Elise Sax

Matchmaker, matchmaker, bring me a dream... But maybe leave out the murder.

Gladie Burger has a very special calling. You could call it the family business, but all Burger women have the gift of matchmaking. Though Gladie isn't so sure she's inherited her Grandma Zelda's skills when it comes to helping people fall in love. An Affair to Dismember has Elise Sax's usual humor and wit that comes off the page in waves thanks to her charming and larger-than-life characters. Sax has a way of show more blending humor, mystery, and murder that makes reading one of her books so much fun. Her stories are playful and don't take themselves too seriously which is perfect for reading for the sake of enjoyment, relaxing, and would go great with a cup of tea.

An Affair to Dismember has a variety of characters that have larger-than-life personalities that give eccentricity and exuberance to the story. Sax offers a variety of characters such as Grandma Zelda and Bridget, who are two women that you never know what to expect out of their mouths. Their lines were often offbeat and humorous which showed their personalities to a T. Grandma Zelda was the sort that was a guide for Gladie to encourage and steer her onto her path while also be a source of slight embarrassment with comments about her love life. Though as we got to know these exuberant and delightful women, we found the police chief to possess a great deal of cockiness and ego. His dialogue often served his character well with the amount of ego and attitude that went into each word. His character gave Gladie a sense of frustration as she tried to navigate this path of destiny while also investigating a murder. Dialogue is Sax's best weapon in her stories with it serving the characters well and allowing you insight into their personalities by the way they talk such as Uncle Henry and his 1950s reminiscent way of speaking.

Sax always offers a delightful array of characters in her books and this one is no different. They're well-written and are the sort that you would want to spend the day talking to. The author has a knack for dialogue that fits the characters and sets them apart easily from each other. While Gladie deals with murder and matchmaking, she's facing her own crisis of destiny in trying to determine if the family business is even for her. Her first match to make is with the neighbor that so happens to be a perfect match for herself and creates an inner conflict for her as she initially tries to steer herself away from any feelings. Every great mystery series is filled with romantic tension and a love interest that is charming. This story has both of those things with her neighbor being a suspect, a conflicted first match, and her love interest.

The pacing was fantastic as you never knew what was going to happen and nothing ever happened just as you'd guess. The story revolves around matchmaking and Grandma Zelda trying to help get Gladie onto the path of her destiny by pointing out to her at one point that she has matchmaking but maybe even something else, referring to what she considers to be an extra knowing. All in all, we greatly enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys lighthearted, humorous, and charming mysteries. show less

Got this set when it was free on Amazon recently.

Matilda Dare inherits a small town newspaper and house from a relative she didn't know well. Seeking to escape a jailed husband that she hopes will soon be an ex-, one who spread rumors that she's crazy, she relocates to New Mexico only to find that the rumors of her craziness have followed her.

Each book contains its own mystery which is solved but there is also an overarching mystery that is not solved in either of the two books contained show more in this set. Well, maybe two--why do the Goodnight brothers avoid each other (I suspect it has something to do with the sheriff's late wife) and who is keeping the blondes captive?

I don't buy that Matilda never sleeps (other than one brief 7 minute siesta recorded in one of the books). In real life, a human that doesn't ever sleep would have myriad health issues.

I liked the dogs. show less

"I never want to leave this town. Cannes is a village on happy juice. LSD. It's the Wizard of Oz on shrooms."

I want to live in Cannes, California. It's definitely on my list of Fictional Places I'd Like to Live. I'd have a comfy chair and a big bowl of popcorn and I'd park myself on the sidewalk and just watch. It's crazy town in the most entertaining way possible.

I can't move to Cannes, but at least I have these books and I can visit this nutville and it's residents anytime I'd like.

In show more Love Game there's an ill wind blowing, and her name is Luanda. She's brought a special brand of crazy to Cannes and it's undoing all the good matches Gladys and her grandmother Zelda have made. Add to that a suitcase full of spider infested clothes, Gladys car keys going into a ravine, a group kidnapping and a murder and you have the makings of a very entertaining week in the best possible slapstick style.

I like Gladys, but I have to admit she's not always my favorite character in the books. I don't think I could be friends in Real Life with someone who has been known to be extremely flighty. But she's still a character you can get behind and cheer on. While each book has presented the entire cast in all it's zany glory, I would have to choose Ruth as my favorite from this book - she's got all the best lines. I should hope to be her when I'm in my 80's. She reminds me of the little old lady cartoons on the Hallmark cards - you know which one I mean? The skinny one that smokes, wears glasses, and has absolutely no filter between her brain and her mouth.

The romantic angle of the book is chaos of the best kind. I normally HATE HATE HATE love triangles, but what Gladie has going on here really doesn't qualify as a love triangle - more like it's raining men. (Hallelujah!) Holden is out of town and out of touch in this book, but we have a new player - Remington Cumberbatch. A detective working for Spencer Bolton, he's around often enough to keep Spencer from a sure thing and Gladys' hormones in overdrive. The chemistry is constant and intense between Gladys and both of these men, and her flirtations are fun without stretching the readers patience.

The kidnapping/murder was excellent - Ms. Sax can write a mystery. I didn't even know who to suspect until the end, when Luanda's denouement puts Gladys in the spotlight, leaving her to piece together the clues and come up with the answer. I'm not sure how realistic the deductions are, but they were fun nonetheless.

I'm hooked on this series and I hope Gladys has a long run full of fun, laugh-out-loud adventures. I'll be looking forward with eagerness for the next one. show less

Funny, charming, and cheeky, Die Noon introduces the quaint town of Goodnight where the locals are friendly, the paper is dedicated, and there's just a touch of murder. It's fun from beginning to end with a joyous ride in between that delivers a suspenseful mystery. Matilda Dare's life has gone through a few changes and this is what brought her to Goodnight, New Mexico where she's inherited a house and a newspaper. She's a fish out of the water but she's determined to awaken her reporter show more senses and run the paper with a new purpose. A murder later and she finds herself a little in over her head but she's determined to find answers and catch a killer. As if her life isn't complicated enough, the handsome sheriff seems to be looking into her and her handsome roommate has a tendency to show up at suspicious times.

Elise Sax has a knack for a quirky sense of humor and witty dialogue, and Die Noon is one of her funniest stories. The story is funny right from the start with Matilda Dare's tongue-in-cheek wit a humorous highlight of the mystery. Sax opens the story with Matilda's quirky tone using comments such as "I see dead people" and following it with "literal dead bodies." The humor is at times embarrassingly funny with naked torsos that seem to be flung at her and a certain pool incident that left her feeling mortified on her first reporter mission. She's a character that you can easily identify as she's the newcomer trying to fit into this close-knit smalltown, learn how to become a reporter, and run the paper she now owns.

The story has an intriguing subplot that finds a mysterious girl that appears to be a storyline that will thread into other books in the series. Every character in the town serves a purpose from this mysterious girl to every Goodnight that seems to appear. Every place Matilda goes seems to bring out another midnight from the sheriff to her handsome roommate to the youngest member of the paper's staff. Goodnights are everywhere in the town and it makes for a delightful running gag throughout the story. Homage to New Mexico's quirky history is paid with the town having several theories about aliens that come from die-hard believers and some whacky ideas. Sax has created a rich tradition and history for this town that stems from its characters and brings it to life.

Sax has created a town that has a small-town vibe, an alien obsession, and just a slight murder problem that will make you want to return long after the mystery ends. Cozy in its finest element, Die Noon is charming, laugh-out-loud funny, quirky, and delightful. show less