Marcia Talley

This was an interesting project. This serial novel written by thirteen women mystery authors tells the story of Caroline Blessing's visit to the Phoenix Spa in the Blue Ridge mountains. Caroline is hoping for reconciliation with her distant mother after her father's death. She also has some questions about her own life since she is recently married to a freshman congressman and has given up her career as a cellist with a symphony orchestra to support his dreams.

Caroline is fascinated by the show more variety of celebrities at the spa including an aging rock star, a noted film actress, and the latest model taking the high fashion world by storm. There is also a has-been and probably alcoholic film producer and a popular and also aging psychic.

When Caroline sneaks out the raid the kitchen after a less-than-filling dinner, she overhears an argument between the spa's owner Claudia de Vries and someone she can't identify. It isn't long after that the Caroline discovers Claudia's body in one of the spa's famous mud baths.

The detective assigned to the case is a transplant from Philly who is having some issues getting the spa's guests and staff to agree to talk to him without their lawyers. And the politics get twisted rather quickly when it is learned that Caroline's mother Hilda who has been the secret majority stockholder has inherited the spa. This comes as quite a surprise to Claudia's husband who is the spa's medical doctor.

As each chapter switches authors and adds on to the plot. We have a couple of babies given up for adoption, shady managers with drug habits, and a variety of other characters dropping in and complicating the story.

Laurie R. King is the author who comes last and has the none-too-easy task of tying up the loose threads and solving the murders which have added up to four people before all is said and done. I did notice that characterizations shifted as different authors added on to the story. It was, overall, an interesting mystery and an interesting literary project. show less

I recently read the first book in the Hannah Ives series (Sing It To Her Bones), and was immediately hooked on this character. When the opportunity came from NetGalley to read the most recent entry, I jumped on it even though I hadn't read the rest of the series. Unlike some series, where it feels like you're the newcomer in an old group of friends with a shared history, I was able to jump from the first book to the latest without any sense that I was lost. While characters overlap between show more books and time passes, I was able to enjoy Tangled Roots without feeling that I'd missed the backstory. Hannah is an appealing amateur sleuth, prone to jumping in with both feet without looking first (but if she didn't, there wouldn't be a story, would there?). Highly recommended, especially if you're looking for new series for a book-binge! show less

Published in 2004, this is a multi-authored novel for charity with too many names to mention, but I picked it up because one of those authors is Jennifer Crusie. Apparently not a new idea, but this is the first time I’ve come across a published novel with a different author writing each chapter. Starting with the first and the next author carrying on the story until the last author writes the ending. A murder mystery with little romance. The novel has a lot happening, with a large and show more entertaining cast, and it all felt a bit of a jumble but was impressive, with many fun sections. Not sure it’s a book I would want to read twice, but it was worth checking out. show less

This is a cooperative / team effort among thirteen women mystery writers, each one writing a different chapter.

I thought the characters were over the top, and there was little character development. I thought there were far too many murders, almost as if each author needed to add a murder in her chapter. I thought the final critical scene where all is revealed was unbelievable, though I won’t outline my reasons here as that would be a major spoiler.

I would have abandoned it but it show more satisfied a couple of challenges. At least it was a fast read. show less