Kendel Lynn

Disclaimer: I was given this book to review. If I hadn’t, I might not have finished it. It might help to know I’m not a big fan of cozy mystery.

The first chapter is a litany of food and no story, a confusion of who is what. But I soldiered on.

By the third chapter we had our missing person and from there the story grew. My overall impressions- the actual story was good. I enjoyed the progression and the mystery. Elliot (and why do the women in this book have boy names?) came across as not too bright. For a PI in training, she lacked some basic everyday knowledge, and when she had the final piece of the puzzle from the missing person, she lacked the deductive reasoning to put it together until the dramatic climax.

Hot and cold? Sorry, that’s kind of how it struck me. So yes, the story was good, but three stars is as good as it gets.… (més)

I’m always excited about a new Elliott Lisbon mystery being released; Kendel Lynn doesn’t publish on the typical once-a-year schedule, so you just never know when or if the next one is coming.

But they’re worth the suspense – these are well-written mysteries with solid plots and while definitely cozy, there’s nothing cutesy or twee about the characters or the plots. Shake Down starts off slow and builds slowly, with the search for a missing woman. Is she missing? Did she just take off? Was there foul play involved? Elliott Lisbon is a PI in training, putting in her required hours before receiving her license and she’s hired to find the woman, or find out what happened to her.

For spice, and possibly levity, there’s a reality tv show involved in the plot, but the ending is unexpected and, well, unexpected. This one isn’t going to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will offer you a satisfying mystery.… (més)

I've got nothing. I'm sitting down to write this review and my mind is a blank.

I'll just say I enjoyed this book at least as much as the first one (Board Stiff) and slightly less (negligible, really) than the second one (Whack Job). Ms. Lynn wrote another great mystery and the love triangle is SORTED!

The setting is beachy in a resort sort of way, the MC and cast are all likeable and three-dimensional (the scene at the gun range showed a lot of depth) and the plot surprised me at the end. The whole Amazon thing? So. damn. clever.

Chalk me up as a fan ready to buy the next one.… (més)

If, from a bibliophilic perspective, the unthinkable should happen, and I was only able to follow 10 cozy series, this would definitely be one of the keepers. There's just something wonderfully competent and enjoyable about Kendel Lynn's writing; the characters she's created feel like the kind of people I grew up with and the community resembles the kind I grew up in.

Having said that, this one didn't work quite as well as the rest. It was still better than your average cozy, but she didn't hit it out of the ballpark. The plot felt scattered, but as I write this I wonder if that wasn't part of the point. Elliott feels scattered and disconnected to her own life and job in this book, wondering what happened to her focus; the plot definitely mirrored her inner turmoil, so perhaps that was the point. If so, I still maintain the book wasn't all it could be if I didn't feel emotionally invested enough to immediately see the connection.

I'm also a little bummed at the lack of romantic spark in this one. She's got all the elements at hand, and she spent the last three books setting it up, but either she's got us in a holding pattern, or she's jumped past all the good stuff. I hope it's the former; I'd definitely like Ransom to play a more active role next time around.

For all the grumbling though, I'd still recommend this series in a New York minute. It's solidly plotted, with an intelligent female lead who is surrounded by strong intelligent women and interesting (and intelligent) men. Very few stereotypes, no caricatures. Moderate humor. I'm a solid fan.… (més)