3.5 stars ( )

I need the meh emoticon! There are so many likeable aspects to this book, but the characters just fail to really hook me. They're all so very placid, even when they're supposed to be angry or thrilled with happiness. If the energy of a book could be graphed, this one's would be a flat line.

Saying that, the writing isn't bad; Adams is really good at writing a story if you're not a character driven reader. The editing was crap, but I expect no better from Berkley; they totally screwed up a Native American myth early in this book by using the wrong names at the wrong points of the story.

The North Carolina history she incorporates into the story is by far the most interesting part of the book as a whole. The murder plotting was a cool idea, but the ending was just tragic, making it difficult to find the wrap up satisfying in any way. Generally this would get Adams bonus points (for going off the beaten path of the cozy formula) but I really did not like the ending.

I think this is going to be one of those series I'm going to wish the best to and part company; it's not bad for a cozy series at all, but it's just not a good fit for me. ( )

Olivia Limoges and Sawyer Rawlings, finally wed, are taking their delayed honeymoon on Palmetto Island which is hosting the Legends of Coastal Carolina Festival. Their friends, the Bayside Book Writers Club, will join them in a few days. The island is full of tourists for the festival as well as a film crew for the No Quarter pirate TV show. Olivia also runs into her father/uncle who is a friend of the producer. When Olivia finds the producer's girlfriend dead on the beach one morning, the honeymoon starts to go south since Sawyer, a police chief from Oyster Bay, their home, feels obligated to get involved and help the small police force on the island.

The ghost stories of the island come in to play but why was the girl killed?

an interesting story with great characters and background. ( )

While this was #7 in the series, it was the first one I read. I didn't feel confused or left out while reading it, so don't think it really mattered. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend this book, even though written by Ellery Adams who is liked by so many. It's my second Adams book (Murder in the Paperback Parlor, #2 in another series, was my first) and I did like that one.

The book is well-written - Adams can certainly write, but there were just too many things going on and none of it very interesting. The protagonist, Olivia, and her book writing group composed of about 4 other people including her new husband who conveniently is also a police chief, all go to the Legends of Coastal Carolina Festival and end up solving murders and other mysteries while there. With lots of possible suspects, by the time the mysteries are solved I just wanted to get to "The End." What I felt was unforgivable was the last chapter consisted of Olivia and her book group (and husband) back home discussing the details of the mysteries and explaining everything: murderer(s) motivation, who did what and how, what various characters were going to do now and why, etc. etc. I lost patience and was disappointed in the ending, which seemed a lazy way of tying up all the loose ends. ( )

Olivia Limoes and Sawyer Rawlings have decided to spend part of their honeymoon at the Legends of Coastal Carolina Festival. The rest of the members of the Bayside Book Writers Club join them and they enjoy most of the festival. Their enjoyment, however, is shattered by a murder and the subsequent arrest of one of Olivia's friends, Emmett Billinger. While the evidence against Emmett doesn't look good, Olivia is convinced he is innocent and, not trusting the local police, sets out to clear his name and find the real killer.

“Writing All Wrongs” is the nicely done seventh book and Ellery Adams’ Books by the Bay cozy mystery series (this book can certainly be read on its own but I advise reading the series in order because of Adams’ rich character development throughout the series). Adams has done an excellent job in this book of creating the events on Palmetto Island, including a wonderful sense of atmosphere done so well that I felt like I was there with the Bayside Book Writers Club going on nature walks, roasting marshmallows, listening to ghost stories, decorating golf carts, etc. Adams takes her time letting the murder mystery unfold, seductively pulling the reader in until they are totally involved with the island, the people there, and the story. Once it occurs, the murder is well plotted with plenty of twists and turns and tension, especially towards the end of the book. All of this has up to a nice, rich mystery by a talented author.

“Writing All Wrongs” is another nice cozy mystery by Ellery Adams. ( )