Bliss, Texas will never be the same. A murder will make sure of that.The town Sheriff is fat, happy, and useless. Just like his daddy before him and his dad before that.Ethel and Velma Harmon should know. They’ve been around for all three.These two seventy-something sisters-in-law refuse to let their ages slow them down. Especially when there’s a mystery to get tangled up in.The only thing that … tangled up in.
The only thing that takes their time away from the whole ball of yarn is, well, a ball of yarn. Crochet class can’t be missed. No matter what.
But keeping things on track isn’t easy. Not with old high school boyfriends that still think they’re eighteen and overly friendly mailmen offering up winks.
Throw in a dead candidate for mayor, a gender-confused cat, and a splinter-giving park bench, and you’re in for one heck of a time.
Come fall in love with these two funny old ladies as they solve the small-town crime of who killed the new guy running for mayor, and make blankets, shawls, and the occasional pair of panties—one stitch at a time.
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Review:
2 stars
I purchased a copy of the Bliss, Texas cozy mystery Coroner to Coroner The Yarn-Over Series: Book 1 by B.K. Baxter and this review was given freely.
Feisty characters with colorful language and at times ribald humor encompass the pages of this engaging murder mystery featuring the hard core crochet class attendees, seventy-something sisters-in-law,Thelma and Velma Harmon. The plot and pithy interactions held my interest but the delivery needs work.
Review:
3 stars
I purchased a copy of the Bliss, Texas cozy mystery She’ll Stitch You Up:The Yarn-Over Series: Book 2 by B.K. Baxter and this review was given freely.
Fast paced,with colorful language,family scenes and a romance crazed Ethel. Ethel and Velma along with Ray and Calvin find themselves invited to a recognition party only to find one of the guests and the host murdered.
Great quirky and funny tale of two old sister-in-laws that live together and raise their own kind of hell in their town. They deal with overly friendly old high school guys, a cat who you can’t figure out if it’s make or female and a dead man who was running for Mayor. I can only hope I have that much fun when I get to be that age!
Coroner to Coroner by author BK Baxter is a story I was very much looking forward to reviewing as it was different from the usual books I review. The premise of the story sounded like it had all the right elements for a successful read and for the most part it did. However it did fall short in a couple of areas.
What sets up a book to put a reader in a foul mood is not having an editor or good human proofer review the book one last time before going to publication. Within the first couple of paragraphs there were wrong tenses of words, missing words, and misspelling of words. Sad to say some of these issues continued throughout the book.
Then there are the main characters, Velma and Ethel. While I think the author wanted them to come across as original, quirky (swear a lot) and multidimensional older women. Instead, they first appeared as unbelievable, stereotypical older women. However as the focus became more about solving the mystery it became less of an issue about the women.
So, after finishing this story my feelings toward it were diminished probably because the most damage was done from the first five chapters of the book. I implore the author before the release of the next book to make sure the editor/proofer has done their due diligence. I am volunteering to leave a review of this advanced review book.
Enjoyable mystery
Oh my gosh…so glad I read this book! I am so used to serious mysteries, but I absolutely loved this cozy mystery! Being able to laugh and imagine these characters in real life while at the same time working on figuring out the mystery keep me so interested and intrigued I didn’t want to put the book down! I am so looking forward to reading more books with these characters.
Take two seemingly sweet little old ladies and mix in a murder mystery. Then tell those sweet little old ladies “to let the police handle it”. Obviously, the authorities who told them this have never heard the old adage that ‘women and cats will do as they please’. Because that’s exactly what Velma, and Ethel who’s along for the ride, proceeds to do. She doesn’t trust that the local police won’t make a hash of it, and by being there to discover the body, she’s got a vested interest in seeing the murderer brought to justice. Along the way we meet many of the other quirky residents of Bliss and learn a little of the Harmon family history. Velma and Ethel are a lot like a female version of the Odd Couple and I had a lot of fun watching their antics. I look forward to seeing what trouble they get into next.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the author.