Fowl Prey (Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries)

I'm sorry to say I just couldn't get involved with the story line. Character interaction is grating. Very negative in a pretentious way like on a sitcom. I really didn't like the way the main character spoke to her mother, almost insulting each other constantly. I tried to follow the story line but it was overshadowed by focusing on the characters acting up. After a while you feel like you have to ignore so much to get to a plot. There was nothing here to draw the reader in. I won't be continuing on this series.

This second book in the Bed and Breakfast series continues to build the characters of Judith and Renie. The story is a bit convoluted and is not possible to solve without cheating, but the development of the main characters is imporant as you continue to read the series. These first few books were good reads. What I call 'bubblegum' in that they are not War and Peace and they help to unwind from the daily stressors without being over-taxing. What I found important when I continued to read this series was it helped me get a 'feel' for the characters. Not being of their generation, each book helps you to understand why the character would put up with an overly abrasive mother, a condescending 'love of her life' husband and various and sundry other characters. Sometimes throughout the series I find myself frustrated with the lack of spine in the main character, but taking her in context helps me to understand that forcing my morals and traits on her would not be true to her generation and beliefs. So I let things slide and just enjoy the books for what they are. Nice cozy reading.

In this book Judith McMonigle, madcap proprietor of a bed-and-breakfast, leaves her establishment to go on a vacation to Vancouver with her cousin and best friend, Renie. They go to the Clovia Hotel, a favorite with Renie and her husband, and while there they meet Marie, a girlhood friend who was a professional dancer and is now married to Max, a famous producer. Marie asks her old friends to join her and her friends who are all luminaries in the theater. Early in the book there is a murder, and Marie and her friends are the chief suspects. Judith, of course, feels that she is better qualified to solve the case than are the local police investigators. She and Renie follow several red herrings and pursue the pasts of each of their eight companions, with sometimes disastrous, sometimes hilarious results. This is a pleasant "cozy" for those who enjoy the genre.