Janice A. Thompson has written a cozy mystery, The Wedding Caper, that presents readers with a slightly off-kilter ameuter sleuth. Annie Peterson has stumbled onto clues that point to her husband as the thief in a recent robbery of the Clark County Savings and Loan. Her clues? Warren has motive and opportunity – their twin daughters are both getting married soon, and Warren and Annie need money, thus the motive, and Warren works at the bank, thus the opportunity.
Could the Christian man Annie has been married to for the past twenty-seven years be guilty of such a felony? Annie sets about trying to stack up the clues so they point to someone, anyone else. The facts seem to be destined to stack up their own way and point directly to her husband. But then the case becomes even more clouded. Other suspects find their way to Annie’s list.
Janice places us in the mind of Annie when she writes the story in first person. We hurt for Annie as she tries desperately to rule out her husband. We laugh at Annie when she tries to hone her sleuthing skills over the Internet. We root for Annie to win the day and solve the crime in such a way that she will prove, without a doubt, that her husband is innocent of the crime.
If you like a light mystery versus heavy, dark ones, you’ll enjoy The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson.
kmparis
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Snitch - A Book Review
I confess…I confess. I snatched Snitch from the arms of a stocking clerk in LifeWay Bookstore a few weeks ago. That’s right, straight from the young man’s arms. Shock, surprise, and awe flittered across his face. “I must have this copy,” I said as I made my way to the check-out counter to pay for my copy.
I didn’t need another book to read. I had just had a copy of another author’s newest book autographed to add to my ever towering stack of books to read. But I had to have Snitch. Rene Gutteridge’s Occupational Hazards series is just too enticing to put off purchasing. In fact, I read it immediately. I couldn’t resist – tempation got the better of me.
Snitch didn’t disappoint me. The characters are engaging, likeable and real. They have flaws; they’re not perfect, but they try. And the humor remains. For me, I think, the humor that Rene uses in her novels is one of the biggest draws of her writing style. Her style absorbs her readers. You’re in the midst of the book without trying.
Oh, yes, what is the plot of Snitch? Well, Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a member of the Hazard family (all former clowns), takes on a new job in undercover work for the Las Vegas Police Department. The task force she has been assigned to has a tough job – uncover the culprits in an auto theft ring operating in Las Vegas. The task force is headed by Sergeant Ron Yeager, a man a couple of years away from retirement. Yeager’s task force is comprised of rookies, expereinced undercover officers and a minister … a minister? Yes, an undercover minister on sabatical from his pulpit.
How can such a misfit group of people work together to achieve their purpose without getting them all killed? Read Snitch to find out if and how the task force solves their problem. Snitch is a book laugh-packed with thrills.
kmparis
I didn’t need another book to read. I had just had a copy of another author’s newest book autographed to add to my ever towering stack of books to read. But I had to have Snitch. Rene Gutteridge’s Occupational Hazards series is just too enticing to put off purchasing. In fact, I read it immediately. I couldn’t resist – tempation got the better of me.
Snitch didn’t disappoint me. The characters are engaging, likeable and real. They have flaws; they’re not perfect, but they try. And the humor remains. For me, I think, the humor that Rene uses in her novels is one of the biggest draws of her writing style. Her style absorbs her readers. You’re in the midst of the book without trying.
Oh, yes, what is the plot of Snitch? Well, Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a member of the Hazard family (all former clowns), takes on a new job in undercover work for the Las Vegas Police Department. The task force she has been assigned to has a tough job – uncover the culprits in an auto theft ring operating in Las Vegas. The task force is headed by Sergeant Ron Yeager, a man a couple of years away from retirement. Yeager’s task force is comprised of rookies, expereinced undercover officers and a minister … a minister? Yes, an undercover minister on sabatical from his pulpit.
How can such a misfit group of people work together to achieve their purpose without getting them all killed? Read Snitch to find out if and how the task force solves their problem. Snitch is a book laugh-packed with thrills.
kmparis
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Renovating Becky Miller - A Book Review
Reading books written in first person is not usually my first choice, but I found Renovating Becky Miller so enticing that I forgot it was in first person.
Sharon Hinck drew me into the book by opening each chapter with a daydream Becky Miller was having. In beginning of each chapter, Becky loses herself in a movie she and her husband have seen on their weekly date nights. Then her real life comes crashing into reality!
Becky Miller’s life is not easy. She’s a mother, a wife, has a part-time job at her church working with the women’s ministries, and is disabled, just to add a little icing to her cake-of-a-life.
Already harrying, Becky’s life is complicated by the purchase of a new home for her family. What looked like the perfect solution to a cramped home life turns into a renovation nightmare for Becky and husband Kevin.
Will their marriage survive? Will the family survive? Will Becky remain sane, or will she lose herself in one of her daydreams and never come home?
I kept turning pages of Renovating Becky Miller partly because I had to know what Sharon would use as her next chapter opening, but mostly because I became engrossed in Becky’s life. I laughed and I cried and now I have to go back and find the first book in Sharon’s series about Becky Miller, The Secret Life of Becky Miller.
By the way, I guessed most of the titles of the movies Sharon uses as chapter opening scenarios, but in case you don’t recognize them, there is a list of them at the end of the book, just so you can satisfy your curiosity.
kmparis
Sharon Hinck drew me into the book by opening each chapter with a daydream Becky Miller was having. In beginning of each chapter, Becky loses herself in a movie she and her husband have seen on their weekly date nights. Then her real life comes crashing into reality!
Becky Miller’s life is not easy. She’s a mother, a wife, has a part-time job at her church working with the women’s ministries, and is disabled, just to add a little icing to her cake-of-a-life.
Already harrying, Becky’s life is complicated by the purchase of a new home for her family. What looked like the perfect solution to a cramped home life turns into a renovation nightmare for Becky and husband Kevin.
Will their marriage survive? Will the family survive? Will Becky remain sane, or will she lose herself in one of her daydreams and never come home?
I kept turning pages of Renovating Becky Miller partly because I had to know what Sharon would use as her next chapter opening, but mostly because I became engrossed in Becky’s life. I laughed and I cried and now I have to go back and find the first book in Sharon’s series about Becky Miller, The Secret Life of Becky Miller.
By the way, I guessed most of the titles of the movies Sharon uses as chapter opening scenarios, but in case you don’t recognize them, there is a list of them at the end of the book, just so you can satisfy your curiosity.
kmparis
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Wild Rose - a Book Review
Ruth Axtell Morren has written a tender Cinderella story – Wild Rose. In this historical, Geneva Patterson is scorned by the members of her small fishing village, Haven’s End, rather than the members of her family. What family? She has none.
After the death of her father, Geneva is left alone to fend for herself. Her mother had passed away years before, and there are no siblings. Geneva lives her life as she sees fit, doing the best she can and ignoring the loneliness.
Only one bright light appears on Geneva’s horizon, Captain Caleb Phelps. He comes to her rescue when a group of village boys pick on her as she is tying to sell her fruits and vegetables. His kindness touches her and is branded in her memory.
Almost a year later, Captain Phelps returns to Haven’s End to live. He has fled from Boston where his name is running through the gossip mill. Even his father has succumbed to the rumors.
In a rough sort of way, Geneva and Caleb form a friendship. She offers advice and assistance in growing his garden, and he returns her help by loaning his muscles for her heavy work and treating her as an equal.
As you read, Wild Rose, you will be drawn into the story and the characters. You’ll cheer Geneva and Caleb along their journeys to freedom, joy, spiritual enlightenment, and love.
kmparis
After the death of her father, Geneva is left alone to fend for herself. Her mother had passed away years before, and there are no siblings. Geneva lives her life as she sees fit, doing the best she can and ignoring the loneliness.
Only one bright light appears on Geneva’s horizon, Captain Caleb Phelps. He comes to her rescue when a group of village boys pick on her as she is tying to sell her fruits and vegetables. His kindness touches her and is branded in her memory.
Almost a year later, Captain Phelps returns to Haven’s End to live. He has fled from Boston where his name is running through the gossip mill. Even his father has succumbed to the rumors.
In a rough sort of way, Geneva and Caleb form a friendship. She offers advice and assistance in growing his garden, and he returns her help by loaning his muscles for her heavy work and treating her as an equal.
As you read, Wild Rose, you will be drawn into the story and the characters. You’ll cheer Geneva and Caleb along their journeys to freedom, joy, spiritual enlightenment, and love.
kmparis
Friday, July 27, 2007
Bygones - A Book Review
Kim Vogel Sawyer has written another thought-provoking novel, Bygones. Marie Koeppler was shunned by her father when she left the Mennonite order in Sommerfield, Kansas to wed Jep Quinn. Her husband is killed early in their marriage, leaving her with a small child, daughter Beth.
Marie’s father’s heart is so hardened toward his daughter he refuses to even speak of her. As a result, Marie raises her daughter alone, abandoning her Mennonite beliefs. Her aunt, Lisbeth, never forgot her niece. She and Henry Braun, a friend of Marie’s, had prayed through the years for Marie to return to her home and her roots.
Unexpectedly, Henry shows up at the diner where Marie works in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He brings with him the news that Marie’s Aunt Lisbeth has died and left her property, a house and a café, to Marie’s daughter Beth.
The glitch – Beth must reside in Sommerfield for a minimum of three months in order to inherit the property. Marie’s dilemma – Will she allow Beth to go alone, or will she return and suffer through the three months in the midst of people who see her as a traitor to their way of life?
Marie chooses to go with Beth to help guide her and protect her. Marie realizes the time will pass quickly, but it won’t be without turmoil. Her motherly instinct spurs her to accompanying her daughter.
Henry is torn between his love of Marie, which never ended, and his duty to Lisbeth. His friendship with Lisbeth carries its own turmoil. Lisbeth held the belief that one day, with enough prayer and time, Marie would return to her heritage. Henry, knowing Lisbeth as he did, hopes her opinion will be proven true, but he is afraid to let his heart believe.
Can Marie resolve her emotional conflicts, as well as the mystery surrounding her return to Sommerfield? Or will she and Beth leave town once more amidst a cloud of accusation and controversy? Will Henry’s heart be broken once again, or will he find the love he has longed for during the past twenty years?
Kim Vogel Sawyer’s writing style will draw you into the lives of her characters with ease, and you’ll have to let the housework go because you can’t put Bygones down. So pick a time when you can send the kids off to friends’ homes and your husband is on an out-of-town trip, or else call the pizza delivery number and let them all fend for themselves while you lose yourself in Bygones.
kmparis
Marie’s father’s heart is so hardened toward his daughter he refuses to even speak of her. As a result, Marie raises her daughter alone, abandoning her Mennonite beliefs. Her aunt, Lisbeth, never forgot her niece. She and Henry Braun, a friend of Marie’s, had prayed through the years for Marie to return to her home and her roots.
Unexpectedly, Henry shows up at the diner where Marie works in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He brings with him the news that Marie’s Aunt Lisbeth has died and left her property, a house and a café, to Marie’s daughter Beth.
The glitch – Beth must reside in Sommerfield for a minimum of three months in order to inherit the property. Marie’s dilemma – Will she allow Beth to go alone, or will she return and suffer through the three months in the midst of people who see her as a traitor to their way of life?
Marie chooses to go with Beth to help guide her and protect her. Marie realizes the time will pass quickly, but it won’t be without turmoil. Her motherly instinct spurs her to accompanying her daughter.
Henry is torn between his love of Marie, which never ended, and his duty to Lisbeth. His friendship with Lisbeth carries its own turmoil. Lisbeth held the belief that one day, with enough prayer and time, Marie would return to her heritage. Henry, knowing Lisbeth as he did, hopes her opinion will be proven true, but he is afraid to let his heart believe.
Can Marie resolve her emotional conflicts, as well as the mystery surrounding her return to Sommerfield? Or will she and Beth leave town once more amidst a cloud of accusation and controversy? Will Henry’s heart be broken once again, or will he find the love he has longed for during the past twenty years?
Kim Vogel Sawyer’s writing style will draw you into the lives of her characters with ease, and you’ll have to let the housework go because you can’t put Bygones down. So pick a time when you can send the kids off to friends’ homes and your husband is on an out-of-town trip, or else call the pizza delivery number and let them all fend for themselves while you lose yourself in Bygones.
kmparis
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