“Fans of laugh-out-loud romantic suspense will enjoy this new author as she joins the ranks of Janet Evanovich, Katie MacAllister, and Jennifer Crusie.”—Booklist, on An Affair to Dismember
“Elise Sax will win your heart.”—New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis
Three months has been Gladie Burger’s limit when it comes to staying in one place. That’s why Gladie is more than a little … than a little skeptical when her Grandma Zelda—who is more than a little psychic– recruits her into the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What’s more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has her clairvoyant “gift.” But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy.
When Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor’s death was murder. It’s not too long before she’s in way over her head—with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she’s unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued—either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?
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I love Elise Sax’s books. They’re hilarious. When Gladie’s grandmother wants her to go into the family matchmaking business, she doesn’t think its a good idea but gives it a try anyway. How can she be a matchmaker when she doesn’t know anything about romance? As she is learning the ropes of the business there is a murder across the street. Even though the police chief warned her to stay out of the investigation, she didn’t. Between the handsome chief and the new hunky next-door neighbour, Gladie might just get some romance experience.
This mystery is filled with lots of laughs and lots of love. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Would one hundred percent recommend!
I can’t seem to stop reading this series! Ms. Sax creates such marvelous characters that I am one hundred percent hooked. The perfect blend of mystery, romance, and humor.
A fun and delightful look into the zany life of Gladys and her equally zany friends. It’s clear that Gladys has no control over her life. Everyone else controls it! 24/7. She’s out of one mess and into another. Seriously she needs to draw some lines in the sand, set some rules and catch her breath. A fast paced action experience. It will keep you on your toes. It was a joy to read! Thanks Elise!
Loved it.want to read more by her.
I’ve read the whole series and while took me awhile to get into the grandma character, I came to love her. It’s worth it to stick it out through the series. Pinky is a quirky heroine.
The characters were sometimes clichés but they were hilarious. The conclusion didn’t make a lot of sense to me but I suppose it could have been. It’s throughly enjoyable and a good late-night read.
I have read about 5 of this author’s books and I love her sense of humor, it’s a laugh out loud journey.
Love this series! I laugh out loud while reading.
A nice little mystery, with none of the scary upsetting stuff. Good reading
Move over, Stephany Plum, you’ve got competition! Just the first of many rollicking good reads in the series, this book has it all, psychic grandma, quirky friends, hot, sexy suitors! And an entertaining mystery to solve as well! Gladie is a fledgling matchmaker, but her grandma knows she has the stuff, and she knows a whole lot of other things, too!
I love the crazy in this book! Elise Sax is a genius! Getting ready to download the rest of the series.
Just a very good read. Easy to put down to do other things, and easily get right back into this great story! Didn’t want to stop in-between, but life called….was always happy to get to return to the story.
I loved this book. Absolutely couldn’t stop reading it. Definitely not predictable in any way. A little similar to Janet Evanovich’ s style but it’s an original story.
I have read every single book in this series, and they literally get funnier and funnier. I’ll think about something that happened in the book weeks after I finished, and just start laughing. Tears!
If you haven’t read this series, read them. You won’t be disappointed. Greatness!
Okay… I had to work to finish this book. I was expecting a good, laugh out loud book. I had high hopes. Alas, this is strictly a ‘Janet Evanovich’ want-to-be book. Way too many cliches, and too much copying of ‘Stephanie Plum’ novels, without the intrigue, laughs and novelty. Such a disappointment. My advice…. reread the Stephanie Plum series; and forget this series. And to make matters worse… I just saw the new cover for this book. Yuck…
Gladie joins her grandma, Zelda, in a match making business in a small town. However, Gladie is more interested in the murder of the neighbor across the street. She has to work with the chief, Spencer Balton, and they have a strange relationship. Plus, there’s a really cute new neighbor, Aurthur, throwing his hat in the ring to get closer to Gladie. There’s even a family that is outrageous in their pursuits. This is a hilarious mystery the characters are great and bring the story to life.
Three months has been Gladie’s limit when it comes to staying in one place. That is why she is more than a little skeptical when her Grandma Zelda recruits her into the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, CA. Zelda is more than a little psychic, and she is convinced Gladie has her clairvoyant gift. Gladie is highly unqualified, having a terrible romance history. Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen. Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. The distractingly gorgeous chief of police warns Gladie to stay out of his investigation. She is out to prove that the neighbor’s death was murder. It is not long before Gladie is in way over her head with the police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers and yet another mysterious and handsome man whose attentions she is unable to ignore. Either true love or a murderer is clearly pursuing Gladie. – There are several laugh-out-loud moments in this book. Gladie is humorous and always into something. Her grandma is a fun character. I enjoyed the attention given to Gladie by the police chief and neighbor. The mystery was interesting too.
A humorous cozy mystery about Gladie Burger who get recruited by her eccentric Grandma Zelda r to the family business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. Gladie has only done temp jobs and is highly unqualified for the matchmaking business because of her terrible track record with romance. Grandma Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has “the gift.”.
This is a new kind of cozy mystery subject that I have read or listened to but I have enjoyed reading and listening to these over the past few years for relaxation.
Matchmaker, matchmaker, bring me a dream… But maybe leave out the murder.
Gladie Burger has a very special calling. You could call it the family business, but all Burger women have the gift of matchmaking. Though Gladie isn’t so sure she’s inherited her Grandma Zelda’s skills when it comes to helping people fall in love. An Affair to Dismember has Elise Sax’s usual humor and wit that comes off the page in waves thanks to her charming and larger-than-life characters. Sax has a way of blending humor, mystery, and murder that makes reading one of her books so much fun. Her stories are playful and don’t take themselves too seriously which is perfect for reading for the sake of enjoyment, relaxing, and would go great with a cup of tea.
An Affair to Dismember has a variety of characters that have larger-than-life personalities that give eccentricity and exuberance to the story. Sax offers a variety of characters such as Grandma Zelda and Bridget, who are two women that you never know what to expect out of their mouths. Their lines were often offbeat and humorous which showed their personalities to a T. Grandma Zelda was the sort that was a guide for Gladie to encourage and steer her onto her path while also be a source of slight embarrassment with comments about her love life. Though as we got to know these exuberant and delightful women, we found the police chief to possess a great deal of cockiness and ego. His dialogue often served his character well with the amount of ego and attitude that went into each word. His character gave Gladie a sense of frustration as she tried to navigate this path of destiny while also investigating a murder. Dialogue is Sax’s best weapon in her stories with it serving the characters well and allowing you insight into their personalities by the way they talk such as Uncle Henry and his 1950s reminiscent way of speaking.
Sax always offers a delightful array of characters in her books and this one is no different. They’re well-written and are the sort that you would want to spend the day talking to. The author has a knack for dialogue that fits the characters and sets them apart easily from each other. While Gladie deals with murder and matchmaking, she’s facing her own crisis of destiny in trying to determine if the family business is even for her. Her first match to make is with the neighbor that so happens to be a perfect match for herself and creates an inner conflict for her as she initially tries to steer herself away from any feelings. Every great mystery series is filled with romantic tension and a love interest that is charming. This story has both of those things with her neighbor being a suspect, a conflicted first match, and her love interest.
The pacing was fantastic as you never knew what was going to happen and nothing ever happened just as you’d guess. The story revolves around matchmaking and Grandma Zelda trying to help get Gladie onto the path of her destiny by pointing out to her at one point that she has matchmaking but maybe even something else, referring to what she considers to be an extra knowing. All in all, we greatly enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys lighthearted, humorous, and charming mysteries.
This is the first book I have read by this author, and it definitely won’t be the last. This is a laugh out loud cozy mystery with so many twists and turns you can hardly keep up. Great book, great author