Hijack in Abstract is an outstanding addition to the Cherry Tucker Mystery series. {To read my Five-Kitty reviews of Book 1, Portrait of a Dead Guy, click here, and of Book 2, Still Life in Brunswick Stew, click here.} Author Larissa Reinhart's third book in the series is the best yet, and highly recommended. Where else can one read about Dixie Cakes, goat breeding, mysterious chauffeurs, Visa cards and "pervert art" in the same book?


Here are just some of the many reasons that I recommend Hijack in Abstract and the Cherry Tucker Mysteries.

Hijack in Abstract has a great opening paragraph:

There are many places you don't want to be at zero dark thirty, but I've got a personal top three. One is the ER. Second is a police station. The third is your ex-boyfriend's bedroom.

Where is she? Based on Cherry's previous history, she could be in any of these four (she has two ex-boyfriends) places. Read the book, to find out.


As promised in my Brunswick Stew review, here are more examples (with evidence, in quotes from Hijack in Abstract) of why I like Cherry and enjoy the Cherry Tucker Mysteries so much.

Cherry's sleuthing skills —

...I can gain information as good as any cop just through my local gossip network. I call myself inquisitive and creative. He calls me nosy and harebrained.

Her loyalty and commitment to her friends —

"I can't turn my back on a friend."
"I know that all too well," said Luke. "I think the exact words were, 'I'd break the law to help a friend.'"

We'd been friends since kindergarten after I slugged Brandy Cosgrove who had stolen her Beanie Babies dolphin. I'd received my first suspension and a friend for life.

Her sense of humor —

"Miss Cherry Tucker, hello," said the new voice. "I have found you."
Considering the voice was somewhere in metro-Atlanta and I was sitting in my truck in mid-west Georgia, I didn't follow. "Were we playing hide and seek?"

The heavy wooden door swung open, I stepped aside and stifled a maniacal giggle. "Gold paneling with brass trim. This is a first for me."

Her fashion sense (mentioned in a previous review also) —

I had my own line of Cherry Tucker clothing, mostly pieces from Walmart retrofitted with bling, dye, and a pair of scissors.

Her honesty about her own faults —

"Wow. I'm kind of speechless. Which, if you knew me, you would find remarkable."

Sometimes I forget to tell myself to stop yammering.

I really needed to see if there was surgery for removing stupid from my DNA.

"My pride will be my undoing?" I hedged. "On the contrary, I think it's more an issue with being stubborn. Or my mouth. I've got a lot of flaws to choose from."

The way Cherry describes colors so artistically, using names of artists' pigments —

brown ochre curls [hair]
transparent oxide-red lake [hair highlights]
every shade of pink from ruby lake to vermilion extra [someone blushing]
Venetian red [fingernails]
Gray and perylene black [camo tank top]
king's blue deep or blue light. Maybe phthalo blue... [eye color]
dioxazine mauve glow [of twilight]
Payne's gray [eye color]

Her loyalty to flag and country (her tact, not so much) —

"I can't read your stupid file. It's in cryptic."
"Cyrillic," shouted Max. "You are the stupid."
"Forgive me for not knowing your foreign language, foreigner," I yelled. "I'm American and you're in America."

I think that any fan of cozy mysteries will enjoy Hijack in Abstract by Larissa Reinhart, especially a fan who likes a heroine who is a little bit (a lot?) sassy and spunky. For mystery fans new to cozies, this is a great series to begin with. Hijack in Abstract has earned Five out of Five Kitties!


Originally published at JaneReads

( )

Hijack in Abstract is an outstanding addition to the Cherry Tucker Mystery series. Author Larissa Reinhart's third book in the series is the best yet, and highly recommended. Where else can one read about Dixie Cakes, goat breeding, mysterious chauffeurs, Visa cards and "pervert art" in the same book?

Here are just some of the many reasons that I recommend Hijack in Abstract and the Cherry Tucker Mysteries.

• Hijack in Abstract has a great opening paragraph:
There are many places you don't want to be at zero dark thirty, but I've got a personal top three. One is the ER. Second is a police station. The third is your ex-boyfriend's bedroom.
Where is she? Based on Cherry's previous history, she could be in any of these four (she has two ex-boyfriends) places. Read the book, to find out.

• Examples (with evidence, in quotes from Hijack in Abstract) of why I like Cherry and enjoy the Cherry Tucker Mysteries so much.

◦ Cherry's sleuthing skills —
...I can gain information as good as any cop just through my local gossip network. I call myself inquisitive and creative. He calls me nosy and harebrained.

◦ Cherry's loyalty and commitment to her friends —
"I can't turn my back on a friend."
"I know that all too well," said Luke. "I think the exact words were, 'I'd break the law to help a friend.' "

We'd been friends since kindergarten after I slugged Brandy Cosgrove who had stolen her Beanie Babies dolphin. I'd received my first suspension and a friend for life.

◦ Cherry's sense of humor —
"Miss Cherry Tucker, hello," said the new voice. "I have found you."
Considering the voice was somewhere in metro-Atlanta and I was sitting in my truck in mid-west Georgia, I didn't follow. "Were we playing hide and seek?"

The heavy wooden door swung open, I stepped aside and stifled a maniacal giggle. "Gold paneling with brass trim. This is a first for me."

◦ Cherry's fashion sense (mentioned in a previous review also) —
I had my own line of Cherry Tucker clothing, mostly pieces from Walmart retrofitted with bling, dye, and a pair of scissors.

◦ Cherry's honesty about her own faults —
"Wow. I'm kind of speechless. Which, if you knew me, you would find remarkable."

Sometimes I forget to tell myself to stop yammering.

I really needed to see if there was surgery for removing stupid from my DNA.

"My pride will be my undoing?" I hedged. "On the contrary, I think it's more an issue with being stubborn. Or my mouth. I've got a lot of flaws to choose from."

◦ The way Cherry describes colors so artistically, using names of artists' pigments —
brown ochre curls [hair]
transparent oxide-red lake [hair highlights]
every shade of pink from ruby lake to vermilion extra [someone blushing]
Venetian red [fingernails]
Gray and perylene black [camo tank top]
king's blue deep or blue light. Maybe phthalo blue... [eye color]
dioxazine mauve glow [of twilight]
Payne's gray [eye color]

◦ Cherry's loyalty to flag and country (her tact, not so much) —
"I can't read your stupid file. It's in cryptic."
"Cyrillic," shouted Max. "You are the stupid."
"Forgive me for not knowing your foreign language, foreigner," I yelled. "I'm American and you're in America."

I think that any fan of cozy mysteries will enjoy Hijack in Abstract by Larissa Reinhart, especially a fan who likes a heroine who is a little bit (a lot?) sassy and spunky. For mystery fans new to cozies, this is a great series to begin with. Hijack in Abstract has earned Five out of Five Kitties!

Originally published on my blog at http://janereads2.blogspot.com/2014/05/hijack-in-abstract-by-larissa-reinhart_28... ( )

Hijack In Abstract is the third book in the entertaining Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. Written in the first person narrative, the reader is transported back to Halo, Georgia, for the latest investigative adventure of struggling artist Cherry Tucker.

Cherry Tucker sure has a knack for getting into trouble, and in this latest installment of her quirky adventures, Cherry gets a call to help the Sheriff's Office sketch a composite of the suspect in a hijacking that occurred in town, and ends up uncovering secrets that gets herself involved in the middle of the hijacking and a related murder case. Cherry also finds herself in trouble again with old nemesis Shawna Branson, who once again tries to sabotage Cherry's reputation. And if that isn't enough, Cherry's love life is a mess when she is caught up in an ongoing love triangle with her ex-boyfriend Sheriff's Deputy Luke Harper and her ex-husband Todd!

This was such a fun whodunit to read, it had a great mixture of mystery, romance and humor. I easily found myself entertained by Cherry's craziness and her madcap investigative adventures. From Cherry's dysfunctional family, to her ongoing romantic issues, to her amateur sleuthing skills, this sassy southern lady's antics kept me entertained and laughing as I followed her quest to solve the latest murder case.

With a zany cast of characters (many who return from Portrait of a Dead Guy and Still Life In Brunswick Stew) who keep the reader in stitches with their witty dialogue and hilarious interactions; a storyline filled with enough drama, suspense and twist and turns that keeps the reader guessing; and a richly detailed setting that transports the reader to a quirky Southern small town for some down home sweet tea and local southern delicacies; Hijack In Abstract is an entertaining cozy mystery interwoven with Southern charm and humor that leaves you wanting to go on more crazy adventures with sassy Cherry Tucker!

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 Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/hijack-in-abstract-by-larissa-... ( )

STARS

I have now read and enjoyed all three books in the Cherry Tucker Mystery series. In Hijack in Abstract Cherry gets a call in the middle of the night to draw a picture of a murder from a witness. Cherry likes the witness and does a good job.

Cherry Tucker Mystery series is more like a soap opera. You keep hoping things will work out for her. She gets into the biggest messes. She has someone trying to ruin her artist reputation in Shawna Luke's cousin. The ending of the books make you want to read the next to see what happens next.

Hijack in Abstract takes place not to long after Still Life in Brunswick Stew. These books can stand alone but are better I believe if you read them in order for all the relationships information. Each story has a lot of the same characters and some new ones too.

Cherry is a portrait artist in a small town. She has a brother Cody and sister Casey. Cherry is very nosy. She has got involved in solving some crimes much to her Uncle the Sheriff and her ex-boyfriend Luke. Cherry lives in a two bedroom house that she also uses for painting her portraits. Right now her house is getting crowded. With ex-husband Todd, Cody and Casey.

Cherry wants to help people, she wants to find out who is responsible for the Hijacking of the trucks and other information to help a family. Luke takes her to a bar as his cover. Luke broke up with her when he caught her ex Todd Naked as she was painting him.

You don't want to put the book down when your finished. I want to read another Cherry Tucker and see what happens next in life. So if you liked the first two books you will want to read Hijack in Abstract. This is full of drama, mystery, action, humor and interesting characters make for a good story that I enjoyed

The setting is a small town not too far from Atlanta. A lot of the story happens in two different bars.
We get to know a little bit more of the mysterious Max. A Russian who ran some gambling out of his big country estate. He actually likes Cherry's art and has bought some. Cherry and Max have a interesting relationship. She has tried to get him in trouble with the gambling schemes in the first two books. I admit that I do like him too.

I was given this ebook to read and asked in return to give honest review of it by NetGalley and Henery Press.
publication: November 5th 2013 by Henery Press 284 pages ( )

Larissa Reinhart’s Hijack in Abstract is the third book in her Cherry Tucker series. If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, it is possible to delve right in; however, Reinhart addresses a few situations that occurred in previous books. If you don’t mind a few spoilers and backtracking, then proceed. Reinhart does a great job explaining relationships and situations without overwhelming new and established readers.

When Cherry Tucker draws a composite sketch of a hijacker, she has no idea the secrets she’s about to uncover. She wants to assist in the investigation, but her involvement is put on hold when a local nemesis goes out of her way to besmirch Cherry’s reputation by labeling her art as perversion. Seeking assistance from a local Russian art collector, Cherry thinks her problems will be solved. But when Cherry receives a lucrative portrait commission, she quickly finds out there’s more to the hijacking case than meets the eye. Will Cherry be able to find the hijacker before it’s too late or will she find herself in front an angry mob demanding she move from Halo?

It’s difficult at times for readers to come into an established series because character development occurred in the first book. By the time we get to the third, the author has a pretty good grasp of the characters and won’t go into detail regarding who they are. Reinhart does a good job introducing us to established characters and at no point did I feel lost trying to figure them out. I was surprised at how much I liked Cherry! I want to hang out with her, even though she’d look down on me when she finds out I’m the type who sees an art exhibit in less than ten minutes. We have a wide cast of secondary characters who play a vital role. There’s Luke, Cherry’s ex-boyfriend who is also a Deputy in the Sheriff’s department. He reluctantly allows Cherry to investigate and he doesn’t realize how helpful she can be with regards to obtaining information. One character that stood out was the Russian, Max. He really surprised me and I’m not going to go into detail with his background because it ruins the story. The one character I really liked? Cherry’s ex-husband, Todd! He makes me laugh and even though I’m not Team Todd, I’d love for him to find his own happiness. In the background wreaking havoc is Shawna and she really goes out of her way to make Cherry’s life uncomfortable. If you’ve ever lived in a small town, you’ll easily associate with Reinhart’s characters.

Narration is first person and even though I’m not a big fan of this type of point of view, I was very comfortable with Cherry as a narrator. She’s engaging and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in Halo from her perspective. The feud between Cherry and Shawna reminded me a bit of old westerns and the big showdown scenes. I could hear The Trio from The Good, The Bad And the Ugly playing in the background when these two were near each other. I was angry on behalf of Cherry when Luke refused to get involved in the Shawna feud. I understand Shawna is related to his family and no one wants problems, but all Cherry was asking for was a little help in trying to figure out what Shawna’s deal was. We have a potential love triangle between Cherry, Todd, and Luke. I also get the feeling some readers want a Max and Cherry romance. I’m still not sure where my loyalty lies, but if I had to go based on Hijack alone, I’d say Luke!

As for the overall mystery, I thought this was going to be your basic formulaic mystery, but Reinhart took me on a fun rollercoaster ride. Everyone is a suspect and just when you think you have things figured out, you’re forced to reevaluate your theory and modify your suspect list. I haven’t had this much fun trying to solve a mystery in a while and it sure beats playing a game of Clue any day!

This was my first Cherry Tucker book despite having Portrait of a Dead Guy (I just haven’t had a chance to start it) and it won’t be my last. If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, I recommend Larissa Reinhart’s Hijack in Abstract. I’m looking forward to reading the first two in the series and can’t wait to spend more time with Cherry. ( )