Sara Rosett

A poorly written mystery that is just a flat-out annoying read.

Ellie Avery is a military wife and self-proclaimed organization guru. When her husband Mitch’s commander is murdered in the parking lot of a golf course & several attempts are made on Mitch’s own life, Ellie takes it upon herself to solve the crimes and clear the name of her friend, Denise—the commander’s wife.

The book starts out with a large family reunion hosted by Ellie & Mitch. We get introduced to many members of show more Mitch’s extended family. What a great array of potential suspects, red herrings, & murder victims…right? Wrong. Turns out—with the exception of a cousin who bears a striking resemblance to Mitch—neither the family nor the reunion has anything to do with the subsequent plot. So, what was the point of the elaborate family reunion sequence? Well, it wastes a great deal of the reader’s time and energy, but—other than that—it doesn’t seem to have much of a point really.

Speaking of pointless…In apparent homage to Ellie’s status as organizing maven, many of the chapters end with ‘helpful’ household organizing tips; although none of them are particularly innovative or useful, or relevant to the story.

Aside from Ellie, the other protagonist of the story is the weather. The author incessantly reminds the reader that it is hot & humid. The heat & humidity actually seem to get more mentions in this book than the murder victim himself. Yet, Ellie is always pulling a handful of Hershey’s Kisses out of her designer handbag…just one of the countless, nonsensical elements that pervade this story.

In addition to all of the nonsense, Ellie’s husband Mitch is particularly hard to stomach. Mitch is a colossal know-it-all who is constantly talking down to his wife like she is an infant. Early on he decides to torment Ellie by sneaking behind her back to change the ringtone on her cell phone; this starts a maddening tit-for-tat battle of obnoxious ringtones that persists throughout the duration of the story. When Denise is arrested for the murder of her husband by the bumbling police detectives, Ellie is quick to come to her friend’s defense. Mitch, on the other hand, thinks the police would never make a mistake, readily abandons their friend, & treats Ellie like a mindless fool for believing in Denise’s innocence…what a guy! Later on, he actually has the nerve to become enraged at Ellie for expressing concern for his welfare after numerous attempts have been made on his life. The author made one of many bad judgment calls when she decided that Mitch should actually survive this installment of the series.

There is simply nothing to enjoy in this military based mystery. show less

It’s early 1924, and high society sleuth Olive Belgrave is happy in her new second floor flat in the South Regent Mansions, particularly as she has become friends with Minerva, a lady cartoonist who also lives on her floor. One day, Minerva comes to Olive with a dilemma - she believes that she has seen a carpet rolled up outside one of the apartments on their floor, with a bluish foot sticking out! Knowing that Olive has experience in detective work, Minerva asks her to check on the other show more residents on their floor to be sure that nobody has suspiciously disappeared. Unfortunately for Olive (and Minerva’s peace of mind), it seems several residents are missing, and rather difficult to track down….This is the seventh book in the High Society Lady Detective series and, like the others before it, it’s light and breezy, an immensely enjoyable piece of escapism that one can read in mere hours. I always think that one should read books in sequence when they are part of a series, but it’s not strictly necessary to do so in this case. There’s much less of Olive’s entanglements with Bright Young Things than in previous books; rather, this is a cozy set amongst the middle classes who are tenants rather than homeowners, even if some of them are heiresses. Lots of fun; recommended! show less

I have been listening to this series for awhile now, and since book 1. This is the 4th book in this series set in 1923 in England. Olive Belgrave is an appealing character, and I always love to revisit her and her life. Things have moved on a bit with her relationship with Jasper since the last book, but they still have not acknowledged how they feel about each other. Olive is asked by her cousin Gwen to attend a house party at her family home. When Olive arrives, the stage has already been show more set for murder. A guest at the house for the party is found dead by the fountain in the conservatory. Who wanted to kill the map seller? That is what Olive needs to know, especially when suspicion falls on Gwen's brother Peter who is suffering from "shell shock" from WWI where he served. Olive and Jasper dig deeper into the history of the murder victim until they uncover a few viable suspects. So, again at great risk to herself, Olive unmasks the murderer, and everything is again set in order. I know this sounds cliche, but these books are totally delightful. I love the characters, especially plucky Olive, and when I finish one I can't wait to move on to the next. show less

I have always wanted to travel to Italy and the cover was the perfect invitation for armchair travel and for this mystery lover the intrigue of the captivating one-word title and series name was irresistible.

I can't imagine sharing a house with an ex-husband but for Zoe Hunter and her ex-Jack Andrews, it seemed to suit both of their needs. At least it did until 2 officers from the Texas Highway Patrol showed up on her doorstep one evening to tell her that her husband is missing after his car show more was abandoned, clothes and a dress shoe were found in the creek where water was moving swiftly, and a witness saw a man struggling in the water downstream. The late-night visit from officers without hope in their eyes, voices, or expressions begins the tale of suspense, mystery, travel from Dallas to Las Vegas to Italy, and more questions than answers of the ex Zoe thought she knew.

I loved it! After taking a peek at the author's website as this novel was my 1st introduction to her writing, I learned that she writes all of my favorite types of mysteries: cozy, travel, and historical. I can't wait to explore all of her books but I know I'll continue reading this series as how can I resist the title of Book 2, "Secretive."

After reading the novel, I'd also recommend following Sara Rosett on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/srosett/elusive-on-the-run-1/ to delight in the pictures that inspired her as well as some photos from her travel to Naples and Venice. show less