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Jul. 31st, 2010 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaTHE ANGEL AND THE JABBERWOCKY MURDERS: AN AUGUSTA GOODNIGHT MYSTERY (WITH HEAVENLY RECIPES), by Mignon F. Ballard.
Cover copy: Augusta Goodnight, heavenly sleuth and guardian angel, is a welcome boarder with longtime resident Lucy Nan Pilgrim in the seemingly tranquil town of Stone's Throw, South Carolina. And Augusta's divine intervention is needed now more than ever. The local college is the kind of safe place where students don't even lock their doors. At least it used to be, until girls started mysteriously disappearing.
When the body of another student, D.C. Hunter, is found in a shed by the lake, Lucy and Augusta must race to figure out if her murder is connected to the deaths of two other girls. Should Augusta focus on the English professor who was having an affair with D.C.? Or on the seemingly cheerful caretaker who happened to discover two of the bodes? And what is the meaning of the "Jabberwocky" clues that keep turning up around campus?
It will take some heavenly help - and a little home cooking - to restore the peace of the town.
Gender of detective: female
For the author's sake, I really really hope it was her editor who added on to her title. It's twee enough to have a guardian angel as your detective, but the addition of the recipes...
Aside from the twee premise, this is actually quite a good 'cosy' sort of mystery. Despite the cover copy, Augusta isn't the detective, not least because most people can't see her. (Apparently. It's a plot point. Who knows.) Augusta mostly serves as backup to Lucy, who's the real detective here, and a well-written one too - asking questions and putting things together without ever reading as nosy or poking in some place where she shouldn't be (an arguably impressive feat for a detective).
I didn't try the recipes. I'm willing to read these books, but I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it, and the selling point of the title recipes ain't their low caloric content.
*
We're eating apples and cheese. Nothing baked at all. However, I am assured that garlic bread is in our future.
Team Mariposa, Blogathon 2010. Sponsor me!
Cover copy: Augusta Goodnight, heavenly sleuth and guardian angel, is a welcome boarder with longtime resident Lucy Nan Pilgrim in the seemingly tranquil town of Stone's Throw, South Carolina. And Augusta's divine intervention is needed now more than ever. The local college is the kind of safe place where students don't even lock their doors. At least it used to be, until girls started mysteriously disappearing.
When the body of another student, D.C. Hunter, is found in a shed by the lake, Lucy and Augusta must race to figure out if her murder is connected to the deaths of two other girls. Should Augusta focus on the English professor who was having an affair with D.C.? Or on the seemingly cheerful caretaker who happened to discover two of the bodes? And what is the meaning of the "Jabberwocky" clues that keep turning up around campus?
It will take some heavenly help - and a little home cooking - to restore the peace of the town.
Gender of detective: female
For the author's sake, I really really hope it was her editor who added on to her title. It's twee enough to have a guardian angel as your detective, but the addition of the recipes...
Aside from the twee premise, this is actually quite a good 'cosy' sort of mystery. Despite the cover copy, Augusta isn't the detective, not least because most people can't see her. (Apparently. It's a plot point. Who knows.) Augusta mostly serves as backup to Lucy, who's the real detective here, and a well-written one too - asking questions and putting things together without ever reading as nosy or poking in some place where she shouldn't be (an arguably impressive feat for a detective).
I didn't try the recipes. I'm willing to read these books, but I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it, and the selling point of the title recipes ain't their low caloric content.
*
We're eating apples and cheese. Nothing baked at all. However, I am assured that garlic bread is in our future.
Team Mariposa, Blogathon 2010. Sponsor me!