Review: A total delight!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2013
This is the third book featuring Verity Long, the sort of young, sassy, intelligent and feisty gal I still am - in my head!  It's the first I've read though, and it's a novella rather than a full length novel, as the others are.  There's a crime writers' conference and authors, researchers, agents and publishers are gathered there.  The murder victim is the sort of creep who has you cheering the murderer!  There are crime writing clichés (it's a locked room mystery) and lots of wry humour.  I love mysteries and thrillers, and often read the hard, dark and gritty kind, but this is light, frothy and a total delight!I loved the writing style.  There was some really good description of the gardens in the early morning, for example, which delighted me.  It wasn't self-conscious; it was part of the scene setting but was so good.  Naturally, most of the characters were two-dimensional - there were plenty of them and the work isn't long enough to go any deeper - but they were all individual - no mixing up characters who are too many and too similar.  I found this an easy read and a well-balanced story.  I enjoyed it very much.