Tag: Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death with a Dark Red Rose by Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death with a Dark Red Rose by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Lena and her friends are settling into a quieter pace of life after their recent adventures. Fall has arrived, and everyone is enjoying the colors of the season. Camilla and Adam have a getaway planned. Lena and Sam are making wedding plans. And Doug and Belinda are also going on a trip. But when Doug goes to pick her up, he finds her gone. Her car, purse, phone and keys are still at the house. Doug, Sam and Lena start looking for her.

Belinda’s parents inform them that Belinda’s brother, Carl, is living nearby. Belinda adores her brother and might have met up with him. And if Carl hasn’t been taking his medication, he might have met up with Belinda unexpectedly.

While Belinda is found safe, Carl reached out to her because he thinks someone else isn’t. Carl’s friend, Luis, has been missing for 5 days. Luis’ wife seems unconcerned, and the management at work is dismissive. But Carl is certain something is wrong. And because Luis and Carl work for the mysterious Plasti-Source, the disappearance will give the police an inroad into the company so they can check it out.

Review

This was fantastic! I’ve been a fan of the Writer’s Apprentice Mystery series since book 1, A Dark and Stormy Murder. I’m two books behind, but I was able to drop into this one because I understood the primary characters, and the story didn’t require me to know all of the back story. (The larger over-arching mystery from the start of the series was wrapped up in the books I haven’t gotten to yet.)

I always feel like I get my money’s worth (so to speak) from this series because the books are dense with material. Yet none of it feels like fluff or filler. I love the ensemble and the ways they work together on the mysteries. The addition of Belinda’s brother Carl was great. What an endearing character! There are tidbits of character and relationship development here and there, but they are always well-balanced with the meaty mystery central to the book.

The mystery here was top notch as usual. Lots of twists that kept me guessing to the end. I also enjoy the writing pieces in the series with Camilla and Lena. Each chapter starts with either writing notes from Camilla or lines from the fictional story they are working on in the book. I appreciated the fact that they often throw out several ways for the fictional story to go, acknowledging that the details get sorted out in the writing process. Terrific!

I loved this book, and I highly recommend the whole series to mystery and cozy fans!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena London may have proven her boyfriend, Sam West, innocent of murder. But his estranged wife, Victoria, is still missing. And plenty of people who were “certain” Sam was guilty – and treated him accordingly – need to eat crow.

That includes Victoria’s best friend, Taylor, a popular blogger who bashed Sam when he was being investigated. She promises to come to Blue Lake to apologize in person. But someone kills her before she can get to Sam.

It looks like Sam is in trouble again when Lena finds Taylor’s body on his property. The press have descended on Blue Lake like vultures. Lena is determined to clear Sam’s name and get back to some sort of peaceful existence and maybe pick up their budding romance. But even if she can find Taylor’s killer, they still have the mystery of Victoria hanging over their heads.

Review

This was excellent! And I am so pleased. I loved book one in the Writer’s Apprentice series, A Dark and Stormy Murder. I hoped Death in Dark Blue would be just as good and I was not disappointed.

The characters are great. I love Lena’s relationship with her boss/mentor, Camilla. We didn’t get to enjoy a lot of their writing work in this book, but it is still a fun thread. The core group working on the mystery is terrific. I loved the addition of the research librarian, Belinda. She totally earned an ARC of Lena and Camilla’s first book!

The mystery was good – solid suspects and great action. I could not puzzle out the solution until the end. What I love most about this series, though, is that unmasking Taylor’s killer isn’t the end of the story. The ongoing Victoria situation is still playing out as the story goes on, and it’s just as fun to watch that as it is the original mystery. Ms. Buckley does a great job of setting up this overarching plot between books – and may even have set up something else for future books down the line. It’s brilliant plotting and I love it. I highly recommend this series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena became a writer because she has loved the books by Camilla Graham her whole life. So when she has a chance to work for her writing idol, Lena jumps at the chance. But her dream job in Indiana unfortunately comes with a dead body. And some suspicious characters around town. Pretty soon, Lena is writing, defending a new friend from the local gossip, and dodging assailants!

cozy mystery about authors

Review

Wow! This was an excellent mystery! The author does a great job introducing her characters so you know who is who without difficulty. I felt like I had read other things with Lena and Camilla because I was so comfortable with them immediately. The mystery for this book was great – I kept getting surprised by what happened. All my theories were wrong. I loved getting to be surprised by a well-plotted mystery!

I felt like I got a bonus with this book because there’s an over-arching mystery that comes up early in the book, carries throughout, and is the primary focus of the last chapter after the main mystery for this book was done. And the over-arching mystery will carry readers right into book 2. Death in Dark Blue  is currently scheduled to release on May 2, 2017 (release dates subject to change).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥