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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Seriously love Jen McKinlay! Every single one of her series are done perfectly. As soon as I finish, I’m downloading the next one. She always makes the mystery engaging and in some ways comical. The love interests/triangles make you cheer for them. This cliff hanger required immediate reading of book 3!
This book has such a fun premise that it should be wonderful. A group of friends share the love of shopping and finding great deals. Added to that, the main character Maggie Gerber is about to fulfill her dream job by opening a second hand clothing shop. Maggie and her friends attend a flea market and are hoping to get their hands on some vintage clothing being sold by the wealthy Vera Madison. Unfortunately, a cat fight between Maggie and her longtime rival Summer Phillips and Vera’s murder change their plans. Obviously, Maggie can’t help a murder, but her childish rivalry with Summer costs her the clothing she wants to buy and is one of the things that spoils the fun in this promising series. Maggie and Summer act like they are still in junior high school, fighting over clothes and boys, and I don't find that amusing.
Unfortunately, Maggie is immature in other areas as well. She lost the love of her life by jumping to conclusions about her boyfriend, Sam, and when faced with him years later, still jumps to conclusions about his feelings and actions. Maggie has been married and widowed, and I would have thought she would have learned something since high school. Maggie is understanding about other character’s flaws, but she always seems to think the worst of Sam. Maggie did this in the first book in the series as well and it’s getting old.
In this sequel, the investigation into Vera’s murder is interesting, but there isn’t enough focus on shopping or on Maggie’s new shop. Instead, Maggie fights with Summer and also Courtney, who befriends Summer and bullies other characters. I would rather see more of Maggie interacting and shopping with her friends and less of her petty arguments with Summer. When the book doesn’t veer to slapstick, there is humor in the book that makes it good for a casual read. Josie Belle is a bestselling author, but some of the writing in this book is not her best. There is one line that stands out to me. Maggie feels bad breaking unpleasant news to another characters and remembers when she learned about her late husband’s death. “Ever since Charlie was killed in the line of duty, Maggie simply hated getting bad news.” Does anyone really enjoy getting bad news? Perhaps the author meant “unexpected news”, but this sounds silly.
I haven’t given up on the series yet, because I think Maggie’s new shop will provide an interesting setting. It seems Maggie is trying to get her love life on track, and I hope future installments show some growth and depth to the characters. If Summer is going to remain in the series as a rival to Maggie, I hope they at least have adult arguments and quit resorting to childish name-calling and fighting. “A Deal to Die For” ends with some resale hints and a preview of the next book in the series.
This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, Maggie is immature in other areas as well. She lost the love of her life by jumping to conclusions about her boyfriend, Sam, and when faced with him years later, still jumps to conclusions about his feelings and actions. Maggie has been married and widowed, and I would have thought she would have learned something since high school. Maggie is understanding about other character’s flaws, but she always seems to think the worst of Sam. Maggie did this in the first book in the series as well and it’s getting old.
In this sequel, the investigation into Vera’s murder is interesting, but there isn’t enough focus on shopping or on Maggie’s new shop. Instead, Maggie fights with Summer and also Courtney, who befriends Summer and bullies other characters. I would rather see more of Maggie interacting and shopping with her friends and less of her petty arguments with Summer. When the book doesn’t veer to slapstick, there is humor in the book that makes it good for a casual read. Josie Belle is a bestselling author, but some of the writing in this book is not her best. There is one line that stands out to me. Maggie feels bad breaking unpleasant news to another characters and remembers when she learned about her late husband’s death. “Ever since Charlie was killed in the line of duty, Maggie simply hated getting bad news.” Does anyone really enjoy getting bad news? Perhaps the author meant “unexpected news”, but this sounds silly.
I haven’t given up on the series yet, because I think Maggie’s new shop will provide an interesting setting. It seems Maggie is trying to get her love life on track, and I hope future installments show some growth and depth to the characters. If Summer is going to remain in the series as a rival to Maggie, I hope they at least have adult arguments and quit resorting to childish name-calling and fighting. “A Deal to Die For” ends with some resale hints and a preview of the next book in the series.
This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Enjoyed it. Wish Maggie and Summer weren't so childish. And I wish Mggie didnt control her temper so much and just beat up Summer already!
These books don't feel like Jenn McKinlay books to me. They're fine, but I don't love them. I have the 3rd, so obviously I'll read it, but I doubt I'll go out of my way to find more in the series. The MC is incredibly immature. I've read books with an awful nemesis like summer, but the MC didn't resort to stooping to their level, so it wasn't quite as annoying as it is here.
Vera Madison is dead, and she died on the floor of a doctor’s office in the small town of St. Stanley. Dying in a doctor’s office perhaps isn’t common, but it’s not like Vera has the market cornered on how to do it. She was on the brink of promising her vintage clothing collection to Maggie Garber, a local bookkeeper and newly minted proprietor of a secondhand clothing shop. The two would have inked the deal at a flea market in town, but someone chose that day to off Vera in the afore-mentioned physician’s office. Vera’s daughter, Bianca, is a timid thing who doesn’t take the loss of her mother well. When a mysterious half-sister shows up to claim the old mansion as her inheritance, Bianca is no match for the brash alleged heiress. Meanwhile, the guy whom the cops suspect killed Vera Madison is none other than the doctor who owned the office in which someone murdered Vera—for murder it was.
It’s up to Maggie and her coupon-clipping good buy girls to help the doctor out of a bad jam and figure out who really killed Vera.
The solution surprised me, and the love triangle that includes Maggie is intriguing by every measure. The book ends on a perfect cliffhanger that guarantees even the casual visitor to the series will be back.
It’s up to Maggie and her coupon-clipping good buy girls to help the doctor out of a bad jam and figure out who really killed Vera.
The solution surprised me, and the love triangle that includes Maggie is intriguing by every measure. The book ends on a perfect cliffhanger that guarantees even the casual visitor to the series will be back.
This book reads like a rough draft. The characters aren't well developed and a lot of the plot is just thrown together.
Maggie Gerber needs just the right merchandise to give her secondhand shop, My Sister’s Closet, the edge over her vindictive rival Summer Phillips’ new store that has opened right across the street. The Good Buy Girls have heard that Vera Madison will be selling off her vintage clothing at the St. Stanley flea market and they plan to be first in line.
And that’s right where there are when all hell breaks loose. Vera has left her daughter in charge of her booth while she runs a quick errand. But Vera will not be returning. She was just found dead and it has been ruled a murder. The Good Buy Girls learn Vera had more than a few skeletons in her closet and more enemies than shoes. If Maggie wants to get her store open they are going to have to bag a killer before they bag any bargains.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I am loving these Good Buy Girls and the Good Guys are not bad either. Summer Phillips is just plain mean and joined with the evil Courtney sets the reader up for a very entertaining ride.
The mystery was complex and the secrets are revealed in such a way that keeps the reader guessing right up to the very special moment where everything falls into place.
I like the romantic tension/triangle very much. Do you go back to the heartthrob of your youth or try something mature and new? Maggie is cautious and unsure and I hope the author takes her time experimenting with the couples a bit before Maggie falls hard for one or the other. We are left guessing at the end and I refused to read ahead in the teaser chapter for Buried In Bargain because I just don’t want to know yet. Plus you know how these stories work, there has to be twists and turns, so I will not so patiently wait to read the entire thing when book #3 is released.
A Deal to Die For should be at the top of your shopping list!
And that’s right where there are when all hell breaks loose. Vera has left her daughter in charge of her booth while she runs a quick errand. But Vera will not be returning. She was just found dead and it has been ruled a murder. The Good Buy Girls learn Vera had more than a few skeletons in her closet and more enemies than shoes. If Maggie wants to get her store open they are going to have to bag a killer before they bag any bargains.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I am loving these Good Buy Girls and the Good Guys are not bad either. Summer Phillips is just plain mean and joined with the evil Courtney sets the reader up for a very entertaining ride.
The mystery was complex and the secrets are revealed in such a way that keeps the reader guessing right up to the very special moment where everything falls into place.
I like the romantic tension/triangle very much. Do you go back to the heartthrob of your youth or try something mature and new? Maggie is cautious and unsure and I hope the author takes her time experimenting with the couples a bit before Maggie falls hard for one or the other. We are left guessing at the end and I refused to read ahead in the teaser chapter for Buried In Bargain because I just don’t want to know yet. Plus you know how these stories work, there has to be twists and turns, so I will not so patiently wait to read the entire thing when book #3 is released.
A Deal to Die For should be at the top of your shopping list!
Josie Bell is a pseudonym for Jenn McKinley, currently one of the best cozy mystery writers out there. I love her two other series and it really bothers me that I can't love this one as well.
What I absolutely can't stand about this book (and series):
What kept me reading this book in spite of the above:
What I absolutely can't stand about this book (and series):
Maggie acts about as immature as is possible around Sam her high school sweetheart. It's screamingly obvious that he's crazy about her and she insists on acting like a stupid shrew during just about every encounter with him. It's annoying, not entertaining or endearing.
Summer - This character is just too stupid, too over the top, and too outrageous to be believable or entertaining. She's ridiculous and nobody actually acts like this over the age of 6. Why writers suddenly feel it's necessary to work a nemesis into every story/series is a mystery in and of itself, but if they have to do it, they could do it in a realistically humorous fashion, not in such an overblown characiture-ish fashion.
What kept me reading this book in spite of the above:
I genuinely like most of the characters: Sam, Ginger, Max, even Maggie when she's not acting like a stupid shrew. I like the premise of the story and I like reading about Maggie getting her business up and running.
The mystery was a good one - I am pretty good at guessing the murderer most of the time, but this plot had a good number of suspects, red herrings, clues-that-weren't and distractions aplenty. I still guessed a few things, but not at all with any certainty, I was totally prepared to be wrong.
And last, but not least, I kept reading because I know this author is capable of writing absolutely excellent mysteries and I know it's in there somewhere. This book, like her first in this series [b:50% Off Murder|11511533|50% Off Murder|Josie Belle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1325915223s/11511533.jpg|16447607], started off weak but got better as the story went along - Maggie calmed down and acted like a mature adult, her interactions with Sam took on a maturity and allowed a spark or sexual tension to show through - which really, it's what we're all looking for yes? - and become an enjoyable, engrossing read.
So, would I recommend this book? Meh. Maybe. With caveats. It does get much better as it goes. But I want her next book to be excellent from the start, like the other books this author writes. I'll be looking for it when it's published, with fingers crossed.