War and Peas

It is the annual Pea Festival in Jane Jeffrey's hometown and Jane and her friend Shelley Nowack are participating in a number of activities including sorting through items at the Snellin Museum and taking part in a Civil War reenactment. Jane thought the reenactment would be interesting, but she wasn't expecting museum director Regina Price Palmer to be murdered during the battle. Jane's boyfriend, police detective Mel Van Dyne, is investigating the case, but Jane's work inside the museum gives her a good way of also investigating the murder since most of the suspects are involved in the museum. When there is a second murder, Jane is even more eager to solve the case before there is yet another victim.

"War and Peas" is an enjoyable, yet show more somewhat light cozy mystery. The book gets off to an interesting start with the Civil War reenactment and having the murder take place during the battle is a great touch since it provides plenty of suspects. Having the novel set around a pea festival and a pea museum is a very funny touch and not meant to be taken seriously by readers although the characters in the book are serious about it. There is a nice gentle sense of humor throughout the book with a few laugh out loud moments - one involving notes Jane's children leave her and when Jane cleans out her car. At this point in the series (this is the eighth book in the series) Jane is a fully developed and rich character as are the supporting characters in the book. The mystery is well written and well plotted and readers will have fun trying to figure out who the murderer is.

"War and Peas" is another nice cozy mystery by Jill Churchill. show less

This is a reread, and I started in the middle of the series, as I can't find the first 7 books packed away. Anyway... Jane Jeffers and her best friend, Shelly Nowack, volunteer at the local museum. The Sneeden Museum is dedicated to peas among other things, so it sponsors the local Pea Festival. This year, a Civil War enactment needed volunteer extras, and among them are Shelly and Jane. Unfortunately, during the reenactment, someone used live ammunition causing a death. The death put the museum into chaos as the death made no sense. Shelly and Jane set about finding the reason, as they didn't want to be volunteering in a place which might have a murderer lurking about. This was a fun fast read. Plenty of tiny clues were given to help show more the reader solve the mystery. show less

Cozy mystery series usually have a general theme. Jane's a stay at home mom who participates in the PTA and has preformed volunteer work numerous times during the series. Therefore, this specific series doesn't have much that holds it together and the theme varies as to what Jane is involved with in each specific book. Because of this, it's difficult to go into the books knowing what to expect. One book may have everything you love in a mystery and the next could easily bore you.

In War and Peas, Jane volunteers to participate in a war reenactment and at a pea museum. Neither of these things hold any interest for me. While Jane herself could have carried the story, the focus was less on Jane and Shelley's investigation and more on the show more museum. No matter how much I love a character, watching that character participate in something I consider boring can ruin a book for me.

Luckily, I had no idea who the killer was in War and Peas. It was another case where I suspected everyone and no one. The book offers up a rather unexpected ending which is what saved the book in my mind. Not the best in the series by far and most won't miss it if skipped. show less

This book is one of the reasons why I didn't read as much on vacation as I might have. It's a short book, only 250 pages, but it was far too easy to put down and not tempting enough to pick up again. It took me over two days to read it.

The title is awfully clever and cute, referring to the setting of the mystery: a pea museum and Civil War reenactment.

I suspect I'd have liked the book more if I'd read more than just one other book in the series--if I'd already known the cast of characters and looked forward to spending time with them again. Unfortunately, the characters weren't developed enough in this particular volume of the series to make me care about them.

The story did have potential--the pea museum's director is murdered during a show more Civil War reenactment, in front of scores of witnesses, none of whom saw anything suspicious.

But the solving of the mystery consisted of Jane Jeffry, the series protagonist, periodically speculating with other characters about who might have killed her and why. There's no gathering of clues, no gradual unfolding of the plot. The solution, when it's presented, comes completely out of left field with no foreshadowing, the motive not even so much as hinted at throughout the story.

And there was zero reason given for the bizarre method of the second murder, which was the last straw. Not that I'd intended to seek out more books in this series before that, but at that point, I wasn't just disappointed, I was mad. show less

This was an enjoyable read. I enjoy murder mysteries. I did feel that the characters (which are ongoing in the series) were not very well developed. I guess this is a factor of that this is #8 in the series. What can I say--I just happened to find this book at the thrift shop and was amused by the title and it has a pink cover. The initial setting of a Civil War renenactment and a Pea Museum did amuse me and really didn't feel too contrived. Now I want to know if the author first thinks up these silly titles and then figures out a plot to fit. I found her website cozybooks.com. She seems like a prolific author. Maybe I'll try one of her historical novels.

Nice cozy mystery.Jane can't help but get involved. She has volunteered to help at the museum and is spending a lot of time with the victem's co-workers and friends. It is Jane's intuition that breaks the case.

Another interesting Jane Jeffrey mystery. Good reading on a rainy day.