Author: Barbara Ventkataraman
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Format: Kindle Edition
Pages: 263 (Print)
Publication Date: 09/11/2015
Publisher: Amazon Digital Servies
★★★★☆
Finally, life is good for reluctant family law attorney, Jamie Quinn--her father may get his visa soon, her boyfriend is the bomb, and her law practice is growing like crazy--but when she agrees to take on a high-profile divorce case, everything falls apart. What looked like an opportunity to work with her friend Grace and make some serious bucks has turned into a deadly game, one that could destroy their friendship and tear their town apart. Why couldn't Jamie just leave well enough alone?
Let me start by saying that not that long back, I reviewed the Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection. You need to know before I say anything else, that I absolutely love this series. I've been in communication with the author and feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to get to know this series.
This book hit for me in a time when cozy mysteries have been falling flat. I've read a number of them in the past two years where the events of the story don't follow a logical pattern, the mystery is either impossible or too easy for the reader to solve, and the characters are flat rather than fun.
Jamie Quinn brings us back to a time when cozy mysteries were everything they were supposed to be. So let me talk about the things that are great about this book, since I can't find fault with this novel at all, really (seriously, it's a 4.5 star book for me but I always round down on those so that the 5-star books really stand out).
I originally reviewed the Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection on Amazon. (Click to read my review.) If you're interested, you should read that review, as one of the key points that I want to make about Engaged in Danger is that it is remarkably better than the previous three books in the series. And when I say "remarkably," I mean it.
In this case, that's saying something, because I enjoyed the first three books in the series, too (and I believe you will, too, so why haven't you bought them yet?).
The main thing that I really loved about this book was the fact that I was able to piece together the clues without the author (or the heroine) making the connections overly obvious. In this way, the reveal neither made me cock my head to the side and say "huh?" nor did it make me groan and say "well that was obvious!"
Jamie therefore comes across as intelligent and amusing rather than inept and idiotic (which has been my experience with a lot of cozy mystery series lately). Her wit and relationships with the secondary and tertiary characters in this book make her easier for me to relate to and these traits brought me into the story.
She's not perfect, by any means, and she's definitely the same old Jamie from the previous books (if you've read them), but she's gaining confidence, growing as a character (way to go, Ms. Venkataraman!), and her relationships are developing.
When you're writing a series, this is crucial to holding the interest of the reader, and it's one area that this author is doing things absolutely right!
One big factor when I'm rating books (and in particular when I'm recommending them) is how long it took me to actually finish reading the book. This one took me three days, one of which I didn't actually read at all due to personal stress and activity.
I'm a slow reader, and this book wasn't especially short, so that indicates two things.
The first is that the language of the book is easy to follow and that I didn't have to go back to keep re-reading something where I'd missed a point (or a clue) due to difficult-to-read language. I like my fiction to be enjoyable, not academic!
The second is that the story moved well and kept me wanting to read. I didn't have to force myself to pick up this book, groaning the whole time and feeling terrible because I wanted to get it reviewed. Instead, I loved this book and wanted to read it.
If your taste in books is anything like mine, you're going to love this one, so I think that you should take the opportunity to snag a copy (it's only available on Kindle at the present time) and give it a read. If you haven't already, take a look at the other books in this series.
Please note that this review contains affiliate links. You help support my book habit by purchasing the books I review!
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for my honest review. The thoughts and opinions contained herein are solely my own.
Thanks so much, Becki! You made my day!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad! I loved reading it and I hope to read much more from you!
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