Agnes Blythe and her glamorous Aunt Effie must take a break from restoring their inn to rake in the clues when a local mechanic is murdered in national bestselling author Maia Chance’s charming second Agnes and Effie mystery.It’s leaf-peeping season in Naneda, New York, and Agnes Blythe has settled into helping her eccentric Great Aunt Effie restore the Stagecoach Inn. It seems nothing can … nothing can shatter the golden idyll—or the ka-ching of cash registers—until a mechanic at Hatch Automotive is found bludgeoned to death with a wrench.
Sweeping into action, Agnes and Aunt Effie are on the scene, when a tourist-laden motor coach breaks down outside of town. The Stagecoach Inn isn’t exactly ready for guests, but Agnes and Effie agree to take in a group of seniors while they wait for repairs. But then, Agnes finds herself pulled into the investigation when she learns her new boyfriend, gorgeous Otis Hatch, is the Naneda Police Department’s prime suspect.
With bodies falling faster than the foliage, Agnes must leaf through the more viable suspects and clear Otis’s name of murder in Bad Neighbors, the charming second Agnes and Effie mystery from national bestselling author Maia Chance.
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Agnes and (chain-smoking Great Aunt) Effie (along with cousin Chester) are an absolutely adorable team! The trio is in the process of renovating the Stagecoach Inn in their hometown of Naneda, New York, but before the inn can even open for business they’re asked to take in a few leaf-peeping travelers whose bus has broken down. Agnes’ boyfriend Otis has been hired to fix the motor coach, but he’s soon hauled off to jail because his employee has been found murdered in the trunk of a car in the garage parking lot. Add in the new to town cupcake making conniving siren, Delilah, a flea-ridden feral cat, secret gambling, a headless horseman mask, and the rest of the craziness behind the town’s autumn festival, and you have the delight that is Maia Chance’s second Agnes & Effie Mystery, Bad Neighbors. Laugh out loud funny, and quite a well-written mystery to boot! 5 stars!
Bad Neighbors earns 5/5 Leaf Peeping Tours…Murderously Fun!,
I have changed my newbie status to big fan! Maia Chance made it easy to join in by revisiting enough background and character connections without spoilers, but it’s only book two, so she is developing the series and evolving lead and supporting characters for the long haul. The storyline is delightful with Agnes Blythe helping her Great Aunt Effie restore the Stagecoach Inn, and although the Inn isn’t ready for guests, they decide to be “good neighbors” by opening up the Inn to some stranded seniors. The seniors are enjoying “leaf peeping” season in Naneda, New York, but their motor coach has broken down, and now…the mechanic is found bludgeoned, and Agnes’s sorta/kinda boyfriend is a “person of interest.” Along with an intricate murder mystery with twists, turn, and some nail-biting predicaments, Maia has created a plethora of rich characters, humor, and an entertaining dynamic across the generations. All this and well-written description and dialogue kept me totally involved. I will be reading book one “Bad Housekeeping” to see how this adventure for Agnes and Effie started. I highly recommend this book as a starting point.
It’s tourist season in Naneda, New York. Agnes Blythe has settled back home helping her eccentric Great Aunt Effie restore the Stagecoach Inn. It seems nothing can shatter the cash registers until a mechanic is found bludgeoned to death with a wrench.
Leaping into action, Agnes and Aunt Effie are there when a tourist-laden motor coach breaks down outside of town. The Stagecoach Inn isn’t exactly ready for guests, but Agnes and Effie agree to take in a group of senior tourist while they wait for repairs. But Agnes finds herself pulled into a murder investigation when she learns her new boyfriend, gorgeous Otis Hatch, is the Naneda Police Department’s prime suspect.
With bodies falling faster than the foliage, Agnes and Effie must leaf through the more viable suspects and clear Otis’s name of murder before it’s too late.
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Series: An Agnes and Effie Mystery
Author: Maia Chance
Genre: Cozy Mystery/B&B
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books – Publishing Date: April 10, 2018 (Kindle)
Bad Neighbors is a wonderful trip through a small town with big city problems, great food, and wonderful residents. It brings out the protective side of the reader and the adventurous side as well. This is the second book in the Agnes and Effie Mystery series.
Agnes is still coming to grips with her failed relationship but isn’t as heartbroken as she should be. A new romance with Otis hatch is making things much easier. But with her plans up in the air and an uncertain future she is afraid to commit, not just to Otis but with her aunt and the B&B. Agnes is a hard worker with an almost insatiable curiosity that gets her in deep trouble when she least needs it.
Aunt Effie is everything anyone would love to have in a relative. She is charming, curious, filled with ideas and has a very keen sense on how older women should dress, which doesn’t include sensible clothing or shoes.
All the characters in this book are memorable and easy to like, except for the killer and that is exactly the way a good mystery should be. The victim(s) aren’t perfect but they deserve justice, and Agnes is determined to put the right criminal behind bars. Unfortunately, her new boyfriend is the main suspect.
Readers will love Bad Neighbors and the writing style of Maia Chance. Characters and locations are described lovingly without too much information that so often bogs down a good book. The writing is smooth with no awkward segues that go nowhere or leave the reader with more questions than answers. This book and series are highly recommended for anyone who loves great characters, a wonderful storyline and human flaws.
Welcome to the picturesque small town of Naneda in upstate New York for the foliage viewing season. The town is filled with funny, quirky and unique residents who will become some of your favorite book friends. The title characters are the pudgy, twenty-nine-year-old Agnes Blythe who has body image issues and her seventy-something, former super-model great-aunt Effie who has inherited a ramshackle, historic inn that she and Agnes are restoring. The supporting characters are also back and they are as much fun as ever! The book will give you belly-laughs and at the same time, there is an intense murder mystery to solve. It is an excellently written and fun read!
A leaf-viewing tour bus breaks down and pulls into the local garage for repairs. The occupants have to be put up in local lodging for the night – but the local inns are almost filled to capacity. They divide the members of the tour group out among the inns, but they still need more rooms. The only option is to get The Stagecoach Inn to take some of the group even though the Inn isn’t ready for occupancy yet. Boy – are those folks in for a surprise.
While the tour group is waiting at the garage for the various inns to pick them up, one of the group discovers a dead body. As Agnes arrives to pick them up, there are police cruisers everywhere with lights flashing – and – is that Otis they are putting into the back of the police car? Otis and Agnes are sorta/kinda dating and he absolutely cannot have murdered anyone!
Aggie and Effie decide they need to investigate to clear Otis’ name because the police detective seems to have fixated on Otis as the only suspect. The plot is complex, but Aggie and Effie’s investigation will keep you in stitches. I love that the tourists play such a major role in the investigation. There are lots of red herrings to keep us and our investigators guessing right up to the very end. The identity of the murderer will surprise you!
I highly recommend this book. It is funny and entertaining – just wait for their spa visit! If you want a book that will leave you refreshed and feeling good after you finish reading it, then this is the one for you!
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
As good as book 1! YAY!! I had a few moments of hold my breath and cringe but it all totally worked out. The person who I wanted and thought was the bad guy WAS the bad guy DOUBLE YAY!! The most important question is… will there be more books in this series? I really, really hope so, I mean come on Aunt Effie and Agnes are just getting started and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
BAD NEIGHBORS, the second book in the Agnes and Effie Mystery Series, is a hoot! Even though I have not read the fist in the series, BAD HOUSEKEEPING, I had no trouble diving right into the story. Chance’s writing style and her ability to craft zany characters and hilarious situations makes BAD NEIGHBORS a joy to read. The pace is quick, and the steady revelation of clues lends itself of compulsive reading. Highly recommended!
In BAD NEIGHBORS, we find Agnes, her great-aunt Effie, and cousin Chester a bit overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done to the Stagecoach Inn to make it ready for guests. However, when a tour bus full of senior citizen “leaf peepers” breaks down, Effie volunteers to house four of the travelers, thinking it will be a great trial run before they open up to paying guests. Effie’s plan is to keep them plied with plenty of alcohol so that they don’t pay too close attention to the inn. Despite the bathrooms needing a remodel, mattresses placed directly on the floor, and mice in the walls, the group settles in nicely. This is the same group that discovered the body of Mikey Brown, a mechanic at Hatch Automotive. To make matters worse, Agnes’s sort-of boyfriend Otis is the police’s prime suspect. Agnes makes it her mission to clear Otis’s name and find the real murderer with the help of Effie and their “gaggle” of guests.
Agnes and Effie make an uproarious, bubbling investigating team. The predicaments they find themselves in are unpredictable and larger than life. I really liked that the senior guests got in on the investigation. The circumstances that lead to Agnes being the Gourd Queen for the Harvest Festival are funny, and Lo, one of the guests, is relentlessly amusing in her quest to find Agnes a love match. The snide conversations between Agnes and her cupcake baking rival Delilah are the best parts of the book. The mystery is complicated enough to be interesting, and all of the suspects have viable motives. It just takes Agnes a while to ferret through all of the information, and everything ties together nicely in the end.
I greatly enjoyed my time with Agnes and Effie and cannot wait to read their next adventure.
I received a copy of this title from the publisher and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.
I really enjoyed the first book in Maia Chance’s “An Agnes and Effie Mystery” series, so I was looking forward to her follow up. Well, “Bad Neighbors” did not disappoint! I enjoy the relationship between Agnes (the younger of the dynamic duo) and her aunt Effie. This looks to be one fun and entertaining team of amateur sleuths. I enjoy the setting and cannot wait until they have the Stagecoach Inn fully restored. What with all the antiques and goodies Effie is buying, it sounds like the Inn will be amazing. And I can only imagine the guests that will appear in future books of this great series.
As “Bad Neighbors” begins it is leaf-peeping season and Agnes is enjoying her new found home, business and being with her family. That is until a murder and her sort of boyfriend becomes the prime suspect. Well that is not going to work for Agnes or her aunt Effie. The only good thing to come of it is a group of seniors are stuck in town and a few are staying at the inn even if it is not ready. Effie decides it will be a trail run for them and it seems to be working out. The seniors even add in trying to investigate and clear Otis, Agnes sweetie.
I really enjoy humor in the cozies I read and Maia Chance seems to really have the knack for it. Scenes between Agnes and her nemesis Delilah are hilarious. I was really worried Otis may be swayed by her cupcakes. So many times I laughed out loud and boy did I enjoy that. Not only did this read tick the boxes in the humor department, but the mystery was intriguing and enjoyable, the characters are well developed and I was really pulled into the story and could not put the book down.
If you are a cozy fan and enjoy well written and humorous reads, this is definitely for you. It sure did tick all my boxes. I even love the no dreaded triangle, thank you very much. Agnes and Effie make a wonderful team that I cannot wait to see more of for sure. I really enjoyed “Bad Neighbors” and think even if you have not read the first book, you will enjoy this one. It is funtastic!
I was given a copy by the author, however this opinion is mine and not in anyway based on that.
This series is a comedic hoot! You have an aunt who is elderly, but don’t tell her that! A cousin who is genius level IQ, talented carpenter and completely lost when it comes to social skills and then there is Agnes. Again, quite intelligent, eats her way through every day and completely insecure in who she is and yet rather than finding it annoying, you still like her. This particular story finds the trio still trying to renovate the Inn, trying to fit into the town, taking on a group of stranded senior citizens and trying to help solve a murder, or two or more all while tossing sarcastic, witty banter about. If you like your mystery more on the comedy end of the spectrum then this book is definitely for you, but don’t fret there is plenty of plot and angst woven in to keep the books firmly in the mystery genre. I’ll look forward to the next installment in the Agnes & Effie series!
Bad Neighbors by Maia Chance is the second book in the Agnes and Effie series and was set during “leaf peeping” season. This was an enjoyable addition to this series and can easily be read as a standalone.
Ms. Chance has taken the opportunity in this book to develop the characters in more depth which I enjoyed. Agnes is smart but still undecided about staying in Naneda. Agnes has low self-esteem which pops up often throughout the book but it doesn’t stop her from investigating the murder with often surprising and humorous results. Since Otis is the number one suspect for the murder, Agnes wants to clear Otis’ name – even though Otis seems to have moved on to dating another woman. This small town is filled with quirky townsfolk that add to the mix of murder and mystery. The bus tour seniors who are staying “gratis” at the B & B were a great addition to this story. With plenty of twists, a “gaggle” of seniors and plenty of humor, Agnes and Effie are Naneda’s dynamic duo when it comes to crime solving.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. All of the above opinions are my own.
Bad Neighbors An Agnes and Effie Mystery by Maia Chance is the second book in this small town cozy mystery series.
Aunt Effie and Agnes are at it again. These two adorable sleuths have managed to get into another murder investigation. This installment finds Effie and Agnes hosting a group of seniors (the gaggle, Agnes’s nickname for them) at The Stagecoach Inn, who are stranded because their bus has broken down and there is no available place for them to stay. As Agnes is driving the gaggle to the Inn she has to make a pit stop and stumbles right into a murder and this time Agnes has to prove that her would be boyfriend Otis is not the murderer.
With the fall setting, quirky characters and romantic tension between Otis and Agnes I slipped into this delightful but fast paced and sometimes dangerous investigation right along with Effie and Agnes. I laughed out loud when Agnes got her eyebrows butchered by a jealous spa worker! There are so many red herrings that this author cleverly slipped into this book and I had no idea who the culprit would be. I was a bit frustrated with Otis, he seemed a bit of a dunce about women this time around, more to follow with this romance I am sure in the third book.
With the body count growing and Otis’s freedom seemingly at stake Agnes ramps up her investigation and finds herself in a precarious spot. Lots of action and drama kept the pace going and before I knew it the murderer was revealed. The murderer was a big surprise to me.
This cozy mystery delivered with the autumn setting, quirky characters, fun but fast paced plot and of course the romantic tension between Agnes and Otis.