Read to Death

Welcome!  I hope all of you have had a delightful day.  I spent the day paying bills (yuck) and then I had to go run a few errands.  I thought I would tell you about the Ashton Corners Book Club series today.  There are five books in the series by Erika Chase.  I have loved every book in the series and loved them.  It is about a mystery book club that ends up solving mysteries.  If you have not tried this series yet, please take a look.

Read to Death by Terrie Farley Moran is the third book in A Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery series.  Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield are taking the Cool Reads Warm Climate Book Club on an outing to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  The tour ties in with the book The Florida Life of Thomas Edison the group just finished reading.  Everyone has a good time and they return to Red ‘Em and Eat in high spirits.  Bridgy forgot her sunglasses in the van and goes out to retrieve them.  Upon hearing a scream, Sassy runs out to investigate.  Their van driver, Oscar Frieland is dead.  The police are called and Lt. Frank Anthony shows up (assigned the case).  Everyone is separated and held for questioning.  Bridgy ends up the main suspect (she just went to get sunglasses) and that does not sit well with Sassy.   Sassy is determined to find the culprit.  Of course, Bridgy’s mother, Emelia decides to come visit and brings Sassy’s mother, Sage with her (this should be interesting).  Can the group find out who killed Oscar before Bridgy ends up in the brig?

Read to Death is nicely written and had a good pace which made for an easy to read book.  The mystery was a bit of a letdown.  Oscar made a comment (before he died), and I knew he would be the victim.   A comment from someone else told me the name of the killer before the murder even occurred.  I liked the setting of the novel in Fort Myers Beach.  It was interesting to read about their trip to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates (I have always wanted to visit).  I liked most of the characters in the book the one exception was Sage, Sassy’s mother.  I thought she was too over-the-top and extremely annoying (and pushy instead of funny).  I did get a tickle out of the NCIS reference (it was my father's favorite show).  I give Read to Death 3.5 out of 5 stars.  I just felt that book was lacking.  We get quite a bit of information about the city, the sites, and books.  I wish the author had put a more work into the mystery as she did the research on the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  I found some information to be repeated a few times and there were way too many references (more than eight) to the Heap-a-Jeep (the main characters’ car). Will I read the next book in A Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery series?  Of course.  This could have just been an off book in an otherwise enjoyable series.  In the next book it looks like Bridgy and Sassy will be taking a vacation and leaving their mother's in charge of the shop!

The other two novels in A Read 'Em and Eat Mystery series are Well Read, Then Dead and Caught Read-Handed.  I received a complimentary copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.  The comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own.

I want to thank you for taking time out to visit my blog and read my latest book review.  I had better go cook dinner before I fill up on potato chips (I could not resist them at the store).  Tomorrow I will tell about Ellery Adams' Book Retreat Mystery series.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader