Gabby Allan

cozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor, small-business, small-town, relationships, relatives, friendship, frustration, amateur-sleuth, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, lol-humor, island-life, family, family-drama, family-dynamics, family-history, investigation, pet-cat, unputdownable, relationship-issues, lifestyle-issues

The past comes back in the graveyard and murder comes along for the ride.
Whitney escaped the corporate life and returned to her zany family/boat tour business/gift shop/creation of puzzles and treasure maps on Catalina Island. She's also tiptoeing through a relationship with an old crush who is now a part time SCUBA diver for the police while running his own diving business.
Grandma Goldy is a real hoot, and she's not the only one! The publisher's blurb is a pretty good hook, but the laughs are nonstop! Lots of misdirection, plot twists, red herrings, and humor that kept me turning pages! Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (más)

An old feud between two families is brought to the forefront when a body is found on the golf course. Part of the feuding families, a coverup regarding the death takes place immediately, and false claims are made. It will take Whitney some time to tear into this mystery, especially since she doesn’t want to. She is still trying to get her shop to turn a decent profit, and to work with her grandmother who sometimes tends to take over the control. A bit slow moving at times, this story is still entertaining. The characters are interesting, and though Whit has a boyfriend, the romance doesn’t overpower the mystery.… (más)

I always hate when I give a book less than four stars because I know how much time and energy, along with a bit of the author’s soul, goes into each book. While the elements of what I really enjoyed in the first book in this cozy mystery series, Much Ado About Nauticaling is still there, it felt to me that Gabby Allan isn’t completely sure what direction she wants this series to go in (the main character already has two jobs and is thinking about doing another) and that made the story lag for me.

And then there’s my biggest annoyance when it comes to some Cozies; when there is so much going over the list of suspects and their motives and not nearly enough story. I found myself skimming a lot because the same information was given again and again. Give me more details of the town, the stores, take cruises on the glass bottom boat, describe some of the food or the animals or smells of the seaside. Have the characters get together for other things besides listing the motives, give Goldy and Pops even more page time then they had.

As for the ending, it felt really rushed (and I usually let this pass since a lot of Cozies do this), but it also felt really, really far-fetched, even for fiction. Having two warring families together in one place with barely any conflict. And then once the whodunnit is announced, none of the family reacts violently, and then the book is done.

I’ll try one more in the series since I did enjoy the first one, but with so many great Cozy series out there and not enough time to read every book, sometimes I have to drop series from my to be read pile.… (más)

island-life, family, family-dynamics, family-business, investigation, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, friendship, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, small-business, small-town, cozy-mystery, feuding-families, situational-humor, verbal-humor*****

Whitney escaped the corporate life and returned to her zany family/boat tour business/gift shop/creation of puzzles and treasure maps on Catalina Island. She's also tiptoeing through a relationship with an old crush who is now a part time SCUBA diver for the police while running his own diving business. And now there's a new murder, but the relatives are pushing for a ruling of suicide. Lots of misdirection, plot twists, red herrings, and humor that kept me turning pages! Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (más)