Review: Okay, but weaker than the first book
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2012
I read the first book in this cozy mystery series,Sweet Ginger Poison (Ginger Lightley Short Novel Mystery Series: Vol. 1), last year, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Ginger Dead House is the follow-up to the first book; it can be read as a stand-alone, but it would probably help to know some of the main characters from the first short novel, as there wasn't much in the way of characterisation in this instalment.The central mystery was interesting enough (and while I'd worked out some parts of it, I hadn't guessed everything by the end), and Ginger Lightley isn't a bad little old lady sleuth as little old lady sleuths go, but this book didn't work quite as well for me as the first one. The pacing felt a bit off - too rushed and choppy, the characterisation of regulars relied too much on people having read and remembering the first book, and the supporting cast felt flat. I also found the style, especially the very short declarative sentences and short paragraphs, a little tiresome.Still, all in all, I'd say it's a perfectly passable little cozy mystery. I didn't spot any obvious grammar issues, although an editor might have caught the change in one character's name (Libby turned into Lilly from one chapter to the next), and I was pleasantly delighted by the excellent formatting of the Kindle book. (Not something that can always be taken for granted, unfortunately, so I feel it deserves a positive mention!)