Customer Reviews

Love You To Death (Red Dress Ink Novels)

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

 

 

Magazine columnist Abby Foote has never met a loser she didn't date. From the lothario that just wanted her virginity, to the CPA that wanted a write up in her magazine, she always manages to get her heart broken. But no one broke it more thoroughly than suave Ted Puck, who brought his "cousin" to Abby's birthday party, only to be caught in a compromising position. After getting abandoned at LL Bean when her new beau Henry discovers what a bris is, she's melancholy as she reads about Ted's engagement to his "cousin." When he winds up dead the next day, the police come knocking on her door. When two more of her former boyfriends report occurrences after having broken up with her, suspicion is cast on Abby, she receives apologies from every past misdeed cast against her over the last 25 years. Add to that a scorching crush on the investigating detective, Benjamin Orr (not to be confused with the lead singer of "the Cars"), and Abby is in more trouble than she bargained for. She decides that the only way to clear her name is to actively participate in the investigation, much to Ben's consternation.

Senate's latest is a laugh out loud funny story - every time Abby is sarcastic to someone they end up taking out an order of protection against her. But it's also sad - Abby was far too tolerant of a very disloyal family that doesn't deserve her - one sister even requiring her to wear a blond wig in her wedding so she could have a totally blond bridal party. The story did get a little redundant after awhile, with a pretty unlikely person revealed as the culprit. But Senate is such a good writer that I found myself reading into the night to see how it all turned out.

Abby Foote, Best Of columnist for The Maine Life magazine, is a living expert on being dumped. Almost every guy she's dated has dumped her in painful, humiliating ways. So when the guy she loved most becomes engaged to the woman he'd left her for, Abby is devastated. And when the same guy is found dead the day after his engagement is announced, Abby is shocked... and her world turns upside down when she becomes a murder suspect. To make matters worse, it appears that two of her ex-boyfriends report having had attempts made on their lives. So now Abby is THE murder suspect, which doesn't sit well with her friends and family. Add insult to injury, gorgeous Benjamin Orr, former high school crush turned police detective, is on the case. Who is killing Abby's boyfriends and why?

This is a fun and entertaining chick-lit. It is not deep, neither the story nor its characters is meant to have very much depth, so you take it as what it's meant to be: great escapism. I enjoyed it for what it was, and I gobbled it up in two sittings. I have always enjoyed Melissa Senate's novels. Her style is cute and sassy and her books are as lighthearted as an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. I became a little frustrated with the characters here though. How could someone who has known Abby for years, some almost throughout her life, ever doubt that she is innocent? How could she take so much mistrust from everyone, including Ben? I know the guy was doing his job, but he was exasperating and for a long time I wondered why Abby was so hung up on him. Suspension of disbelief is required when reading this. But I did like the development of their relationship and I read through the whole thing, hoping to see what would transpire between them. I also like the backdrop of Portland, Maine. As a New Englander (Massachusetts), I had no trouble picturing Portland, and I'd love to pay a visit there some time. The mystery aspect is middling. I was able to figure out (or at least suspect) who the killer was about halfway through the story. The "least conspicuous one is the one" rule certainly applies here. Love You to Death is something you'd want to pick up if you're planning to travel this holiday. It'll keep you entertained from beginning to end. I will give another Red Dress Ink chick-mystery, The Key, a whirl. I've heard good things about it. In the meantime, I recommend this one.

This mystery got off to a slow start by taking a few chapters to even delve into the murders. However, after the first crime, the book was up and running. I enjoyed it a lot, and I loved Abby. I really didn't know who the murderer was until the end, and it was such a shocker. The author threw in some pretty convincing red herrings. The motive was also a suprise and very well done. I hope there is a sequel.

This is by far one of my favorites! I read it in one day it was so good!

I read some of the reviews and disagree. This book is good for anyone who ever liked Murder She Wrote as well as Friends. I was trying to play detective the whole time I was reading and I really liked the characters I had a good feel for them as well as the story line and the whole book had me going until the very end which is something I will not be complaining about! I recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's voice in this book. It was funny and engaging. The mystery was only a piece of the book for me. I liked the way Abby interacted with her co-workers, friends, and family. If you're looking for a mystery, I'm not sure this is the book I'd recommend. If you're looking for a few laughs, however, this is definitely it.

I started this book with no high hopes, but closed the cover after finishing it and immediately googled the sequel! I could not stop turning the pages of this book, wondering what she would find out next and how she would stand up for herself! Great read!

I absolutely loved this book! It's was really good and I didn't want to put it down. I loved all the characters. I really felt for Abby and her situation, which is being accused and a prime suspect for the attempted murders of two of her exes and a murder of her most recent ex.

I'm really looking forward to next next Abby Foote mystery.

As her Foote half-sister Opal points out, being an expert on men since she is engaged, Maine Life columnist Abby always picks losers. One of them, Ted Puck and Mary-Kate Darling have made the wedding announcement section of the paper; Abbey knows the pair as "cheating jerk" and "cheating slut" catching them in her bed making love on her birthday. Her siblings and "Abby Too" wish hell for Puck.

The next day Portland Police Department Detectives Benjamin Orr and Frank Fargo question Abby as someone has poisoned Ted. Her family, friends and Maine Life peers assume Abby killed the cheating jerk and is capable of murdering others. Though she knows Ben from when she had a crush on him in high school, Abby fears she will be railroaded so she begins her own inquiries that lead to her tripping over Big Ben as she begins to agree Opal is right that you know everything that matters about a man fifteen minutes into the first date..

Readers will know everything they need to know about charming neurotic Abby Foote in the first fifteen pages while appreciating her escapades as she tries to prove her innocence. This amusing amateur tale displays a wild support cast who suddenly fears this mild mannered reporter has become a lethal Poison Ivy with each of them pondering if they did anything to Abby that will make them the next target. The game's a Foote with Abby on the case, as the audience obtains a delightful romantic mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I felt bad for Abbey from the get go. Not only did the police NOT seem to be looking elsewhere for suspects, but jus because you break up with someone cheating on you doesn't mean you kill him six months later. It did seem a bit far fetched. As did the other two exes coming forward with claimes of Abbey trying to commit murder on them as well, months and months prior to when the events occured.

Also, her family was god awful to her. Instead of standing by her, her half sisters more or less caved into their mother, Abbey's step mother. And in one of her sister's case, caving into her husband, Abbey's brother-in-law. They were not there for her when she needed them the most. Why Abbey allowed them back into her life and was in a wedding to one of them was beyond me.

The plot at the end had an ODD twist to it. Odd, but good. The killer was someone I would have never suspected.

I am however looking forward to the next Abbey Foote mystery, mostly because I want to see what happens with Abbey and Ben, the police investigator who she went to high school with, in the next book.