I really like this series but for some reason this one didn't move me as much as previous books. It wasn't bad, just not as good as earlier books. Maybe it was the addition of "celebrity" to the story. Most of the other books centered around the lives of residents and the crimes that disrupt their lives. That happens here but it is all set in motion by the arrival of a former "local boy" who has made good by winning a song writing contest. The hoopla and changes in the town to "honor" this spoiled and bratty boy/man irritated me.

The relationship of Abby and Marco is still on track, the relationship of Marco's younger brother is still on a wild roller coaster ride. There is a huge twist ending -- you'll have to read to book, no spoils from me! ( )

Didn't see this one coming! ( )

A good, quick read with great characters and a very good story line. This series improves as it goes. ( )

There is much sorrow in this book. I don't know how things add up here, but on a basic level the latter was more than value for money, or maybe more than it's worth in a pound of flesh. The ending perched on a cliffhanger. The story is fast paced with lots of intricate events decorating the gears and heart of this book. I think this book deserves five stars. So the year started auspiciously for me. I realize that here, the author padded out her prose with flashbacks of any relevant previous passages. That would have helped me earlier, but for now I'm concentrated enough. It seems no mean feat for the author to have balanced her detailed intricacies while keeping the same number of pages.

I did spot one thing. It concerns the appearance of Mrs Francesca Salvare. She no longer is portrayed as a poor man's Sophia Loren. But apart from this slight, I see nothing worse. The shagging shenanigans of the main couple didn't get to me until the end. That's a first. I realize why some people swear by this series. It's a harmless genre and will never garner male attention, so I'm in the minority here, gender-wise. But I feel that Kate Collins still hasn't had her last word and that there are still a few tricks left in her bag. As long as the setting of the mystery is set in New Haven, I'm happy. And I am doubly so if the heroine doesn't get confined to a house or office. It feels great to see her running about, trying to pick up the pieces. That's just rewards for bearing up with her smooching with her beau. But...at times she was at peace with the world. These times didn't last. But I hope to feel for her in future books. Her life is hell, but it's fiction. Thank God she exists in the fertile mind of her creator. ( )

This is the first time that I have read a book by this cozy author. I was not disappointed Dirty Rotten Tendrils by Kate Collins is fun and mystifying cozies. There so many murder suspects who could have done it and the characters are all well developed.

Kate Collins has a great sense of humor and uses it well. At the opening of the book, she expounds on how much better it is to live in a small town as compared to a big city but as she goes on and on about this theme, everything you can image goes wrong. A local celebrity, Singer Cody Verse is coming to town to sue the song writer of his prize winning song, “Code Blue”. His lawyer, Ken “the lip” Lipinsky is found dead. Who killed him and why? Meanwhile an engagement king snafu adds to the excitement.

There are plenty of word plays punctuating this book and the love story is perfect. Abby, the owner of Bloomers is a short, well-endowed redhead who is so smart but sometime not enough and her boyfriend Marco is a true partner in solving the criminal puzzle. But Lipinsky shines as a villain who is almost begging to be bumped off. And I only suspected the murderer close to the end.

I highly recommend this cozy to all cozy lovers. ( )