book in this mouth-watering series.

"The Diva Runs Out of Thyme" was much better than I expected. I figured this book would simply be a passable cozy, yet it turned out to be a very interesting read. The plot reminded me a little of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" with a family Thanksgiving theme. Basically, there is a crazy cast of characters, some family and some not, who gather for Thanksgiving dinner, and murders ensue. Sophie Winston, the narrator, looks at each guest as if they could be the murderer, and many of them have acted suspiciously.

I especially loved the character of Natasha, Sophie's rival from high school, who gets invited to Thanksgivng dinner after a series of unfortunate events. I will most definitely be reading the second book in tihs series.

I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting - I could not put it down! I wish Krista Davis had more books out for me to read. The characters were a lot of fun! I loved the cat and dog interplay with the humans in this story. While I don't cook, my mouth was watering for some of the delicious foods served up in this mystery! (I'd like to eat at Sophie's house every day!) I really enjoyed this book and hope it's the start of a long series. I would definitely recommend this book to all my mystery-loving friends! In fact, I think my friends may be getting a copy of this book for a Christmas present!

I don't even know where to begin to tell how cozy and good this book is. This is the first book of the series (I had already read the 2nd book, and it was just as cozy and good). This book is so cozy and homy. The main character, Sophie, lives in a cozy home, and her relatives (and other people) were over during the duration of this book. This book has a Thanksgiving theme, so needless to say, there is lots of cozy food. This book was so cozy and warm, I just can't explain how cozy it was.

Sophie is an advice columnist, and her long-time friend?/competition? Natasha also gives advice and has a tv show. At the beginning of each chapter is some type of advice by one of them. I love advice columns, so needless to say, I looked forward to the beginning of each chapter. Sophie's advice was so much better and more down-to-earth and practical than Natasha's. I could always follow Sophie's advice, but Natasha's was usually too complicated.

This wonderful book was highly spicy (literally and figuratively). There wasn't a dull moment. Between murder(s), clues, the holidays, ex-husband and wanabes, good food, sleuthing, everyone was on their toes! I couldn't wait to find out who the killer was!

Another thing that I looked forward to was the ending of each chapter. That added so much to the book. Whenever I was in the middle of a chapter, I wanted to rush to get to the end of it. Because at the end of each chapter, something happened that spooked you or put you on your toes. And then, like I mentioned earlier, I loved the beginnings of each chapter (the advice). Therefore, we got two fun things in a row: the thrill ending of each chapter, and then the fun advice at the beginning of the next one.

But as much spice as those two things added to the book, the book itself (the contents, coziness, clues, characters, etc) is what made the book so good.

Location: Virginia. Old, historical houses that have been upgraded for maintenance purposes, but the old charm has been kept. Fluff factor: Zero (even though I do love fluff, this book has none - it is all pure substance).

If you are a cozy fan, then I would highly recommend this book. Some cozy books have boring spots - this book has none.

Cozy mystery readers, I believe, approach new authors and series with a certain degree of trepidation, after encountering too many formulaic stories with forgettable characters and predictable outcomes. I purchased Ms. Davis' book mainly because of Amazon's persistence in recommending it - virtually every list Amazon generated for me had this book in its first or second spot. I eventually weakened (usually I like to select my own material) and made the purchase, and I'm glad I did.

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme is great fun, with an engaging heroine, her by turns annoying and adorable extended family (and whose family is not thus?), best friend from across the street, a few neighbors, and a handsome detective with his own mysterious part. Plenty of suspects and red herrings, even a few animals thrown in the mix (none of whom are injured), and a satisfactory tying-up of loose ends at the conclusion, leaving just enough unanswered to draw us into the next book in the series.

The only bits I'm hesitant about are the "entertaining tips" - a little too Martha Stewart for my taste, but others more sociable and domestic than I might well love them.

I love this book and can't wait for the next! It was hard to put down to sleep! I read this in a day and a half.

Sophie is great! I would have love to seen more about Nina and less about Natasha. Personally I think that Mars would like to be around Natasha less too. She is too needy and jealous.

This book lacks a good plot. The events are unrealistic and choppy. Things like serving a lunch buffet to the police officers after an attempted murder is so unrealistic....I finished it ...but I won't read another one. The characters seem unrealistic and poor quality...I'm not drawn to them at all! laura Childs books are much better!

I was looking for a new mystery author to read and found this book. I didn't have high hopes, but I was so wrong. I found this book to be delightful. I enjoyed all of the characters, even the annoying Natasha, and found myself laughing out loud at some of the main character's observations and the e-mails/letters at the beginnings of the chapters. The meddling mothers cracked me up because their hearts were in the right place, but they caused a lot of confusion for Sophie, the main character. The soon-to-be romance with the hunky cop spurred my interest, too. Sophie and her great neighbor were spunky sleuths and went all out to solve the murders. I really look forward to Krista Davis' next book in this series. I couldn't put this one down. As soon as I finished, I loaned it to a friend and she is enjoying it as much as I did. This is a not only a really good first mystery novel; it's just a good novel.