Read and Buried by Erika Chase

First Line: "Lizzie Turner, you'd like a signed copy of Derek Alton's award-winning book, wouldn't you?"

Lizzie Turner makes a trip to her local bookstore, and before she knows what's hit her, she's agreed that one-hit wonder author Derek Alton will appear at the next Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society meeting. Under the guise of learning more about the book club's members, Alton proceeds to make moves on Lizzie-- which she most definitely does not appreciate. But what she really doesn't appreciate is when Alton is murdered in her own home and she's the number one suspect. Lizzie's beau (and the local police chief) Mark Dreyfus not only has to go where the circumstantial evidence is leading him, he's not thrilled about the dead man putting the moves on his girlfriend. This is one case that the Ashton Corners book club has to solve... fast!

This second book in the Ashton Corners series is a light, fun read, and sure to please cozy mystery readers. Due to the events in the first book, A Killer Read, the characters are evolving, and I'm still enjoying the information Chase shares about Lizzie's job as a literacy specialist for the local school board. Lizzie has managed to get a young teenage girl interested in reading by starting her out on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum mysteries. As this book club group of sleuths begin investigating, I got several chuckles from young Andie applying what she's learned from Stephanie to the case they're all trying to solve. Another feature that I enjoy is at the very end: a list of recommended books by each member of the book club. Since this is a mystery readers' book club, it's easy to gather several good titles to read in those last two pages alone. If you're like me and have read many of the recommendations, it's easy to use the list to see which member's reading tastes are most like your own.

Probably due to all the crime fiction I read, I'm becoming rather adept at identifying the killers in books rather quickly. I did so in this case, but I wasn't bothered by it at all. As in most books, it's not so much who did it as why. (And I have to admit that I'm not nearly as good at guessing the Eternal Why!)

Read and Buried is light, fun, and quick to read. I know I'm not the only one looking forward to book number three!

Read and Buried by Erika Chase

ISBN: 9780425251782

Berkley Prime Crime © 2012

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Ashton Corners Book Club

Rating: B

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen

A Killer Read by Erika Chase

First Line: "I've got an idea, Lizzie... why don't you just do, like, brain surgery or something on me."

Literacy specialist Lizzie Turner's days don't always run smoothly, especially when she has a reader as reluctant as teenager Andrea Mason. But Lizzie doesn't know the meaning of the word quit, and she's inspired to invite Andrea to the very first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society.

What no one bargains for is the fact that the man who barges in on the meeting is found shortly afterwards shot dead in his car at the end of the driveway. The man was murdered with an antique gun stolen from member Molly Mathews' house, and when Officer Amber Craig focuses her attention on the members of the book club, Lizzie knows that she's going to have to find some sort of information that will make the human pit bull stop wasting time and chase after the real killer.

Author Erika Chase has the perfect premise for a cozy: a mystery readers book club set in small town Alabama whose main member is a literacy specialist who works with school boards, students, and teachers as well as teaching evening literacy classes. It's fun watching Lizzie trying to find that one spark of inspiration that will encourage someone to read, to keep on reading, and eventually to read for the sheer pleasure of it.

The fellow book club members are a varied lot: a retired police chief, a wealthy elderly widow, a school teacher, an unwed mother, a lawyer, and a high school student. Their varied ages, backgrounds, personalities and areas of expertise should prove to be fertile soil for future books in this new series. When you add romantic interest for Lizzie in the form of an old high school crush and her two Siamese cats named Edam and Brie, about the only other thing you could possibly need are lists of each book club member's reading recommendations-- mystery after mystery for crime fiction lovers of all types.

I found A Killer Read to be enjoyable from beginning to end in regards to both characterization and setting. Since it is set in Alabama, I was wondering how the author would handle regional speech, and I was pleased to see that Chase adds just enough to provide true Southern flavor without going over the top. Only the pickiest of readers should object to the number of times words like "y'all" appear in the book.

I did find one or two things that bothered me a bit. Each chapter begins with a quote from a mystery novel. Enough of these quotes are from books whose authors have also written blurbs for A Killer Read that it all seemed a bit like mutual admiration society overkill. Also, I've (unfortunately) gotten rather used to a bit of shoddy proofreading in the books I read, but this book has an error that shines like the brightest of beacons. The author obviously meant to refer to a Jack Russell terrier, but the dog remained a Jack Daniels terrier all the way through the editing process. I did check to see if there was a new breed of dog I wasn't aware of, but alas, no.

I also felt that the book's pacing was too slow, and I think the reason why it did seem to grind to a halt from time to time was because the author gives so much detail of Lizzie Turner's life and work. It wasn't long before I knew which nights she taught literacy classes, which night was choir practice, what days she tutored students, and so forth. I really feel as though I know Lizzie quite well-- and like her-- but all the repetitive information did slow the mystery down.

Yes, these things did bother me a bit, but I still found A Killer Read to be fun from beginning to end. Now that I know Lizzie and her friends so well, I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

A Killer Read by Erika Chase

ISBN: 9780425247037

Berkley Prime Crime © 2012

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Amateur Sleuth, Cozy, #1 Ashton Corners Book Club mystery

Rating: B

Source: Paperback Swap