Rhythm and Clues

Happy Election Day!  I do not know about you, but I am very nervous about the results.  I hope all of you took the time to vote.  I vote by mail which I love.  I can take my time going through each item on the ballot.

Rhythm and Clues by Sue Ann Jaffarian is the eleventh book in The Odelia Gray Mysteries.  Odelia Gray is asked to look into the disappearance of Boaz Shankleman by her mother, Grace.  Grace lives at the Seaside Retirement Community.  Her mother and her friend, Art Franklin are sure that that something underhanded has happened to Boaz.  Boaz is more commonly known as Bo Shank, lead singer for the band Acid Storm.  Art and Grace talked with Mona D’Angelo, the manager of the facility, but she was unhelpful.  Odelia thought she had alleviated her mother’s fears, until she gets a late-night call from her mother.  Grace and Odelia’s niece, Lorraine are in jail.  They were arrested for breaking and entering.  There is also the dead body they stumbled upon.  Lorraine came into town after an upsetting break up with her boyfriend, Ethan.  The body is that of Cydney Fox, the band’s new manager.  But Boaz is still missing and no one has been able to reach Art.  Despite being told by the police to stay completely away from the investigation (and by Odelia’s husband, Greg and Odelia’s brother, Clark), the three ladies set out to get answers.  Who killed Cydney?  Where are Art and Boaz?  You can count on Odelia to keep looking until she gets answers.

Rhythm and Clues is the first book I have read in The Odelia Gray Mysteries.  Rhythm and Clues can be read alone.  I felt I was given all the information needed to understand the characters and their background.  The males come across as overprotective.  They are trying to protect their “little women”.  Telling them it was too dangerous for them to investigate the crime.  I had a hard time reading this book.  I was never able to get into the story.  I also did not like any of the characters.  The women were going to do what they wanted to do no matter what (even if they got shot).  It portrays that it is okay for a grandma to run around with a dangerous and illegal knife.  The book reminded me of an episode of I Love Lucy (only worse).  As you can tell, I did not find the book humorous (I am not a fan of screwball comedies).  The book moves at snail’s pace (actually, I have seen snails that go faster than this book).  The author throws too many details, people, and relationships at the reader in the beginning.  I found it confusing trying to keep them all straight.  I give Rhythm and Clues 3 out of 5 stars.  The writer attempted to make the mystery complicated, but the solution was simple (and obvious).  Information is repeated in the novel and, at the end, we are left with a couple of unanswered questions.  Overall, I found the book boring.  I will not be reading any of the other novels in this series.  The Odelia Gray Mysteries are just not for me.  While I did not like this book by Sue Ann Jaffarian, I do recommend her Ghost of Granny Apples series.  

Thank you so much for visiting.  I sincerely hope all of you have a great evening.  I am sure we will all be waiting for the final results (keep your fingers crossed that the results will not make us the laughing stocks of the free world).  I will return tomorrow with my review of Saddle Up for Murder by Leigh Hearon.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader