Loved, Hated, Laughed, and Cried, but Why?

I have a secret that I should probably confess. All my life, I’ve had this crazy, inexplicable love of mysteries.

Shocker, right?

Well, yeah. What can I say? It’s a thing. I blame my mother, and no… not because she used a Nancy Drew book to teach me to read—or so I’ve heard. Though I can remember a couple of events that happened when I wasn’t even two yet, I don’t remember learning to read. But, several people have mentioned that I asked and the nearest book was a Nancy Drew on a nearby shelf.

Now, look. I don’t think I actually read all the book and comprehended it. If I know mom, she just used it to point out words and teach me how to sound them out. The memory of sitting on our couch in Fillmore, my legs sticking straight out in front of me, and reading a “Little Golden Book” tells me this is so. I suspect it was The Jolly Barnyard. My childhood dream was to have that birthday cake that his wife makes him at the end of the book.

From there, I progressed to chapter books—don’t remember all of them, but there were lots. Then I got old enough for multi-chapters, and things changed.

I devoured books. Meg Mysteries, Bobbsey Twins (I didn’t care for them as much), The Boxcar Children, Trixie Belden, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew. Later, I fell in love with Phyllis Whitney.

The older I got, the more genres I tried. However, mingled with everything was always a healthy mixture of mystery and suspense.

Don’t even get me started on the day I discovered Agatha Christie.

Speaking of Dame Agatha, did you know that I wrote a “What if” story about how she could have come up with Hercule Poirot? You can find that HERE.

Dad bought me a lot of the mysteries. Sometimes for Christmas, others “just because,” and birthdays. I think I must have always gotten a new one near or for my birthday.

Well… Saturday is my birthday. Dad won’t be buying me a book this year… he hasn’t bought me a birthday gift since I was… probably seventeen. But I saw a new series of books a while back that made me think of him. I thought, “You know, if Dad was going to buy me a gift and he saw those, he’d buy ‘em. I know it.”

So, I got them for myself—all of them (and some are on Kindle Unlimited! Squee!). The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott. Isn’t that the most fabulous series title ever? The covers are awesome, too. Seriously, I’m almost giddy.

What else was there to do but plan a week-long celebration of this new series. The plan was to read them over the last two weeks and then here we go!

Too bad the fault lines running under our ground didn’t catch that memo. With all the craziness that has happened in the last week and a half (including over 10K aftershocks, mind you), I didn’t read a word until last night.

To say I was a bit panicked is um… a huge understatement.

What if I hated the things? Eeep!

Okay, I have to admit that I didn’t think that was possible. First, I’ve chatted with Perry enough to know that she knows her business. And second, c’mon. Accidental detective… in Phoenix? Of course, I’m going to like it. Right?

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Loved, Hated, Laughed, and Cried, but Why?

People always say that reviews are hard to write, so a couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post. “The Quick and Dirty Guide to Easy Book Reviews.” I figured if it was such a hard thing for folks, let’s make it easy.

In that post, I said all you need are four things—five if you want to be amazing. Just write one sentence about each and boom, you’re done. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Of course, we all know I rarely do that.

Well, since this week is going to have FIVE reviews about one series (plus another review or two), I decided to just make myself use my own method. So here goes… (but then I get to write more after the last one. Deal?)

Here goes.

I loved the characters, quirkiness, and concept of this fast-paced and utterly delightful book, Red Rover, Red Rover—the first of the Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott.

Though the story was charming and engrossing in every way, I did hate that it ended and way too soon—that might be because it’s a short read of only 167 pages.

I laughed at Emily’s snappy dialogue and Brent’s ever-changing code names; although, what might be even better is that he is already known for it before the book opens, so it’s part of who he is!

I cried—okay, I didn’t cry, but I did sweat bullets for the characters a time or two, and that’s sort of close to crying (said in my best Jane Andrews voice).

Absolutely recommended for anyone who loves a fun “mystery,” a bit of suspense, and a whole lot of spyness going on. Extra bonus if you love snappy dialogue and someone eager to have an adventure rather than someone scared and freaking out every other second.

Stay tuned for news about the next one… tomorrow! 

(Sorry, folks on the newsletter. I hope you’ll hang tight through this week’s deluge of posts!)

Title: Red Rover, Red Rover

Author: Perry Kirkpatrick

Synopsis:  He’s a spy, and he needs her help…

Emily Abbott is working hard as a coffee barista in downtown Phoenix, keeping one eye on her tiny college fund and the other on the mysterious new guy with his profound lack of coffee-making skills. Just when she thinks they might be getting the hang of working together, she’s abruptly thrust into his world of espionage and danger.

Brent Peterson needs her help to keep Red Rover safe and the information he carries out of the wrong hands. But she’s just a barista—what can she do?
Much more than she thinks.

“The Accidental Cases of Emily Abbott” is a series of clean spy-comedies set in Phoenix, Arizona.

1. Red Rover, Red Rover
2. Plan to Fail – (Review HERE) 
3. Bad Things, Small Packages – (Review HERE)
4. Tutor, Nanny, Spit-up, Spy – (Review HERE)
5. A-Spying We Will Go – (Review HERE)
6. Once Upon a Dime – August 26, 2019  (Review coming)