Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

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The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...
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Book Review: A Catered Wedding (A Mystery with Recipes, #2) by Isis Crawford

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book review a catered wedding isis crawford

A Catered Wedding (A Mystery with Recipes, #2) by Isis Crawford is a cozy mystery that takes place in New York. When Leeza Sharp is found murdered on the morning of her dream wedding, caterers Libby and Bernie Simmons take it upon themselves to figure out who murdered Leeza and why.

This installment in the A Mystery with Recipes series, A Catered Wedding, was definitely written better than its predecessor A Catered Murder for the simple reason that the author refrained from using as many unnecessary synonyms for words that didn't need a fancier meaning. Don't get me wrong; she still did this, but just not as often. A prime example is she used the word lummox when clumsy or klutzy would have worked just as well. Another illustration of this is that when a character was eating a cookie, and instead of just saying he put it in his mouth or ate it, Isis Crawford wrote that he "conveyed it to his mouth". 

At one point in the story, one of the supporting characters talks about how his father runs ten miles a week and insinuates that it is a lot of miles being logged. For people who don't run, I guess that seems like a lot, but it really isn't unless he does it in a day or two as his long run.

Although this was a cozy mystery, I didn't correctly guess who the murderer was much to my dismay. Don't worry. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it. I gave A Catered Wedding (A Mystery with Recipes, #2) by Isis Crawford three out of five stars. I will likely read more of the series as the books are a quick read and hold my attention.  If you enjoyed this book, I recommend Killer Cupcakes (Lexy Baker, #1) by Leighann Dobbs.

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