A Veiled Deception by Annette Blair

Read a synopsis here!
This is not one of my usual YA book reviews. I took a break from YA to read one of my cozy mysteries that I've had waiting on my shelf for me for...forever it seems!
First off let me just say that this cover is adorable!!! The cover is really the reason I bought the book in the first place. I was at my used bookstore saw this and thought I have to have it! And it was a steal at $4.00 so how could I pass it up? (I also got books 2 and 3 in the series too!)
So the story itself was....okay. Good not great. I would recommend this but I've enjoyed other cozy mystery books a lot more. However this cozy mystery is also a lot better than other one's I've read so it sort of falls in the middle category of average.
Maddie is our main character and she can see ghosts and talk to some of them. She sees the ghosts by touching pieces of vintage clothing and fabric. When there is a murder in her home, her supernatural ability helps her put the pieces together of the murder.
I liked the supernatural take on this story because it took something that could possibly never happen and put it into a cozy mystery, something I've never seen before! But I liked it! It's called fiction for a reason! Give it a fantastic element!
I will be reading the next 2 books in the series because I already own them but I probably won't continue on from there. This book can be read as a stand alone because it doesn't have some cliff hanger ending where you have to rush out and buy the next book.
Like I said before; good not great! See you soon!
Paige

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Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett

Read a synopsis here!
How much it cost me: $4.00 (used bookstore)
Retail price: $7.99
Number of pages: 324
I have to say I was again, a little disappointed with this book. I don't think I'm going to read the rest of the series when it comes out because it's just not original anymore. All the ways that she solves the murders are pretty much the same. The murders themselves are different but the solving is just dragged out for sooo long that half way through the book I find myself losing interest.
The characters need to become a little more original too. Have an exciting development! Everything that happens I'm kinda like eh whatever they'll get over it. I don't feel attached to them at all anymore. The main character moped and whined in this book a little more than I liked too.
I wouldn't give this book a Paige Turn. Too boring for my tastes. Maybe the first couple were good because it was a new idea and a new series but now I'm over it. The next book comes out in March I believe if any one's interested but you won't be seeing me buying it.
See you soon!
-Paige
P.S. Happy New Year!! I've started my 2012 Book Challenge through Good Reads! I'm trying to read 500 books this year! 1 down, 499 more to go!

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Chapter and Hearse by Lorna Barrett

Read a synopsis here!
How much it cost me: Free! (Paperbackswap!)
Retail price: $7.99
Number of pages: 320
So, unlike the Kate Kennedy cozy mystery series by Nora Charles, this series HAS to be read in order! A lot of things won't make sense if you don't. I noticed that when the lives of the characters started to get more personal and let's just say a few of them may start...disappearing. (I don't want to give anything more away than that!)
Still a pretty good series, although it's still being kind of repetitive. One thing I didn't really like in this book was Tricia (the main character) is always SO nice to everyone even if she doesn't like them. Like okay there's a point of being civil but sometimes she takes it too far which is a little annoying. Also she's sooo nice to everyone and all that her friends say back is thank you and she doesn't even bat an eye. She doesn't expect anyone to do anything nice for her which makes her a little spineless in that category.
The way people are dying has changed but basically it's the same characters doing to the same old thing to solve the crime. Have some originality! Bring in a new character! Add some amazing twist! Hopefully the next book in the series will be more unpredictable than the last couple have been. And I can tell I'm getting frustrated with the story lines when half way through the book I'm thinking, "When is this book going to be over?" and when I set it down and I have time to read I think, "I guess I should read that to get it over with, so I can move on to the next series." but then the story has some high points that help me stay interested.
Hope this was helpful! See you soon!
-Paige

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Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett

Read a synopsis here!
How much it cost me: Free! Paperbackswap!
Retail Price: $7.99
Number of pages: 310
This is the third book in the Booktown Mystery series and I'm still loving the series! SOME parts are a little redundant but there is new twists and turns that I never suspected with characters who have been in the book since the beginning. This is definitely a series you would have to read in order!!
By the way I don't know if I've talked about the covers much on these books but they are so adorable! At first you glance at the cover and think oh that's nice, but once you start reading the book more and more, there are elements of the story that show up on the cover, which I think is awesome!
I'm anxiously awaiting the next one, and I hope something drastic will happen because in this book it was sort of mediocre. I felt it could have been a lot more suspenseful but this specific book in the series fell a little flat for me. Also I felt there were a couple things that didn't get resolved at the end of the book, which I totally forgot about until I was reading the synopsis again. Weird. I don't really want to say much of anything else for fear of spoilers but I would give this book a tentative Paige-Turn. (As always I think the first book in the series was the best!)
See you soon! Only 5 days until Christmas! Have you finished your shopping? I have!
-Paige
P.S. I'm still plowing through the Gossip Girl series, so once I finish I hope to have an entire series review up by the end of the year!

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Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett

Read a synopsis here!
How much it cost me: $3.50 (Purchased from used bookstore)
Retail Price: $7.00
Number of pages: 281
I knew I was going to love this book! A bookstore owner plus murder mystery, equals excellence! I totally loved the characters and the setting too! Normally, I don't get to into a setting but the little town of Stoneham is just to adorable! It totally worked with the story (small town gossip and all that).
The plot was awesome too! I mean a woman getting murdered in a cookbook store? If it wasn't so morbid I would admit that that's just adorable too! And the main character, Tricia, is an awesome herione. She kicks butt, not literally but the stuff she says is like wow, she's got balls! Hahaha!
Tricia's sister was a little too annoying for my taste and I wish Lorna Barrett had resolved the sister issues but perhaps she will in a later book.
Solving who comitted the murder was a little predictable (the characters helped me figure it out with not so subtle hints) but after reading many Agatha Christie's and always being suprised at the end it was nice to figure it out on my own.
Overall, a great quick read! Can't wait to read the next one! I would give this a Paige-Turn!
See you soon!
-Paige

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The Man In the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

How much it cost me: $3.00 (bought from used bookstore)
Retail price: $6.00
Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 228
Soooo this is by far one of my favorite Agatha Christie books! I love that it's in first person point of view (normally Agatha Christie's books are third-person) and I just enjoyed the overall story! So the girl in the story (Anne) travels to South Africa to solve a murder-mystery and she encounters a whole assortment of characters along the way that are all very hilarious. This Agatha Christie novel was a bit more light then her other one's which sometimes seem more dark and depressing. This book also was not a Hercule Poriot or Miss Marple which I also liked because then I could take a break from those.
Of course I was kept guessing until the end on who murdered the poor people but that always makes it more exciting doesn't it? And Agatha Christie is not called the #1 Mystery Bestseller for nothing; this mystery had tons of twists and turns that you have to follow carefully but in the end it's worth it because everything starts to add up quickly. So yes I would give this a Paige-Turn!!
Hope you enjoyed this quick little review! Right now I'm reading Pop Tart by Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye so hopefully you'll be seeing a review of that in the next week or so!
See you soon!
-Paige

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Series Review - "Kate Kennedy Mysteries" by Nora Charles

Here are all the books in the series in order:

1. Death with an Ocean View
2. Who Killed Swami Shwartz?
3. Death is a Bargain
4. Hurricane Homicide
5. Death Rides the Surf

So this is the first cozy mystery series I have ever read and I have to say I was pleasantly suprised and now I'm hooked on these types of books! This specific sereis is from an older lady's point of view. (Kate Kennedy; a 70 or 80 year old widow who lives in Florida) I was sceptical once I found out that it was from an older perspective but I actually really liked that because the story was more mature and there were less little bickering's here and there.
I also thought the whole series would be pretty much the same storyline in every book but it wasn't! Of course there was a murder and Kate Kennedy and her friends solve the mystery but there's also other smaller plots that go on along with the murder and the characters personal life that makes every story distinct and different from another.
With these books you could also read them out of order! Of course you may not understand some little mannerisms or little quirks about the characters but each story is very distinct so if you happened to have let's say the second book before the first then you could read the second and still understand the story perfectly!
Overall, I really enjoyed this series beginning to end and I would give it a Paige-Turn! :) (See my grading scale in my review of Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin)
Hope you enjoyed!
-Paige

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