Fun but a little too fluffy for me, even tho' cozies are my idea of a great read. A little TOO clean, too careful, too straight-laced. Has some great ideas, just not developed enough to be a strong contender in a field (cozy mysteries) that is swamped with great writers. ( )

I got about ¾ of the way through this book before I had to put it down. Though cozies are not my bread and butter reading material, I do enjoy them occasionally. However, what I thought would be a humorous and quirky mystery turned out to be just bland and boring. I would almost call this a Christian mystery as the main character is very prim and proper, doesn’t tolerate swearing, says grace before eating, and either church or the bible was mentioned several times. It’s not a bad thing if you like your books very clean. For me, it made for a very boring read.

I usually give one star for books I cannot finish. I gave this one two stars because I don’t think it is a bad book, just that it isn’t right for me. I think someone who likes a straight forward whodunit type mystery or someone who enjoys Christian fiction might like this one. ( )

Dusted to Death is the eighth book in the Charlotte LaRue Mysteries. Charlotte owns a business she calls Maid-For-A-Day. In this book Charlotte has taken a job taking care of a clients home during a movie shoot. When murder takes place Charlotte becomes involved in finding out who did it and why.
I liked the fact that this book was "clean", Charlotte doesn't swear. Sometimes the swearing is overdone in many books. I have never read any of the previous books in the series but it wasn't hard to catch on to the character personalities. I liked the way Mrs. Colley wrote the story so that the reader could try and solve the mystery along with Charlotte and not being told what and why at each turn. ( )

"Dusted to Death" is the newest entry in Barbara Colley's Charlotte LaRue mystery series. Even though I hadn't read any of the previous titles, I was able to get a quick grasp of the main character and storyline due to Colley's easy to read writing style.
LaRue is the owner of her own business, "Maid for a Day," and this time is hired to clean an old mansion for a movie shoot. As one might suspect, a murder occurs and LaRue finds herself trying to solve the mystery. The characters were fun and interesting, and there is even a little romance.
This is a perfect mystery series for those who want "clean" mysteries; there is no sex, and LaRue herself doesn't swear and doesn't seem to like it when other do either. It's a nice, fun, easy read and although I don't know if I will want to catch up on the whole series, I will probably read future entries. Perfect bedtime reading. ( )

The plot: Charlotte's been called in to keep an eye on the house of one of her more difficult clients while they shoot a movie there. Amid the drama queen leading lady, her intimidating bodyguard, an attractive older male actor and the chaos of filming in an older New Orleans home, there is a messy murder. Not only does it ruin a rug, it might ruin the movie.

Charlotte is a multi-faceted character, what with some romance with her next door neighbor, problems with her son, and the realities of not being a twenty something who spends all of her money on shoes, handbags, and fancy dates. Brought in to mind the movie set and make sure none of her client's "treasures" are destroyed, she gets an interesting look behind the scenes of film-making. She has a crush on the leading man, an older actor whose heartthrob status has lasted and his gentlemanly nature only wins him more brownie points.



The book focuses behind the scenes on not only the actors but the people whose names only fly past up on the credits: prop masters etc and the creepy paparazzi that orbit that world. It's nice to get a sense of their frenzy, frustration, and planning.

Though I could tell I'd dropped into the middle of the series and probably wasn't fully grasping the implications of all of the references, the book was able to stand by itself without a lot of filler backlog giving me history of books I hadn't and might not ever read. I really liked that. The romantic aspect was really obvious, but it didn't detract from the book. I got the sense that it would have been more well rounded had I read other books in the series.



The biggest issue I had with the book was the film's leading lady Angel's, whose "real life" presented some confusion insofar as her age and personality. She is supposed to be in the role of a young engenue, playing a younger girl, but the various descriptions given of her background seemed to add up to someone closer to 30. It seemed like too much had happened to her for her still to be playing a Catholic schoolgirl.That jarred me out of the story a bit. She also was fluxtuating a little too fast between being a sweet girl under pressure and being a royal Hollywood party girl diva. Her secret past required just a little too much abandoning of reality--particularly in this day and age where it's hard to keep ones past buried.

An enjoyable cozy mystery and, from the ending, one where I would be interested in going back and finding out some of the previous events leading up to it. Just as soon as I wade through my reading basket. ( )