Skeletons in the Closet (The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag, #1)

Quite amusing, and I loved the narrative voice. Maggie is a real kick. I really like sassy narrators with snappy style. She kept me absorbed and turning pages eagerly! If I were page-counting, I might have said the plot was a little slow to develop, but the introductory and background info that leads us to the first murder was fun on its own. (I won't rehash the plot here, there are a zillion other reviews, and people can read the blurb.)

On the down-side: The book has one persistent punctuation problem throughout which kind of drove me nuts whenever I forgot to breathe calmly and remind myself that it's only an indie novel. (For the curious, it has incorrect construction of the plural possessive everywhere; but it was otherwise well show more edited, with only one typo that I could find.) I obtained this on a free day, but at some point I may buy and read others in the series. show less

The cover and the title drew me in. It was an interesting book. The answer to the mystery wasn't totally obvious but it did make sense when it was laid out. Some of the characters were a bit odd. The MCs husband annoyed me with his nickname for his wife. I would have probably slapped him but she had way more patience than I have, I guess. Overall, a good story that will entertain.

This has some serious flaws, but was nonetheless very entertaining, and I would probably read another in the series.

Maggie is somewhat more of a doormat than I prefer, but that's pretty typical of cozies. Her worship of her ex-SEAL husband is over the top- I do not believe he is omni-competent, SEAL training or no. Pretty much all the characters were more sketches than individuals, but generally handled well.

Also, I have never, ever heard of a real-life woman as dedicated to cleaning as Maggie is!

It's set in MA, but lacks local color- it could be set anywhere just as easily.

Still, I did enjoy it! The writing was generally lively, although I do wish more authors used "smirking" less, or at least more appropriately; if it's not a cat and show more it smirks, that's got a nasty edge.

The plot was twisty, but awkwardly so. There was not enough nuance or foreshadowing to justify the final resolutions.

Mildly recommended for cozy mystery fans. show less

cozy-mystery

Glad I didn't pay full retail for this one. The characters were banal, the plot rather tired, and the humor decidedly trite. It was worth the clearance sale price.