Finding a book for this month’s challenge for the Chick Lit Challenge was difficult.
I am a mystery fan as well as a chick lit fan. I became an adult during the Nora Ephron era of great romantic comedy films.
That means I expect a lot from my books and movies. I want crisp dialogue, commentary on pop culture, and sincerity from the main characters.
After a recent visit to my mother’s house, I came back with a pile of books. She belongs to a mystery book club and gets three new mysteries every month. These mysteries tend to have women as the lead characters. I thought for sure I would find something in the pile. There was a book about a woman finding her husband who disappeared and a grad student who solved mysteries in between classes. And yet none of them made me excited.
Image from Harlequin.com
Then I get to the latest Biscuit McKee mystery, Indigo As An Iris by Fran Stewart.
What I like about this series is that it feels like a small town in the way people interact with each other. I would say this town has a population of about 2,000 – 3,000 people judging by the variety of businesses it can support. Biscuit is the librarian who came to the town a few years back and married the police chief. I am not sure if she solves the mysteries as much as she is our eyes and ears, our entry into the small town in Georgia.
In this book, we learn that some one has been kidnapped. It is a woman with beautiful hair and the possible candidates start piling up – figuratively not literally. But it takes a while to reveal the motive and the acts of bravery amidst real life happenings of dying spouses and sibling arguments. And then there is the cat who manages to tie everything and everyone together. You cannot help but begin to love Marmalade who seems to know when things are happening very far away.
That is what I love about this series.
What I do not love are some of the stupid comments made by Marmy to appear as if she is always involved or how much others comment on how it appears the cat is replying to or asking various questions. Sometimes the action is slow in a bad way of slow. The topper is Biscuit’s husband Bob always saying “woman” when he talks to her. I hate it and it sounds derogatory although it is meant differently. We are told to make allowances for Bob because he is a Vietnam vet who still gets nightmares. I try but that “woman” thing gets on my nerves.
For those looking for a book set in a small town, for those who do not mind a slow pace meant to mimic a small southern town, for those who can handle the slow burn this is the book you have been looking for.
Right about now I am looking for a quickly paced action-adventure story.
What are you reading this month?
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 
I am exploring two books right now .. Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney and Dog on It by Spencer Quinn. I say exploring, because I’ve read the samples, and I am deciding whether or not I want to read the books in full. Samples are a great option…. or not.
How do you get samples?
Barnes and Noble offers samples through their ebooks. It’s the first chapter or so. I read both samples, and I’m not sure I’m interested in the book to read further. The book has to grab me from the get go to keep my interest. I maaaay go back to Murder on the Rocks, for whatever reason, I keep thinking about it. Perhaps it did grab me afterall.
Thanks for the review – think I’ll skip this title: not a fan of slow moving plots. But the idea of the cat as a wandering component sounds like an interesting technique.
Heading to library to see what’s on their “just arrived” shelf – that’s how I’m picking the next one to read this week!
We do not have a library in our town and a card at the big town library is $150 a year. That is why I end up at the paperback store.
I am into Nancy Thayer and Claire Cook right now – great Summer reads:)
I have to check out those authors.
I’m reading “This is Getting Old” written by a 60ish Buddhist woman about making friends with her aging body. I’m not sure if it’s funny for depressing. I’m also going to be reading the draft of my memoir. I hope I don’t feel the same way about that 307 page creation!
The Biscuit McKee stories are more about the characters, mystery is secondary. For action, try Vince Flynn. David Baldacci. Brad Thor and Nelson De Mille.