The Game is Afoot
by Elise Bryant
September was a great
month for reading mysteries, I’m amazed at how much reading I did. I picked up
the first cozy mystery on a whim, mostly based on the cover art. I am pleased
to say that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.
It is a cozy mystery, but
there is real depth and layers here. I loved the main character’s humorous way
of looking at things and the mom perspective was very relatable for me.
Mavis is divorced but
working hard to co-parent their daughter, Pearl, with her ex, Corey. Corey, has
been a bit of an absentee dad but he has made big changes in his life, like
working hard on his own mental health. It’s a very affirming depiction of a
divorced dad and a welcome change from the deadbeat dad image that is so common.
Mavis has some work to do
on her own mental health and well-being. Her job has been taking advantage of
her for about eight years now and when she gets totally fed up, she quits in
the middle of a meeting. She knows that’s not the best way to go about changing
jobs, but when she crunches the numbers, she finds it will be okay untilshe
finds a new position.
The voices are each
individually distinctive and very believable.
The conflicts were many
and varied. Sometimes a little over the top, but still believable. As with her
boss, who passes her over for promotion and keeps explaining how she’d “love to
pay you a million dollars but….” As if any kind of raise is tantamount to a
million dollars. (Grrr.)
There was conflict with
other mothers, including the one trying to sign her up for a pyramid scheme and
the ones who didn’t appreciate her catching one of them in an illegal situation
in the last book.
She has conflict with the
ex because she doesn’t want him butting in to her life or taking off again,
which she suspects might happen.
She’s even in conflict
with her dad over his planned podcast.
Each conflict is
appropriately resolved at the end of the story, but not necessarily in the way
you might expect. I especially loved the new understandings she comes to with
her father and her ex-husband.
The writing style is humorous,
breezy, and the pacing is brisk. The overall impact is an entertaining and
fast-paced read with an interesting mystery. I would highly recommend this book
and definitely will read more from this author.
Others I’ve read recently—
The Ex-girlfriend Murder
Club
by Gloria Chao
Our book club picked the
theme “spicy” for September, and this book has spice in spades. Kathryn Hu thinks
she has the perfect boyfriend. For example, he shows up with donuts for the
entire lab to make up for it to help her smooth things over one day. Then one
day she thinks she hears him practicing proposing to her. She bursts out of the
bathroom, only to find he is proposing to a different woman. Yikes!
Kathryn
and Olivia bond then find there’s a third woman! The three of them
decide
to trash his apartment – bringing frogs, because he’s deathly afraid of them,
and smearing poop everywhere. They do this, but then they find Tucker’s dead
body in a closet. Yikes again!
The three take off, but Kathryn
goes back to clean it all up, to keep them from being connected to the murder.
Enter the hunky cop.
There are SO many great
twists and plot points in this book, it’s a perfect funny murder mystery.
There’s maybe even a little too much going on.
But the biggest problem I
had with this was the repetitive and obnoxious interludes of the podcast “A
Dish Best Served Hot.” To be fair, I don’t know if it would have hit me the
same way if I’d been reading it instead of listening to it. Plus, the character
is supposed to be obnoxious, I believe. If I’d been reading it in hard copy, I
probably would have started skimming those parts.
I’ve also read some other
great books this month.
Vera Wong’s Guide to
Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto – fantastic! I
adore the main character and the way she has of bringing people together. Even
better than the first book in the series.
The Golden Spoon
by Jessa Maxwell – a mystery set in an American version of The Great British
Bake-off. The characterizations were fantastic, and the plotting was tight. I
couldn’t put it down.
Then I picked up Mother
Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon which has been riveting, and I LOVED
listening to it in the car. Couldn’t wait to get back to it every day.
Honestly, I’m amazed I
read so much in the past month. It’s mostly down to the books being riveting. I
hope you give one a try.
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