Sesso: female
Luogo di residenza: Texas, USA
Oakland, California, USA
Breve biografia: [from author's website]
Marla Cooper was astonished when, at the age of 18, she realized people could actually get paid to write things. So she switched her major from business to advertising—much to the relief of her accounting professor—and began her career as an advertising copywriter. She later became a freelancer so she could take advantage of perks like working in her pajamas, and now she writes a little bit of everything. It was while she was ghostwriting a book on destination weddings that she found inspiration for her first novel, Terror in Taffeta. Originally hailing from Texas, Marla lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and her polydactyl tuxedo cat.

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Recensioni

Dying on the Vine: A Mystery (Kelsey McKenna… di Marla Cooper

4 out of 5 stars.

Dying on the Vine is the second installment in the Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding mystery series by Marla Cooper. It was very well-written, but not quite my cup of tea.

I had a hard time deciding how to score this book. I ended up giving it 4 out of 5 stars because while I had some personal issues with it, it is still a very well-written book and other people may very well enjoy it. I, unfortunately, didn't really enjoy it, which I was disappointed with. I wanted to like it. I had enjoyed the first in the series, Terror in Taffeta, a month or so ago.

There were two things about this book that I just really didn't like:

The first reason is that while I like Kelsey's character as a person, she takes WAY too many chances with dangerous situations. Heroines like this are ones that I tend to call "too stupid to live". Most cozy mystery heroines take some chances here or there, but Kelsey just doesn't seem to stop and think about the danger. Even when the danger is pointed out to her, she ignores the warning and goes and does whatever she was thinking of anyway. Not a good way to operate unless you want to end up dead too early in life.

The second reason is that I just found the plot line to be moving along too slowly. I thought the first book also moved along slowly. I was hoping that would change with this second book, but it didn't. The plot line was interesting, it just moved along too slowly for my taste.

One thing that was an improvement over the first book was that the setting descriptions were better in this book. I was much more able to envision the settings than I was in the first book. That was a wonderful improvement.

It's a well-written book and if you don't mind heroines who are always running off into danger with no thoughts of self-preservation, then you might very well enjoy it!

** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions expressed are my own. **… (altro)

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Valerie.Michigan | 5 altre recensioni | May 1, 2024 |

Terror in Taffeta: A Mystery (Kelsey McKenna… di Marla Cooper

Fun mystery with a destination wedding I Mexico and one of the bridesmaids turns up dead. And the wedding planner is put in charge of finding the killer.

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ChrisWeir | 2 altre recensioni | Jul 2, 2023 |

Terror in Taffeta: A Mystery di Marla Cooper

This book was laugh-out-loud funny, without resorting to wacky hi-jinks. I hope Ms Cooper writes many books in this series!

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Beth3511 | 2 altre recensioni | Jun 5, 2017 |

Dying on the Vine: A Mystery (Kelsey McKenna… di Marla Cooper

In Dying on the Vine, the second book in the Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding Mystery series, author Marla Cooper weaves an intriguing cozy mystery tale that follows the amateur sleuth adventures of wedding planner Kelsey McKenna when she finds rival wedding planner, Babs Norton, the self-proclaimed Queen of Wine Country Weddings, dead on her office floor. Kelsey is determined to find the killer before another wedding planner is next, herself included!

Dying on the Vine is a captivating and fast-paced whodunit tale set in the scenic wine country of California, that has enough quirky characters, witty banter and humor, drama, intriguing twists and turns, and conspiracy theories that will keep you guessing the identity of the murderer. You can't help but get caught up in the drama and calamity that ensues as Kelsey tries to solve the murder case of a rival wedding planner before another wedding planner is killed! Kelsey's amateur investigative adventure unfolds with a wonderful balance of comedy, drama, and suspense that easily kept me guessing, and left me wanting more. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I enjoyed the rich description of the wedding destination setting of the California wine country, it sounds like it is a wonderful place to have a wedding!

Dying on the Vine is an entertaining cozy murder mystery that will easily engage you to join Kelsey in her latest wedding destination adventures!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2017/04/dying-on-vine-by-marla-cooper-...… (altro)

Segnalato

JerseyGirlBookReview | 5 altre recensioni | Apr 10, 2017 |

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