Mama Does Time

People, people, people!! If you dig a supremely funny and well thought out mystery, get this book! I laughed myself pee-less throughout my time. It was my bedside book, so I went to sleep each night with a big grin on my face.
I was pleased with how the main character became an amateur sleuth. Mace knows Mama did not murder the man found in her trunk and, so, is drawn into the investigation to protect her mama from the big bad big city police detective newly arrived from Miami.
Mace and her sisters know everyone in their small town and set about asking questions, much to the possible endangerment of Mace and her sisters.
I kept thinking I knew who the bad guy was and I totally dug it that I was wrong and did a 'What the...??!" at the show more big reveal.
I am Southern by proxy (DH is from Virginia/Tennessee border) and I lived in Louisiana and Texas and Florida at varying times in my life and this may explain why I adore the Southern humor in the books I read...or it may just be that they, along with this gem, are just wonderfully written.
My favorite character, besides Mace and Mama, would be Ollie the one-eyed gator in the park where Mace works. He has an interesting charisma about him. Read the book and find out...
Five watch out for the gator, baby sparkly diamonds...... show less

I am going to give the book a 4 because I thought it was cute, fun, quirky, and entertaining. Mace, Maddie, and Marty are a hoot and I absolutely love Mama. After I get some more books cleared off my too read shelf I am planning to read the next in the serious. Sharp does a great job of making you laugh and just when you think you know who the killer is something else comes up.

Himmarshee, Florida, the setting for this new series ,may be a small town but it is brimming with colorful characters with lots of secrets. Mama, having enjoyed the delights at the local Dairy Queen, is wrongly accused of murder when an unidentified body is found in the trunk of her “big as a cruise ship “car. She frantically calls her middle daughter, Mace, to come to the police station to straighten out this little misunderstanding. Mace arrives with alacrity and confronts Detective Martinez, the handsome new officer in town. Mace’s two sisters, Maddie and Marty arrive and add to the mayhem. The daughters are mystified as to how Martinez could possibly believe their Mama, former Sunday School teacher, southern belle when she show more wanted to be, could commit murder. Everyone loves Mama, hasn’t she been married four times and has prospect number 5 in sight? Isn’t she always well dressed in perfectly coordinated clothing? Wasn’t she playing Bingo at the Seminole reservation with a witness? Nevertheless, she has to spend some time in jail !!

Not being one to let the police pursue the investigation without interference, Mace begins to look into the murder and finds there is more than one person who had the opportunity and, more importantly, the motive to want the victim dead. When it turns out the murdered man was Jimmy Albert , facts turn up he was not who everyone thought he was. What they thought was he was just the short term fiance of Emma Jean, receptionist at the police station. Martinez reluctantly concedes he needs to look elsewhere and Mama is sprung from the slammer.

Although threats and warnings ensue, the sisters continue to look into who murdered Jimmy and why someone is trying to get them to stop putting their noses where they don‘t belong. What follows is a highly entertaining story of kidnapping, disappearance, and more hi jinks with all three sisters and Mama involved. There is even an incident involving Ollie, the one eyed alligator.

With lots of local color at the Hair Today, Dyed Tomorrow beauty shop, the Abundant Hope church ,the Speckled Perch and the Pork Pit, the reader is taken on a rollicking romp through small town Florida’s back roads ,swamps and wildlife parks. Lots of secrets and confessions are revealed along the way in this well crafted cozy. Add some undercurrents of budding and rekindled romances . Throw in a tight plot full of red herrings , clues ,a heart thumping denouement and round it out with a cast of well drawn , credible, likeable characters, a few four legged friends and you have the recipe for a non-stop fun read. Highly recommended! show less

First in the Mace Bauer Mystery series, Deborah Sharp has written a good mystery with excellent characters and personalities. Mace is the middle daughter of Mama, Rosalee Devereaux. Older sister Maddie and younger sister Marty round out the family.

When Mama makes a stop at the local Dairy Queen and is in a minor accident (a young girl hits her car from behind)the fun begins. When her trunk is opened there is a dead man in it and Mama is arrested by new-to-town Detective Martinez.

Now Mace and the rest of the family have to find out who is behind the murder, why Mama's car was chosen and what other secrets are lurking in the small town of Himmarshee, Florida.

I enjoyed this a lot, Mama can play the "southern belle" but is actually show more practical and very protective of her three girls.

Another series I'll be following. show less

This was a great 1st in a new series. It was hilarious and full of twists turns. I really liked this book.

Three sisters and one Southern Belle Momma, solve a murder. When Mace's mother is arrested for murder, she is out to clear her name. Along with her 2 sisters, Mace begins to investigate who could have killed Jimmy. Poor Detective Martinez, he never saw these four ladies coming. Detective Martinez is having a hard time adjusting to living in a small town after being an officer in Miami. Then he makes his life even more upsetting by locking up The Bauer sisters, Momma.

loved it - reminded me of Stephanie Plum books by janet evanovich, which do not come out often enough for my voracious reading habits. funny, hints of romance.

Free kindle download. Fun read, great characters. I can't wait to read more of this series.