Customer Reviews

A Killer Plot (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This shoreline mystery is definitely a great beach read--others have recapped the plot, so I'll just say it's fun, it's fresh, the characters are real people (not cardboard cutouts bound to the plot and nothing else) and the dialogue rings true. This is a terrific debut, and it promises much, much more to come! We want more Olivia!

Welcome to Oyster Bay, North Carolina where the living is easy and murder is on the mind.

Olivia Limoges has returned to the hometown she left as a young girl. She is rich, stunning, suffering from a case of writers block and still a mystery to the locals, and often keeping only the company of her loyal poodle Captain Haviland. She also owns the local five star restaurant and has invested a lot in local properties, becoming landlord to many of the businesses around her. While having breakfast at the local diner she overhears some people talking "book stuff." Dixie, her friend and waitress explains that they are a group called the Bayside Book Writers and encourages her to join. She hesitates until she speaks with Camden Ford, the apparent leader of the group. She finds him witty, charming and impossible to refuse. Olivia decides that she is going to fix up the lighthouse cottage on her property for their meetings.

It looks like things are improving for Olivia, particularly in the friend department, until people start showing up dead. When one of her new friends winds up dead, with of all things a Haiku poem left next to the body, Olivia and her writer friends know they will do whatever they can to find out who is responsible for the murder. But can they figure it out before more bodies start to fall? Do the murders have to do with the gossip book one of their group members is writing about a well know family, the desire to push through a new housing development no matter what the cost, or something else no one could have possibly anticipated?

A Killer Plot is a fantastic start to a new series. The characters are fun, fresh and a bit on the eccentric side. There is Dixie, the roller skating dwarf waitress, Harris the computer geek who suffers from a serious case of Rosacea, and Millay the bartender, who likes to show up with her hair a different color each time they meet. These are just a few of the fun people you will meet in this charming first book of the Books By The Bay Mystery series. The characters are believable and the author gives the reader great insight into the world of a writer. With new friendships, possible romance(s) and promises of great things to come, A Killer Plot is one book you don't want to be caught dead missing.

Olivia Limoges (with her sidekick Captain Haviland, a black standard poodle) takes this almost "cozy" mystery to intriguing depths of character. Author Ellery Adams brings to the debut of this series a skill set honed under other pen names, and like Olivia, Adams hints at the way both an author and a sleuth must dig more deeply into their hearts and minds in order to discover a strong narrative.

A new series set in Oyster Bay, North Carolina, where Olivia Limoges returns to her home town after many years away, her return as mysterious as her leaving has everyone in town is talking about her. She keeps to herself, with her talented dog Captain Haviland and is working on her unfinished manuscript, unfortunately at the moment she is suffering from a severe case of "writer's block". At the local diner she meets charming young man, Camden Ford, and with a little help from diminutive Dixie the waitress, she agrees to join The Bayside Book Writers where she actually makes a few friends.

Sadly one of her new friends ends up dead in an alley with an obscure Haiku poem left with his body and his will not be the only body found before this mystery is solved. Olivia enlists the help of The Bayside Book Writers to help the police find the killer.
This is a really fun mystery, there are so many quirky characters, and a captivating plot. We learn enough about Olivia's past and her potential romances that will keep us wanting more stories from Oyster Bay. I am terribly jealous of Captain Haviland as my 2 dogs can barely sit still for a minute let alone help sniff out a killer. Please Ellery don't make us wait too long for another visit with Olivia and the people of Oyster Bay.

[...]


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The Berkley Publishing Group a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Like the lighthouse , Ellery Adams is a beacon of light, but on the cozy mystery scene. This series debut has a plot that is deeply intriguing and full of surprises. The characters are so well developed that I took my time reading the book so I could get to really know them. Watching Olivia as the book progresses is comparable to watching a bud turn into a flower. Her other characters are just as delightful, including Olivia's pet/best friend, Captain Haviland. Ms. Adams refers to two of her male characters as "preferring pastels", which delighted me as I had two friends years ago who were just like them and they were very near and dear to me. The Killer Plot is not just a cozy mystery, it is a literary work of art. Ms. Adams use of dynamic imagery makes this a book that you can literally read with all of your senses and I savored every page.

A Killer Plot was just that and also very special in that the characters practically come off the page. I can't remember the last time I opened a new mystery/cozy (and I read lots of them!) and had to work at liking the heroine. The character is usually incredibly likable or motherly, etc., with only redeeming qualities. But with Olivia, I had to learn about her, and her foibles, just the way I would learn about a new friend I'd just met, and it made her one of the most real and enjoyable characters I have read about in a long time. I can't wait to meet my new friend and Captain Haviland again very soon. Thanks, Ellery Adams, for the great read, and a new literary "friend".

As with any book, you never know what you are going to find at page 1. What I did find with this book was that even at page 1, I couldn't put it down. The characters were down to earth and as the events unfolded, they kept me engrossed right up to the end. The imagery of the beach setting made me feel like I was right there. The main character Olivia and her dog Captain were a likeable pair. I think anyone with pets can understand the relationship between Olivia and her poodle. This book was an enjoyable read and I can't wait to see what happens with the next book!

A plot synopsis is unnecessary but what is necessary is to say how enjoyable I found this new series. This is a mystery you can sink your teeth into and debate long and hard over 'whodunit'. I could not put this book down and stayed up late to finish it.

Ellery Adams pulls no punches with her characters. If some are annoying at first, well you just have to get to know them just like real life. If she kills off a character you're enjoying, well, life's not fair. But this book is truly absorbing and it satisfies on many levels. I identified greatly with the main character. You may not but you will respect her and come to appreciate her. She's a smart lady with a good heart.This is not a fluffy cozy (Not that there's anything wrong with those books. I enjoy them too). You will feel things, this book will affect you. But you will be glad it did.

I can't wait for the next in this series.

This was my first visit to Oyster Bay, NC. It will not be my last. In fact after I finish writing this review, I intend to pack my luggage.

Oliva Limoges not only owns a restaurant that speaks to my tastes, she is a person I feel I could become very good friends with. On top of this, she is a cracker amateur sleuth, whom should perhaps, change her genre of writing from Historical novels to Mystery Novels.

There is a killing in Oyster Bay. Now, this just can't happen or so you would think, if you hadn't read the cover of the book. It was a conventional killing but for an unconventional reason. The person losing their life could have been taken in a normal 'hate' style, instead, the author has shown great sophistication and handled it in an un-normal thus normal style. You do have to read it to understand as I'm not going to spoil the story here.

I want to tell you that I was unable to put this book down. It followed me into the restroom, kitchen, living room, and back to the bedroom until I finished the very last page.

My recommendation is buy this book. Even if you think you do not like cozies, you will be pleasantly surprised. Animal lovers will eat it up!

The detective team of Olivia Limoges and Captain Haviland, with help from the rest of the Bayside Book Writers group, put the clues together to solve a series of murders.

Olivia and The Captain are quite a team, she's a lovely 40ish woman who recently returned to her childhood home and he's an exceptionally smart and responsive black standard poodle who has an almost physic connection with Olivia.

The characters are well developed and draw you into the story almost immediately.

This is the first in the Bay Mystery series and here's hoping for many more.