Kate George (1)

First Line: "Why. Won't. You. Open!" With every word I pushed my shoulder into the door.

It's not easy being Bree MacGowan. She works two jobs in an effort to keep her farm going, her vehicle running, and her menagerie of stray animals fed. About the only time she's not covered in mud is when she's working one of her jobs as a maid in a nearby five-star resort. And when you live in the small town of South Royalton, Vermont, everybody knows you... and everybody feels comfortable telling you show more what you should be doing.

When a universally disliked supervisor at the resort is murdered, Bree is first in the line of suspects. All her co-workers points fingers at Bree. Her boyfriend the lawyer dumps her. A reporter at the newspaper where she works lists Bree as the primary suspect. Even the police officer in charge of the case seems intent on pinning the murder on her. What else can Bree do but conduct her own investigation? If she goes to jail, who will take care of all her animals?

Moonlighting in Vermont won the 2009 Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in mystery and suspense. It is a cozy with an engaging main character. Kate George has a light, humorous touch, and I liked the way she developed Bree's character. Bree's bright, funny, and good-hearted. She makes mistakes, but she learns from them. It was easy to find myself rooting for her to uncover the real killer.

If you're in the mood for something light and fun, you'd do well to make the acquaintance of Bree MacGowan. I know that I look forward to reading more books in this series. show less

This first book has some potential but poor editing (or poor writing) detracts from this reader's enjoyment. I would also suggest cutting back on the details about the main character's sex life - innuendo is fine but I picked a mystery, not a romance or chick lit and the soft porn is not to my liking.

On the plus side, I liked the rural background - the town and all the animals. George did a good job with the small New England town feeling of everyone knowing everyone & all their business; show more having Bree's best friend be married to the local police captain is smart too for future books. I will try the next book in hopes that the editing at least will be improved. show less

California schemin seems to pick up up where Moonlighting in Vermont left off. I haven't read Murder in Vermont. so i was a little confused at first. Bree MacGowen goes on vacation to Northern California with Beau her boyfriend to try to recover from finding a dead body at the inn she worked at in Vermont. While taking pictures of a bridge Bree sees a women fall from the bridge into the river. Bree wades in to try to save her only to find the women was murdered. Soon people are after her show more trying to find out what she saw and what she said to the police. Beau's cabin is ransacked and his car searched. Bree decides to go back to Vermont but trouble follows her and she finds herself back in California courtesy of two operatives Moose and Hammie. Bree decides she has to help solve the crime of what happened and what was going on with the women on the bridge and why she ended up dead. A very interesting murder mystery. show less

Bella Bree MacGowen is a part-time housekeeper at a fancy spa. The head of housekeeping is dead and Bella is the one that discovers the body.

Kate George writes a tried and true tale and manages to pull off a well-written story from what has become an overdone plot. Her writing style keeps the reader hanging on until the end.