A Charming Crime: A Magical Cures Mystery

by Tonya Kappes

• ISBN10: 1477594523
• ISBN13: 9781477594520
• Publish Date: 3 June 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.

I really thought A Charming Crime was going to be cute. I like small town dynamics and animal companions and magic and such. But A Charming Crime just didn't deliver.

Why it didn't work for me:

From the get-go there were things that rubbed me wrong. This is going to sound like knit-picking, but sounds were written out in italics and then also described. Like "meow, meow. The cat meowed." I know, not a big deal but it bugged me and was prevalent.

But the real reason that I called it quits was that the storyline in A Charming Crime was just ridiculous. I can take a bit of humorous ridiculousness but it wasn't funny to me. A few examples:

- the main character thinks about moving. A guy randomly shows up to her house saying he has buyers who want a home just like hers. To the T. And so he whips out a contract, she signs, and he hands her a check, paying her way more than her house is worth. Really? I mean... Really?

- a murder happens (its a cozy mystery) and the main character has a couple shocking moments. Both are not really written to make us feel shock though. Its like "so and so died. Oh and she had x in her hand. That's not good." Queue eye rolling. Except our main character is so overwhelmed she faints. Only to awaken, be told "we know this secret about you and its pretty unbelievable and confusing" and she accepts it completely, no questions. She just suddenly understands this big, confusing thing. And then for some reason that I was kind of unclear on, she faints again. Really?

- our main character is brand new to this town and way of life, but they decide she needs to lead this ritual. And what do you know, she knows exactly what to do - without any instruction. That would have been bad enough, but the whole ritual and the way it played out made me roll my eyes. And close my book. That was it. I was done.

Here's the deal - I read a lot of paranormal and maybe I expect too much believability in my paranormal. If your okay with in your face obviousness you might like it. Although I will say I have no idea who murdered the lady - that mystery is solid and if I cared enough about the world or characters (not one stood out well enough for me to know their name) it probably would be satisfying.

So it didn't work for me and I'm calling it.

Time of death: 50%

[Baroness Book Trove]

CAUTION! THIS BOOK MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET!!!!!!!!

This book I believe is the first book I have read this year and also the first nonteen book review I am doing for this blog. I have read a lot of other adult books but I think starting with this one is a good idea. Since I got it off my already read book list for this year on goodreads. I'm suppose to read seventy-five books by the end of the year and I have read forty-one. I'm quite happy with what I have accomplished so far. I actually think I started reading this on our road trip/move from California to Montana.

to read more of this review go to my book review blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-charming-crime-by-tonya-kappes.html don't forget to check out my other posts and comment too thanks!!!

[MurderByDeath]

I really don't know how to accurately rate this book, so it gets two stars. The author has a great story line going for the series - the village is an excellent setting, and the premise of a place just for people with "talents" really intriguing. The characters all hold promise, and with further development, this village could become a charming place full of wacky, eccentric characters. Even the mystery was fairly solid for a first book.

BUT - Lord love a duck is the editing of this book BAD!!! And I don't mean "an" instead of "and" or "in" instead of "it". Whole sections of sentences are missing, or sentences just don't make any sense - and I don't mean contextual sense (although there's a fair share of this too), I mean grammatical sense - they aren't actually sentences! And this isn't in just a few place - it's every single page and almost every single paragraph. Seriously shocking editing - or, more likely, no editing whatsoever.

This book would easily have gotten 3.5-4 stars from me if it was in any way readable because I genuinely enjoyed the story itself. I'd like to read more about these characters and the village but I don't think I can slog my way through another story without any editing...