Posts

Showing posts from December, 2016

Book Review: Murder at the PTA (Maya and Sandra Mystery, #1) by Lee Hollis

Image
Murder at the PTA (Maya and Sandra Mystery, #1) by Lee Hollis is the first installment in the Maya and Sandra Mystery series, a cozy mystery series centered on private investigators. The story follows Sandra Wallage , the wife of a U.S. senator and the newly elected president of Portland High School’s PTA, who becomes the latest target of a vicious gossip website called Dirty Laundry . After a heated PTA meeting, Sandra crosses paths with Maya Kendrick , a private investigator who has uncovered the identity of the person behind the gossip site. When the two women attempt to confront the culprit, they instead discover a dead body. Was it really a suicide, or did someone have a motive for murder? I’m a longtime fan of books by Lee Hollis , which is actually the pen name for sibling writing duo Rick Copp and Holly Simason . They’ve written several cozy mystery series, and what I appreciate most about their books is that they aren’t overly kitschy, unlike some other cozy mysteries I’ve ...

Book Review: Desperation by Stephen King

Image
Have you ever found a book so depressing that it took you over four years to read?  Desperation by Stephen King was that book for me. Don't get me wrong . . . it was very well written but depressing beyond on belief, so I kept putting it aside to read other novels.  At one point, I was making so much progress that I really wanted to finish it despite it being so depressing, so I kept pushing through. Then, the nightmares began . . . every night for a week. I guess having multiple nightmares attests to how well written it is. As a side note, I've been a huge fan of horror movies since elementary school. Poltergeist , Halloween , and Nightmare on Elm Street were popular choices for me, and not one time did I ever have a nightmare.  I'm not sure I can say there any redeeming qualities about the plot . . . a few lessons learned and a semi happy ending, but that's about it. King wrote a sequel, The Regulators , under his pen name Richard Bachman, but if it is as...