In Book One of this cozy mystery series, a morose parrot with a reputation for biting sums up Brookside Retirement Community for reluctant resident, Josephine Bartlett. But when Brookside turns out to be a setting for art theft, dodgy dealings, and naked poker, it becomes vastly more interesting. Josephine investigates the unusual goings on with friend and handwriting expert, Lill Fitzel. And the … the two befriend a young woman Josephine tries to prevent from making the same mistakes she has made.
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What an unexpectedly charming and captivating story. I worked in an assisted living facility and the characters are spot on! Very enjoyable!
First book that I’ve read recently that I couldn’t put down.
Main characters were easy for me to relate to — senior citizens. Very enjoyable, easy to understand plot.
Great entertaining read
Josephine is a reluctant resident at the Brookside Retirement Community. Josephine’s friend Lill has nick-named the Retirement Community, Babbling Brook. I like how Josephine finds out it is more interesting than she expected with everything going on including naked poker. I have friends who are in retirement communities and I can see how things like this could happen.
This is like 4 novels in one, with an intricate weaving of stories throughout. The point of view jumps from character to character for each chapter. A little difficult for myself who has to use text-to-speech but I could work out who was speaking. Despite this, it was easy to follow.
With each conclusion it felt like an evangelical story with all the baddies being truly sorry and the victims full of forgiveness, Sounds like it should be a touch lame but gave a feel-good factor. This book is is definitely entertaining and worth reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a different type of mystery – no murder!! But the characters were vividly drawn and developed throughout the book. I look forward to reading the next one.
This book is about a senior citizen in a retirement community who investigates a series of thefts.
These old ladies were a total hoot. Fun read.
Cute,funny,fast moving and totally entertaining!
Cute story. These seniors rock.
I loved it and can’t wait to read another.
Loved the likeable and unlikeable characters. Was an enjoyable and distracting book to read during a pandemic. I will definitely read more in this series.
One of the best things about this novel is the rich development of characters that I think are often marginalized, like the importance of their lives is over. Here the elderly are multi-faceted and complex, even though their mobility may be slower. The elderly are often delightful here, or ornery. A microcosm of society at large.
Such a great story. I really enjoyed reading a story with original ideas and where you don’t guess the ‘who done it’ even if you think you had! I will be reading more from this author.
It was a bit predictable, but I loved the characters.
Loved this book! For a cozy mystery it was unique while following the formula. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
This was an interesting book. Entertaining, yet provocative in relating to an area; retirement or nursing homes, that many wonder could very realistically happen to a loved one. Very well written with entertaining characters. Easy reading.
i read my books on a Nook. I was disappointed to discover the other books in the series are available on Kindle only. Hopefully that will change soon. Would love to continue the story.
You can tell this is a first book for the author