A Dolled-Up Disaster Ida Gilbertson of the Battle Lake Senior Sunset nursing home has a new hobby: crafting life-sized dolls and displaying them around town. Budding PI Mira James finds the dolls creepy enough on their own, but when she’s forced to sit next to one and discovers a human corpse under the hat and wig, it becomes personal. Police Chief Gary Wohnt is all too eager to pin the blame on … pin the blame on Mira. So when her sleuthing gives him the perfect excuse to lock her up, it’s up to Mayor Kennie Rogers and Mrs. Berns to help her out. Racing against the clock, Mira must unmask the murderer before she either becomes a jailbird or the next dolled-up victim.
Praise:
“Earthy language, quirky suspects, and much related tomfoolery for those who like their comic mayhem painted in broad strokes.”–Kirkus Reviews
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I can always read this series even when I’m not in the mood. An easy to read cozy mystery.
Great Book, from a good author
Love this whole series. Can’t wait for the month of April!!
Very entertaining. Loved the story and characters. Would love to see Mira and the sheriff get together. Lots of laughs and a great mystery
The main character was so disjointed, frenetic, unbelievable that it was difficult to follow the story. I thought the language was a bit over the top and inappropriate at times. It was meant to be funny, I think, but it was all TOO much. It felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny but the emotional swings of the main character didn’t add to anything. I won’t be reading any follow on books by this author.
I was disappointed in the story line and the plot. The plot was very boringand I lost interest in the book.
March of Crime by Jess Lourey is the eleventh installment in The Murder-By-Month Mystery series. Mira James is at the Turtle Stew with Ron Sims, owner of Battle Lake Recall, discussing a series of articles he wants written. She is shocked when she discovers the “person” next to her is actually one of Ida Gilbertson’s life-sized dolls that she is displaying around town. When Mira attempts to flee the Turtle Stew without encountering Mayor Kennie Rogers (she might have another unusual business idea), she knocks over the doll and gets a surprise. They discover a corpse inside the dolls clothes. Chief of Police Gary Wohnt is happy to blame Mira for the crime (of course). Mira sets out to find the killer and avoid being locked up in the poky. It would be difficult to continue her career if she was in the hoosegow plus what are the chances of conjugal visits from Johnny.
March of Crime is different from the earlier books in The Murder-By-Month Mystery series. It fell outside the cozy category with the foul language, intimate relations and the crude references (phone sex line for example). I thought the pace was slow which made the book seem so very long (it was only 266 pages). I am amazed my eyeballs did not pop out from the number of times I rolled my eyes. The over-the-top characters (everyone seems “quirky” or eccentric) and Kennie Rogers idiotic business ideas were not humorous to me (my mother, though, laughed through the whole book). There is little action until the very end of the book. I felt like Mira opened her mouth on the first page (told from first person POV) and never stopped talking (what is called “verbal diarrhea”). March of Crime can be a stand-alone novel. Mira and her history is thoroughly discussed in the first chapter. The mystery is not one easily solved unless the reader is a master mystery sleuth. I will tell you that one clue is the key to solving it. My rating for March of Crime is 3 out of 5 stars (I gave it a 2 and my mother a 4). If you have a delicate stomach, I would suggest not reading the food descriptions (Minnesota Hot Dish for example). I did like Ida’s comment that dolls make people happy—I totally agree (I prefer Raggedy Ann). March of Crime is for readers who prefer zany over-the-top characters, hare-brained business ideas and ribald humor.
Love this series!!