Customer Reviews

Mama Does Time (Thorndike Mystery)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read a lot of mysteries. I started out with the "English Cottage" mysteries, so it's no surprise that I prefer mysteries that have a good sense of place, time and character. I also like mysteries that are part of a series. It's difficulty to find a good mystery, so when I do, I want there to be more.

I've also read a fair number of first-time authors, probably because I harbor a secret dream of being one myself. I'm pretty critical of first-timers. But I have to say that I really liked Deborah Sharp's MAMA DOES TIME. It has a comfortable voice. She doesn't try too hard to be funny--interecting humor in a way that doesn't call attention to itself. And Sharp has a delightful sense of time, place and familial relationships.

It meets all of my criteria. It's a great read--and there are more to come! How cool is that?

Wow, What a ride!!! I had heard about this book from a friend who heard the author talk about her new series. And being a Yankee who once lived in the south and constantly traveled to quirky parts of Florida, I thought I would give it a try...it was like getting on a thrill ride that definitely did not disappoint! I love this colorful woman that everyone would want to know, and each character was so wonderfully bizarre that they felt real. This was so fun to read that I cannot wait for the next one. I immediately sent a copy to my friends who know I always am on the cutting edge of discovering new authors. I Googled the author's name to find something else y her and found this great blog - http://mysterygal-mysterygal.blogspot.com/ as well as an index of her USA Today articles. Why she is not a syndicated columnist is beyond me. Erma Bombeck you may have met your match!!!

I really enjoyed this fast-read. Mama and her antics took me on a journey to the "back roads Florida" I love. The writing is full of color and the "Florida speak" is so entertaining. I rarely laugh out loud, but I did as I read "Mama."
I thought this would mostly appeal to women, but was pleasantly surprised that "Mama" appeals to men too.
I can't wait for the next "Mama" book.

Himmarshee, Florida, the setting for this new series ,may be a small town but it is brimming with colorful characters with lots of secrets. Mama, having enjoyed the delights at the local Dairy Queen, is wrongly accused of murder when an unidentified body is found in the trunk of her "big as a cruise ship "car. She frantically calls her middle daughter, Mace, to come to the police station to straighten out this little misunderstanding. Mace arrives with alacrity and confronts Detective Martinez, the handsome new officer in town. Mace's two sisters, Maddie and Marty arrive and add to the mayhem.

The daughters are mystified as to how Martinez could possibly believe their Mama, former Sunday School teacher, southern belle when she wanted to be, could commit murder. Everyone loves Mama, hasn't she been married four times and has prospect number 5 in sight? Isn't she always well dressed in perfectly coordinated clothing? Wasn't she playing Bingo at the Seminole reservation with a witness? Nevertheless, she has to spend some time in jail !!

Not being one to let the police pursue the investigation without interference, Mace begins to look into the murder and finds there is more than one person who had the opportunity and, more importantly, the motive to want the victim dead. When it turns out the murdered man was Jimmy Albert , facts turn up he was not who everyone thought he was. What they thought was he was just the short term fiance of Emma Jean, receptionist at the police station. Martinez reluctantly concedes he needs to look elsewhere and Mama is sprung from the slammer.

Although threats and warnings ensue, the sisters continue to look into who murdered Jimmy and why someone is trying to get them to stop putting their noses where they don`t belong. What follows is a highly entertaining story of kidnapping, disappearance, and more hi jinks with all three sisters and Mama involved. There is even an incident involving Ollie, the one eyed alligator.

With lots of local color at the Hair Today, Dyed Tomorrow beauty shop, the Abundant Hope church ,the Speckled Perch and the Pork Pit, the reader is taken on a rollicking romp through small town Florida's back roads ,swamps and wildlife parks. Lots of secrets and confessions are revealed along the way in this well crafted cozy. Add some undercurrents of budding and rekindled romances. Throw in a tight plot full of red herrings , clues, a heart thumping denouement and round it out with a cast of well drawn, credible, likeable characters, a few four legged friends and you have the recipe for a non-stop fun read. Highly recommended!

but not that bad. I threatened several times to just not finish, but in the end this light, predictable mystery was okay. The characters are a bit silly and nearly always did just exactly what you thought they might. It wandered off into a somewhat Christian direction at times, but wasn't "preachy". The girl-meets-wounded-hero fantasy woven around the main character Mace and Detective Martinez is... well, what's another word for PREDICTABLE... Expected. The book that I read just prior to this one left me thoughtful and a bit sad, so "Mama", requiring little thought and providing loads of fluffy meringue was passable. I will recommend this book to my mom, who loves a nice book with sexual innuendo and overtone(but no sex)and a good dose of lightweight fun. Not insulting my mother... she admits it herself.

I recently "found" the Mace Bauer mysteries and loved each one. They take place in Florida near where I live, and they shed an imaginative, yet accurate view of the area. I laughed at the dry humor, cried at the romance, and sat on the edge of the chair when surprise after surprise of mystery developed. Love them all...bought them all.

MAMA DOES TIME is a complete waste of time. I ordered the book from Amazon when I had nothing to read...after getting the book I still had nothing to read!! This book involves characters that are to the extreme...mama and her daughters in particular..after about 35 pages wanting the book to get better I decided it was not getting better and did not pick it up again. Waste of money for sure.Mama Does Time (A Mace Bauer Mystery)

This was a slow starter, in spite of the author's efforts to grab attention with a catchy title and opening gambit. Add to that it features just about every southern stereotype known to fiction, south or south of the border. There was even the de rigeur 'dysfunctional', 'lovable' family with a cagey, aged would-be southern belle. I nearly didn't finish the book. But stick it out. It has a certain charm. I doubt I'll look up other works by this author, though.

This book was funny. I liked it from the first page.
Mama calls her daughter and hysterically says, "I'm in jail, they arrested me"!
Everything goes downhill from there on. What a plot.
Mama has three daughters who try and keep their mother out of trouble with the law.
Forget it! Trouble follows Mama wherever she goes,
as well as Detective Martinez.
What a charming mystery. Mama just can't let things go.
She sees a problem, she won't quit till she figures out
the "How" and "Who' in this mystery.
Like her daughter Maddy quotes,
"Asking Mama to keep a secret is like
asking a sieve to hold water"!
This is a very well written comedic mystery caper.
A keeper for me.

This book is a light read but really engaging. If you're Southern, you know these people. I chose it because it has been compared to the writing of the late Ann George. It is similiar but can definitely stand on it's own. I'm looking for to the next book in the series.