Joanna Campbell Slan

Step back in time to 1986 when newspapers were still the major source for retail ads. Here you will meet Cragan Collins who has a mountain of debts from her divorce and only wants to support herself and grandmother.

Taking a sales position at The Gazette, Decatur's local newspaper, she is befriended and mentored by reporter Robert Smithson. Cragan spends her days visiting local retailers trying to entice them to advertise, creating ads, and delivering and picking up ad copy. All the while being undermined by her ex-husband badmouthing her and a sales director who keeps reassigning her accounts to his buxom favorite on the staff!

And then Robert is murdered! When his death is dismissed as "gay on gay crime", Cragan turns to her Friday night mystery book club to help her find the truth behind Robert's death ...

An enjoyable mystery with believable though 'different' characters, an easy flow, and a plot that makes for fun a fun story to read.… (altro)

Sorry for being unable to write a review quickly, but at least I am doing it now. Even though I mainly read YA and Fantasy novels, I occasionally read Cozy Mystery books because they are usually lighthearted and quick reads.

For better or worse, Kicked to the Curb is not exactly a quick read. Plot wise I enjoyed the murder mystery with the little twists and turns along with the discovery (which I suspected pretty early on but the destination was fun nonetheless) of who did it and why. I also enjoyed it happening in a sunny beach destination in Florida. The cover is really luring.

Unfortunately, even though I can't be fully critical in the sense I have not read the first book of the series so the cast is unfamiliar, I can for another different reason. If this book has been fully self-published by a new author without a lot of resources, I would have easily given it a solid 3 stars. But I always hold previously trad published bestsellers to a higher standard simply because they both have the network of assistants, editors and a strong following of beta readers and since they achieved bestseller status, they can afford 1000 usd to fully polish the book.

I did spot a typo or two in this book, but my main gripe is that is suffers from too many darlings that were not killed on time. The book wanders around and around and around with ridiculously repetitive sentences about how Cara's new store recycles stuff. The context of the store becomes very apparent quickly within the novel so no need to repeat it 80 times. Many chapters don't advance the plot or character development at all either, most of them centering on Lou, but you will probably cringe after Jack the Chihuahua's potty emergency #50,461 erupts.

Info dumps of the Sun Train system? You got it! Info dumping is a common rookie author mistake, and usually first drafts have em to help guide the author that are usually ripped away with revisions. The concept of the ticket system could have just been explained with context and maybe a glossary added to the end of the book to explain the info dump for any international reader. Again, these sorts of book issues that slow things down should have been nipped by editing.

When does this book take place? In the 1950's?

Strangely enough, Cara owns an Iphone. I guess despite not being super rich or very technology astute she can easily afford a cheap cellphone plan with an older model. The strange thing is that a rough estimate on even the oldest Iphone models means Cara is around 37 years old. I can understand not everyone around my age can set up a fancy website, but the way she speaks makes you think for a huge portion of the novel that Cara is in her mid-50's. For example, she encounters someone who has buck teeth and explains to the cop that this person looks like... a puppet character from a 1950's children's show. Her parents were in their late 50's, so even her parents would have barely been infants when that show finished. Any Xennial would have instantly associated a perky person with buckteeth to the Mad Magazine mascot guy. Proof this book didn't pass through the hands of any beta readers under 45 years old.

Furthermore, the book happens in the last 5 years but everyone acts like a lesbian couple is so edgy and taboo. I can understand the conservative mother of the couple to be a bit close minded and maybe Cara because it looks like she grew up in a conservative rural area, but Lou the cop? A guy who isn't even 30 years old that lives in a semi urban middle class area? Unless the person grew up in a super super super rural area of the Bible Belt, they wouldn't have batted much of an eye.

Is Cara's son entitled? We never meet her 18 year old son who we only know because he is flunking out of his 1st semester of college from too much partying and somehow she wants her very nasty ex to foot the bill. Apparently the book explains he filled a legal contract her grampa has hidden in his messy house where he promised to pay for the kid's college education (may I add the kid grew up in Missouri and is likely paying a bloated out of state tuition in Miami U?). Since I never read book #1, I can't be sure when did the kid move to Miami or the reasoning why he specifically chose that school, but I have a bit of a hard time sympathizing with him for not getting a part time job to pay for the bills. Since these scenes happen in Cara's tormented POV where her doormat behaviors are a result of past trauma, it is hard to know more about the son. Still, I think junior needs to take a sabbatical, get a job, or go to a cheaper school without expecting his dad will pay his way.

Too many employees in the air. Cara doesn't have a stable income but she is paying for 5 people, two of them fresh new staff (very productive staff BTW but she never even hired them, a coworker hired them without asking for her permission). Skylar and the other woman are so faint in personality that I could never tell them apart. The book could have fused them into one person without affecting the plot at all.

If anything, while I liked the cat that join's Cara's flock, the best part of the book is the snarky Honora and her daughter Evelyn. I believe I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if Honora had been the MC. She knows everyone in town, walks the talk, has a good eye for people and is very likeable even in her sometimes forced interactions with her daughter. She deserves her own sleuth series.… (altro)

What could be better than a Cozy Mystery? How about 13 of them. Happy Homicides 2 is a lively, funny, and endearing, just a touch of dark side, set of short stories with a Valentine twist. They will delight the Cozy reader. Many stories offer new episodes for existing series characters and as I don’t have much time to read just for fun, I love these fleeting glimpses into what and who I should make more time to read. This is great window into the various writing styles of the individual authors and none of these short stories and novellas leave the reader wanting as all are filled with diverse and complex characters, intriguing story-lines and the occasional bit of dark humor.

Of particular note is Camille Minichino’s Sodium Arrow, as I don’t think I have ever read a story about a freelance embalmer before. Also of interest in the ‘occupation’ category is Joanna Campell Slan’s, Stupid Cupid. It was pleasure reading about Cara Mia Delgado’s shop and how she finds items to re-purpose. I enjoyed the inclusion of the male authors and sleuths. Too often Cozy is considered the domain of women and a little diversity is a great thing. The anthology includes a bonus story and a free gift of recipes and craft ideas that compliment the stories. It offers something for everyone, romance, murder and mystery. It is a great way to spend a few afternoons.

5 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (altro)