Customer Reviews

At Witt's End (Sadie Witt Mysteries)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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Make sure you have alot of free time before you start reading this suspenseful and entertaining paranormal mystery. The characters seem to come alive after you are into a couple chapters and may make you wonder if you haven't known one or two of them from your past. I am hoping for a sequel and will definitely be watching for it.

A delightful, fast read with memorable characters. Death coach Sadie Witt assists the newly departed who have missed crossing into the light due to unfinished business, as well as running Witt's End Resort with her sister Jane. All the characters (alive and otherwise) are well painted and engaging. Many have their own deep secrets that will keep the reader turning the pages and looking for answers. The plot is expertly woven and comes together in a way that makes you sit back and smile that "satisfied reader" smile.

I would like to say before I even begin the review that I loved the cover of this book. It was cozy, yet held a smell of mystery that just drew you immediately to begin the read. Good job.

Inside we meet two sisters, Sadie and Witt, both in their sixties they own and manange a resort in
Minnisota. I liked the sisters right from the start, they were spunky and fun, down-to-earth and real, well maybe one of them had a slight strange side about her, but that was the entire charm of the story. It seems Sadie has been chosen to be a death coach. What is that you ask? It's someone who helps dead people get to where they are suppose to go. Sound creepy? Well, maybe a little, but it truly spices up this outstanding read and keeps your interest peeked.

The ladies are having some other problems besides Sadie guiding dead people across to eternity, it seems a rather cruel man is trying to take their resort away from them and add to that a tragic accident that takes the life of a family, and turns out to be murder and well, you are on one high-rolling roller coaster ride of a read. Adventure, mystery, and even some giggles are coming your way.

I truly enjoyed this book. I experienced many emotions as I read it, from giggles to anger, sadness, wonder and that soft sigh when all turns out well. The local description is exception, I actually wanted to go there for a vacation, and the author brought each character totally to life.
Their personalities screamed from the pages, both good and bad, funny and serious, and by the end of the book you felt as if you knew each one. Great job.

I have to say this is one outstanding read. It has it all, humor, adventure, mystery and many twists and turns that will keep you wondering just how it will all turn out. Beth Solheim has a true winner on her hand with this book. I recommend it highly for those who want a great mystery that is not the norm. Well done, Ms. Solheim.

I'm not going to do a long synopsis of this book since others have said almost all there is to be said. I will say this....
At Witt's End by Beth Solheim is one of those easy reading, fasting moving, enjoyable books you can't put down. The characters are well-developed, a little quirky, and completely memorable. Definitely a page-turner.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes a mystery along with lots of humor. The characters are interesting and fun. The plot keeps you wondering what's going to happen next and entertains you as well. I can't wait for the sequel to come out!

Sadie and Jane Witt aren't your average 64 year old twin sisters. They lead busy lives running the Witt's End resort in Nothern Minnesota, while trying to figure out how save said resort from an shady local businessman who feels they came into ownership in an undeserving manner. Sadie also has another calling, as a death coach. Turns out Cabin 14 houses people who are having trouble making it to the other side. Add in an on-site funeral parlor, a suspicious death and this mystery comes alive with all sorts of fun, quirky characters and a very good story. I really enjoyed At Witt's End and have learned it's just the beginning of this paranormal-cozy series!

Sadie quickly reminded me of a slightly younger version of Janet Evanovich's Grandma Mazur (Stephanie Plum series) - except in At Witt's End Sadie is a principal character, not a minor one used simply for comic relief.

The characters are quirky, the pace is good, and I enjoyed the setting. If you're a fan of cozies I think you might like the Sadie Witt Mystery Series. I look forward to reading more about the happenings at Witt's End.

Beth Solheim is a Walter Mitty type. By day she works as a hospital administrator, and at night she indulges her imagination by penning mysteries. She was born and raised in Northern Minnesota, and her various characters and plots occupy the same territory. Her characters are known for their quirkiness, which somehow fits in to the Northern Minnesota culture. One could imagine Garrison Keilor wandering through her stories.

Sadie and her twin sister, Jane, run a resort in Northern Minnesota called Witt's End. It's a bucolic spot, and business is quite good. Sadie is quite a character, wearing what she considers to be "the latest in style," which consists of clothes meant for 20 year olds. Her hair is spiky; her color schemes garish; and she has one more talent. She is a death coach. All of which drives her conservative sister to distraction. How does she find the dead, or rather, how do they find her? They occupy Cabin #14 in the resort:

"'This isn't a bad dream. You died recently and made your way to my cabin.' Sadie gazed up into his eyes to make sure he was listening. 'I'm your death coach. You're a crosser and that's why you ended up in Cabin 14."

Sadie watched Theo's throat bob as he swallowed with difficulty. 'I hope you look at your stay with us as an honor rather than a horror. You have the opportunity to make a major death decision. Most people don't have that luxury.'"

Naturally there is a murder that must be solved in Ms. Solheim's mystery. Suffice to say that the plot is clear; characters are well defined and extremely entertaining; and the setting is gorgeous. Witt's End represents a crossing that all of us will have to make, and Ms. Solheim's ideas of that transitory experience, or the Twilight Zone, between life and death is comforting, humorous, and wise.

AT WITT'S END is a murder mystery with a twist. Sadie's character as lead heroine and ghost whisperer leaves the reader laughing as she tries to explain her gift to the outside world. But the newly dead rely on her to help them enter the next dimension of their existence, and for all her bluster, Sadie is great at what she does. An enjoyable summer read. The backdrop of Northern Minnesota only makes the story more believable.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Sadie Witt and her sister Jane run Witt's End Resort in Minnesota. But Witt's End isn't your typical resort. Cabin fourteen is always occupied by a few ghosts who have been unable to cross into the light due to unfinished business. Sadie is their death coach and assists them in crossing over. Crossers only have thirty days to cross before their spirits vanish.

Recently, Sadie's job hit a little close to home: a car accident took the lives of a family dear to the Witt's, and good friends with Nan (owner of an onsite funeral home) and her son, Aanders. Tim, the son of the family, has become a crosser, desperate to prove that his family's death wasn't an accident.

Meanwhile, the Witt sisters risk losing the resort to Carl, the town's deputy sheriff. Carl believes the Witt property is on his family's land and therefore belongs to him. Paul, a wealthy businessman, is trying to convince Nan to marry him so he can take over the funeral parlor, which is on the Witt property.

It certainly seems like a lot is going on in this cozy mystery, doesn't it? However, Solheim does an outstanding job of weaving the many storylines together into one cohesive plot. The characters she has created are so full of depth and detail that they come alive (no pun intended!) on the pages. Sadie is full of spunk and her gaudy outfits just add to her sparkling personality. At Witt's End will make you laugh and cry. It's a delightfully quick read but definitely has a lot wrapped up in it. Outwitted, the second book in the Sadie Witt mystery series, releases in 2011. I can't wait to get my hands on it! Highly recommended!

Sadie and Jane Witt are twin sisters sixty-four years old, they own a lakeside resort called Witt's End in Northern Minnesota, and those are the only normal things about them. Although her body has the wrinkles and sags of a woman her age, Sadie thinks nothing of wearing short skirts and thong underwear when she feels like it and leaves off the thong when it gets extremely hot and she feels like it. It gets very hot in the summer in their region of Minnesota. Sadie also employs extremely gaudy hairstyles and has a running battle of mutual hatred with a Deputy Sheriff named Carl. Although Sadie often asks Carl if he wants to frisk her and she points out that she would enjoy it, a statement that infuriates him. Jane is a much more sensible individual, often acting to tone down Sadie in her wild fashions and equally unusual personality.
Sadie also has an extremely important gift, she is a Crosser, a person that can see the spirits of recently deceased people. Sadie can also communicate with the dead and her task is to aid them in their passage through to their next destination, which can be anything from fading into oblivion to moving on into "the light."
A recent car accident took the lives of a couple and their son Tim, the best friend of Aanders, the son of Nan, the female owner of a Funeral Home. Paul, a man of apparent wealth, is trying to get Nan to marry him so that he can take control of the Funeral Home and the Witt's End resort, which are on the same property. Carl and Paul are also trying to get the local judge to rule that the Witt's End property is Carl's property so that they can evict the Witt sisters. Yet another unusual character is Mr. Bakke, an elderly man that helps Nan in the funeral home and you find yourself hoping that he beds one or both of the Witt sisters. Although the suspicion is that he probably has.
While there are some normal characters in this book, most of them are dead and even some of the dead retain their weird qualities after their deaths. Sadie is a composite of all of the strange older women that I have known; basically she has flipped off the world and decided that if she wants to show and flaunt her goods, she has the right to do so. Scandalous and hilarious. The mystery is secondary to all of the quirks and oddities of the people, alive and dead, that are literarily alive in this book. There is no dramatic point of tension where a murderer is unmasked, that is too predictable an ending for this unpredictable story.