Guaranteed to Bleed

Today is No Beard Day!  Rejoice all of you who do not have a beard (isn't it silly). I am enjoying watching the past seasons of Downton Abbey.  They show them every Sunday afternoon on PBS (leading up to the last season of Downton Abbey).  I like to watch it while I work around the house.

I just finished reading Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern.  It is the second book The Country Club Murders series and is set in 1974.  Ellison Russell is a widow and an artist with a daughter to raise.  Ellison lives in Kansas City, Missouri and her daughter, Grace goes to Suncrest Country Day School.  Ellison is at the school watching her daughter cheer.  She drops her lipstick and it falls under the stands.  Ellison goes under the stands to retrieve it (she got it in Paris).  Someone runs into her while she is under the bleachers and then she trips over something.  That something turns out to be Bobby Lowell.  Bobby, a friend of her daughter since they were little kids, is hurt on the ground.  He dies in Ellison’s arms asking her to tell her that he loved her.  Who is her?

Detective Anarchy Jones is assigned the case (Ellison and Anarchy know each other).  When Ellison arrives back home, she is greeted by a drunk babysitter (for a sixteen year old) and a gaggle of girls (her daughter needed the comfort of friends).  Donna is a new girl to the group.  Her mother, India and her new husband, Jonathan Hess, just moved to town (India used to live in Kansas City).  Grace and her friends have decided to include Donna in their group.  Ellison cannot help but look into Bobby’s murder (since she did find the body).  Who would want to kill a teenage boy?  While solving the crime and trying to find Bobby’s her, Ellison will have to deal with her mother (very intimidating) and her matchmaking.  She wants to make sure that Ellison makes the right match this time (the first husband was not a gem).

I give Guaranteed to Bleed 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay).  Ellison had just come back from traveling in Europe and there are constant references to new clothes, shoes, and make-up that she purchased and did not like (then why did she buy them).  The mystery was extremely easy to solve and the characters were very superficial (they lacked depth).  I also did not like Ellison’s friends.  When Ellison would ask for assistance from a friend or even her mother, they would only do it in exchange for a favor in return (like politicians in Washington, D.C.).  How is that friendship?  I found Guaranteed to Bleed just to be a little bit too silly and over-the-top (for my liking).  The book is nicely written, but Guaranteed to Bleed was just not for me.  The first book in the series is The Deep End.

I received a complimentary copy of Guaranteed to Bleed from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am currently reading Another Way Home by Deborah Raney.  I hope all of you have a lovely afternoon.  Do something for yourself and enjoy it! Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader