Customer Reviews

Maple Sugar Murders (New England Cozy)

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

 

 

I purchased this book after meeting Steve. I really enjoyed the fact that it was written by someone who lives in New England. The plot was exciting and kept you wanting to read more. Never really a dull moment. Good Book for "New Englanders" as you can relate to much of what is going on as far as the way of life.

A series of murders in maple sugar country suggest a syndicate may have designs on the properties involved with an eye toward development. This is generally a bumpy ride and some passages don't make a whole lot of sense or contribute to the story, I am afraid. The characters are for the most part irritating and/or uninteresting. Pretty sticky--but at least it is short.

I really HATED this book. Finished it only because I had spent hard-earned money to buy it.
The only two somewhat sympathetic characters -- the retired cop-sleuth and his local girlfriend -- were completely under-developed. It was impossible to care about them.

And why did the retired cop-sleuth need to call that odd out-of-town fellow so frequently? He should have figured out things for himself instead of resorting to this strange deus ex machina.

His local buddy, supposedly a good friend, was an unpleasant old fart who would get angry and shout at almost anyone who said anything. His "girlfriend" was the sort who, had she lived in California, would have gotten herself appointed to some unelected position on a governmental environmental protection board where she would busy herself driving businesses out of state, destroying agriculture and issuing edicts that would impair the personal freedom of the citizenry to use their fireplaces and barbecues. In short, a sanctimonious and obnoxious enviro-fascist. Loathesome creature!

Her bad-tempered boyfriend, a maple syrup-maker, was carrying on a feud with another equally unpleasant old fart who also made maple syrup and turned out to be one of the murder victims. The victim's brother, in from out of town, was equally unpleasant. All these local characters seemed to view the world at large with hostility and paranoia. Are New Englanders REALLY like that???

Another murder victim was completely undrawn. The reader only knows that he was a surveyor. Better to have killed off the strange character who wandered around, peeping, and saw things, including the perp shooting at someone. In a better-written book, he would have been a victim, because at least there would be a sensible reason (from the pov of the murderer) for his demise. And the hero, by unnecessarily getting himself into a very dangerous situation while unarmed and alone toward the end of the book, proved that he had more testosterone than brains.

Unlikable characters, pointless killings for the ultimate motive.... It all seemed so forced.