Customer Reviews

Nursing a Grudge (Hometown Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you've been tired of the same old, same old these days, then look no further and see what Chris Well has in store for you! It is always known with Well that he'll have something clever cranked out, with a few laughs behind it all. In this case, the mystery and humor is cranked out in a wheelchair. Ah, c'mon. You think I'm kidding? Read on!

Welcome to Candlewick Retirement Community, home of Oscar the Grouch. Ok, not exactly Oscar the Grouch, but close enough when you meet Earl Walker. He doesn't like to be bothered, and that's exactly what a young church-going lady does as she takes him through a tour of the home! And between all that and a chili party among retirement friends, the bad apple of the whole bunch keels over and dies. So what's the big deal? People are always dying while in the old folks' home, right? What's another one? Well, Earl is set to get down to the bottom of it, and his years of driving a bus have taught him to always be on the lookout!

Oh, and speaking of being on the lookout, there might be a lady who catches Earl's interest as well. Things are moving quickly for this cranky old curmudgeon, and he's not sure if he likes it that way. Well, none of the residents like the fact that the home will be closing soon at that.

So, Chris Well brings old people to the table in his latest read. Or at least he keeps them in the home and makes it quite interesting! And not to mention laugh out loud hilarious! It was so good that there was more than one book. And I'm going to go read that right now. Thanks, Chris!

This book is poignant, funny, a mystery, and a romance. Earl Walker is the main character--a retired bus driver. His sidekick is Jenny--a Christian volunteer from her church, in college training to be a social worker. Someone dies, and Earl suspects the death not to be natural causes. This is Christian fiction. Definitely. Excellent writing, interesting characters, and I don't think you will figure out WHO DID IT until the end!

Nursing a Grudge by Chris Well
A mystery
Review by Carole Brown

Book Cover:
What's a grouchy old man to do when two women drag him from his assisted-living apartment to a clandestine chili party? He almost has fun-until someone drops dead. But Earl Walker is the only one suspicious of the way the partygoer met his demise. Can he solve the puzzle-and figure out his relationship with his new lady friend--before the state shuts down the home and all the suspects move away?

My thoughts:

Nursing a Grudge is written by Chris Well and published by Barbour. This is not Well's first book, but in my opinion, his best so far. It's a wonderful addition to the mystery world. Wells delivered with his usual ability, another book that keeps your attention. Who would have thought a mystery with a nursing home protagonist could be so overwhelmingly good?

When young and blundering Jenny Hutton, with her inapt attempt at witnessing, forces her unwanted attention on crabby Earl Walker, sparks fly. She's determined he should "get out." He's just as determined to stay in his rooms and watch any TV sitcom available. Keeping to himself so that he can keep his wife's memory alive, will serve another purpose too: the less he has to do with others, the less trouble he'll have to deal with. He didn't blend with the activities and the other residents when he first came, and he doesn't want to begin now.

When Jenny and Gloria, with the big red hair and new name for Earl (Blue Eyes), plot together for his good, they unknowingly push him into finding the murderer of the most unliked person at the home: George Kent. The problem is it could be any of the residents for they all have secrets that pertain to Kent. Since they all have reasons to hate Kent, he digs into each person's life to find the answers.

Romance blossoms between Gloria and Earl, but he's not sure that's what he wants. She has an overblown personality, but is attractive and friendly and makes his heart flutter (it's not a heart attack, is it?). His lack of concern at dressing his best (for what he refuses to acknowledge is a date) is frustrating for poor Jenny. His feeble attempts at conversation with Gloria are touching.

Even danger enters the picture when Earl corners a fellow resident to ask questions. Obviously the murderer doesn't like it, because Earl is almost killed with a knife.

The whole story takes several twists and turns, including blackmail, with Earl pointing a figurative finger at several residents, but at the last, when all evidence points to the one person that he'd rather it didn't, he "confesses." In his frustration at his own lack of ability to save that person he finally turns to God.
One of the first things that caught my attention was Earl Walker's personality. Well did a superb job letting that shine through, and I loved it. Yes, he was grouchy, but he was also smart, with a dry wit evidenced by his constant gentle harassment of do-gooder, Jenny Hutton.

A cute tidbit that I liked was how Jenny, so taken up at first, with one of the male employees that got fired, toward the end shrugs her shoulders, and eyes a different man. Coming from the point of view of an elderly person, it was a particularly funny piece of information about the fickleness of young love that added to Well's book.

And the second part that enraptured me, was his ability to bring out the setting so well. Though there wasn't an abundance of nursing home employees involved in the book, the whole atmosphere shone through perfectly. From the activities room to the exercise room, from the cafeteria to the disturbingly endless hallways, each part played a small, but integral part in bringing the setting to life.

Chris did an excellent job with this novel. The flow of the whole story, the individualistic development of his unusual characters, the plot, all of it was written with a natural and smooth rhythm. I'd love to read more of his mysteries and look forward to it. He's just shot to one of the top spots in my mystery writer's list.

Nursing A Grudge (Hometown Mystery)
Chris Well
5 Star Rated
Sweet Christian Suspense

Earl Walker, has live at the Candlewick Retirement Community and has yet to really know anyone or even what goes on there. He would rather spend time watching wrestling and Wheel of Fortune than get out and socialize. That is all about to change. Losing his wife early in their marriage and his career cut short as a bus driver by a bullet, he has been confined to a wheel chair but when a young volunteer from the local church comes to visit him she nags him to no end to get up and out of the room. That's when the trouble begins. First they get lost in the complex, then they meet up with Gloria who takes them to a secret chili party. When a man drops over dead there are too many unanswered questions for Earl. Playing a bit of Perry Mason with a touch of Matlock thrown in for good measure, Earl sets out to prove that he was murdered. There were too many there that had a reason to get rid of him. One problem stands in his way.. Candlewick is getting ready to close its doors and everyone has to move out.. Can Earl collar the murderer before time runs out and they all get moved away.

These little short "Hometown Mysteries-Where Love And Suspense Meet " are ideal for a quick afternoon read. They are a sweet Christian Romance/Suspense that I would place in the cozy mystery genre, ones you would not be ashamed of to have laying around if company came in to visit or teens grabbed. As usual I read the second book first not knowing that "Nursing The Grudge " was the first book. To follow the Adventures of Earl Walker one will want to read "Burying The Hatchet" next. Recommended

I would like to thank Barbour Publishing and Net Galley for providing this book for my reading pleasure. No review was expected and thoughts expressed here are strictly my own opinion of the book.

Nursing a Grudge is a cozy mystery that hits high on the entertaining level. Chris Well's dept of characterization makes readers feel as if they know the main characters personally--I, for one, feel as if Earl was my neighbor. LOL Well plotted with an interesting cast, I recommend this fun read to fans of the cozy genre!

By title, cover, and synopsis, we know this is going to be a cozy mystery. No big thrills or action scenes. Easy on the violence. A cozy relies, instead, on a tightly woven mystery, multiple suspects, red herrings, and a strong lead character. Chris Well not only adds large dollops of humor, he puts a new spin on this formula--or, maybe I should say, an old spin.

Earl Walker is ironically named since he cannot walk. He is in a wheelchair, and his heart is even more crippled by his cynicism and the loss of his wife over two decades earlier. He has locked himself away in a retirement center, and now that center is about to be closed down due to financial difficulties. Even as Earl faces the practical issues of relocation, the center has a party at which one of the elderly men keels over, dead of natural causes. Or so everyone else assumes.

Earl, however, is not convinced. He may be physically and emotionally challenged, but his mind is active, and his sharp tongue is ready to slice away at those around him. He has few friends. His heart races--or is that a heart-attack in the making?--every time he's around one of the center's attractive older women. And now a new college girl is pushing him around the corridors, in search of clues to confirm his suspicions. As he hunts down the killer, things point him a number of directions, but ultimately to someone he would never expect. The pieces are laid out cleverly for us by Mr. Well, and it's fun to see him put the puzzle together, take it apart, try again, and come up with the final picture.

I laughed out loud a number of times reading "Nursing a Grudge." I loved Earl as a cranky yet likable old guy, and as the pages kept turning in this easy read, I found the mystery spinning tighter and tighter till I could not put the book down.

Now that I know where to find a new wrinkle in my old cozies, I'll be looking for the next Chris Well book--and I hear he has two more on the way!

The book opens with Earl, a lonely curmudgeon who wants to be left alone, and Jenny, an overenthusiastic college student who has taken on Earl as a "project" including a desire to help him find God. While Jenny's efforts are clumsy, and awkward, and sometimes even make me cringe, her sincerity shines through.

Although Earl has been at the nursing home where his apartment is for a long time, he has chosen to hide himself in his room and turn his back on the world. As a result, his life consists of his favorite TV shows, and he has no friends. The issue is compounded because the nursing home is about to close.

So, when Jenny insists on taking Earl out to visit the social areas of the home, he is unhappy. He is even more unhappy when he meets Gloria, a gentle hearted senior who calls him "Blue Eyes." It's been 22 years since his wife died, and he's not sure he wants to get involved with a woman his own age. Even more, Gloria, like Jenny, is a Christian, and both think prayer should be an important part of a person's life.

An unlikely death, a robbery, evidence of chicanery, and much more complicate Earl's life until he wishes he'd never left the safety of his apartment. But when things reach a crisis, Earl has to make a decision. What does he want more? Is he willing to support a friend when the chips are down? Is he willing to talk to this "God Person" Jenny and Gloria (and his former wife) trust? Or would he rather succumb to the solitary life he has always had.

This is a fun read, and I actually will be recommending it to a few people I visit in the nursing home. I think it would make a good "book club" selection for seniors who will want to discuss some of the senior issues faced by Earl. I also feel that it could be used in a Christian teen setting for those who are considering assisting at a nursing home - discussing ways that Jenny might have been able to handle some of the issues better.

It may be a fun mystery, and easy to read, but there's a lot of "meat" if you look for it in this book.

Earl Walker was a perfectly content hermit at the Candlewick Retirement Community. He had spent years isolating himself from others and was quite happy to stay that way. However, a young college student, Jenny Hutton was determined to make Earl leave his apartment and begin mingling with others in the community. On their first adventure outside the apartment, they found themselves at a clandestine chili supper where one of the guests dies. Everyone but Earl assumed it was an old man dying from kidney failure, but he thinks there might be a bit more. With only a few days before Candlewick permanently closes, Earl decides to brave life outside his apartment in the hopes of discovering who killed George Kent.

It's nice to have another book by Chris Well. It's been three years since Tribulation House was released and I have missed his wonderful sense of humor combined with the classic detective style. Nursing a Grudge was different from his previous books, but still captured what I love most about his writing--a great mystery and good laughs with a touch of seriousness.

Earl Walker is the typical grumpy old man, but he's got just enough tenderness to make him the perfect leading man for this series. His character (as well as the other elderly characters) was a bit stereotypical, but not in a way that negatively impacted the story. This book is short, only 250 pages, so there wasn't a lot of room for character development. The stereotypical aspects helped speed up the `getting to know' the character portion and once the basics for their personalities were established, the more unique characteristics emerged. By the time the book ended, the reader is given a light overview of each character and enough individual background to connect with the residents, but for the most part there is very little in-depth information revealed in this first book.

This book is different than Well's previous works. Most obvious was the amount of Christian material. This is most likely due to it being a Hometown Mystery. It had many of the elements one would expect from a standard Christian fiction novel. The reader gets some Bible verses and prayers along with a few Christian lessons and Christian/non-Christian character dynamics. I would have preferred them to be better integrated since a couple of times the flow of the story was interpreted. Furthermore, this book was tenderer and there was noticeably less action, which is to be expected since most of the characters were elderly.

Not different was the great sense of humor I have come to expect from Well's books. From questionable heart attacks to the names of the off stage characters to budding senior romance, this book offers great opportunities to laugh. I love how Well know when to be serious and when to lighten the situation just a notch. His timing is perfect and adds a dimension to his books I thoroughly enjoy.

At the heart, is a classic who done it mystery. The pacing was great with the clues being given so that the mystery could be figured out as long as the reader was paying attention. Well's love and knowledge of this genre is evident and infuses this book with the best elements of murder mysteries. The execution was near perfect and the case presented with just enough smoke and mirrors to keep me guessing, but enough facts so that I did figure it out before being told.

It's great to have Well back. It's been far too long and hopefully there will not be another three year gap between books. This is the quality of book I expected from him and was glad to read. Fans of murder mysteries will not want to miss Nursing a Grudge.

Earl Walker is depressed. He sits in a nursing home, in a wheelchair, and watches TV in a nursing home facility. He is jolted from his depression by the well-meaning intentions of a college student who seems to want to jolt his from his depressive state. While attending a dinner party, Earl is witness to a death that turns into a murder investigation.

Notice how I've used the word `depress' a couple of times. That's because this is the feeling the book left me with. Depressed and sad. Earl and his friends in the nursing home just seem to be pitiful creatures acting out a thinly written play.

Earl and his colleague (I've forgotten her name which is just as well because, as a character, she was forgettable), stumble about the whole book attempting to solve the mystery. Their investigative skills involve racing down hallways in the nursing home and accusing everyone within earshot of some sort of crime, hoping that something might stick.

The clues were largely absent or glaringly obvious; the characters weren't likable or realistic; the dialogue was stilted; the sleuthing was haphazard and amateurish. I also didn't like the `religiousy' tone the book had. I would like to say it was a Christian mystery, but apart from some vague references to a bible and a couple of scripture referrals, Earl's tepid conversion to Christianity was confusing.

Definitely not that cozy mystery you want to dive into this summer!

Earl Walker is a grouchy old man. He drove a metro bus for years until someone put a bullet into his legs. Now, he lives alone at the Candlewick Retirement Community since his wife passed away. Earl spends his time watching TV and prefers to be alone. So, he is a bit put out when a young woman abruptly arrives at his apartment.

Jenny Hutton is a college student and a firm believe in God. She is bound and determined to help Earl and what better way then to get him out of his apartment and meet new people; make new friends. Earl really doesn't want to, but Jenny is determined to have her way.

When the two of them meet some folks in the recreation room, they are immediately invited to a secret chili party. Secret because they can't let on to the nurses what they are eating or drinking; it's against their special dietary needs. Earl takes an immediate shine to Gloria Logan, but he acts like he doesn't care for anything.

But one of the men has an attack of some sort at the party and sometime later that night, dies. Earl knows someone murdered him, but it's been listed as natural causes. After all, it is a retirement community. But Earl is determined to get to the bottom of it, and with Gloria and Jenny's help, he starts his own investigation.

Nursing a Grudge is an entertaining mystery. I really enjoyed the antics of the folks in the retirement home and I really liked the character of Earl. The mystery itself was pretty easy to figure out, but not to the characters. To watch them try and figure it out was enjoyable and at times laugh out funny. The author has a great talent and I look forward to reading more.