Monday, August 31, 2009

Blessed is the Busybody by Emilie Richards


Copyright: 2005
Publisher: Berkley Prime crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 262
Challenges: Cozy Mystery challenge
New-to-me author? Yes
Author's website

Simple Description
Aggie and Ed recently moved to a small town in Ohio. Ed is a minister in this small town and while most people like him, there is one lady who doesn't. This is Gelsey. She is an older lady, with lots of money. At first she seemed to like Ed but then suddenly she changed feelings and won't stop at anything to have him removed from his position and forced to leave town with his family.

Then, on the morning that Gelsey and the other society women are supposed to come over to the parish house, somebody deposits a dead body on the front step. Gelsey and the society women find the corpse. Ed is immediately a suspect and Aggie starts asking questions to try and clear his name. Even when the detective tells Aggie that Ed isn't a suspect, she still askes around – because by now she is just plum interested.

Things get worse when Gelsey herself is found dead, and Ed finds her. Now Aggie really wants to know what is going on. Mix in a bit of mystery surrounding Gelsey's past and the first murder victim and you find yourself a fun cozy mystery.

Now what you really want to know…my thoughts:
This is the first in a cozy mystery series. It's also the first book I have read by the author. I thought it was a very good start to a new series. First I want to touch on the subject that the main characters are a Minster and Minster's wife. Not sure if this would turn some of you away or not. Personally, I'm not overly religious. I tend not to read a lot of books that are labeled as Christian Lit or that have a religious theme though. However, it didn't bother me in this book. I thought it was actually a fun twist on Cozy's, it's not one that I've had before (Ie..it's not a baking mystery or a hobby mystery, etc). I think the author used just enough of the minister aspect to be able to call it a "ministry is murder" series but not enough to turn people away. I really liked Aggie, thought she was a great character. I liked Ed as well, even though he isn't in it as much. They had a great relationship. I think there is definitely room for the series to grow, but it's a great start as the first one.




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Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

2 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I don't read a lot of Christian fiction, but I don't think having the main characters be a minister and his wife would bother me. Sounds like a fun read.

Unknown said...

Bermudaonion - I bet it wouldn't bother you at all then. I say give it a try. :)