Reviews

Best Laid Plans by Gwen Florio

theavidreaderandbibliophile's review

3.0

Best Laid Plans by Gwen Florio is the first book in A Nora Best Mystery series. Nora Best has just turned fifty and is about to make some big changes. Nora and her husband, Joe have quit their jobs and sold their home. They have purchased a truck and an Airstream. They are going to travel around the country with Nora writing her second book, a travel blog, and taking freelance writing assignments (which will pay for their adventures). During the farewell party, Nora enters the bathroom to find her husband and his best friend’s wife in a compromising position. Nora decides to begin her adventure early by taking off with the truck and Airstream. Nora soon finds herself arrested for murder and she needs to uncover who is setting her up. I was taken with the concept of this series. Our protagonist traveling around and solving mysteries. I liked that Nora is a woman my own age (a rarity in cozy mysteries). I was, though, put off with the significant amount of foul language, alcohol, and talk of intimate situations. The story is told from Nora’s point-of-view which turned me off because of her thoughts (and they say men have a one track mind). I can understand that Nora has had some shocks, but I wish she had acted logically. An example is when the attorney tells her that the police will soon have a warrant and will be searching her Airstream for further evidence. I would go through the trailer with a fine-tooth comb. Nora heads off to the lake to enjoy the view. I was hoping the whodunit would redeem the book, but I was disappointed. It can easily be solved early in the book thanks to one little detail. I thought the book contained many unneeded details along with repetition of information and the second half was a little off the rails (headed to crazy town). As you can tell, I was not the right audience for Best Laid Plans. Nora is an unlikeable protagonist who I would not let near my husband (if I had one). She begins ogling a man less than two days after leaving her husband and has thoughts of doing more than sharing a dinner with him. I also tired of hearing about the husband’s perfect tush. Best Laid Plans is an outrageous mystery tale with a missing man, a ravenous bear, a razor-sharp axe, an awesome Airstream, scrumptious pie, and a remarkable ranger.

k13raz's review

2.0

2.5

Liked the setting and description of pie. And the character of Forever. Quick read.

Disliked the protagonist (found her pretty annoying at times and ignorant which is probably pretty realistic). Guess I just prefer to read mysteries that focus more on who done it/is the missing person alive or dead rather than when will they sleep together, etc.

katelyn_russell's review

slow-paced

2.0

It was really hard to follow and I kept getting the characters confused. And to me, it had a disappointing ending.

on_your_raedar's review

Giving the author another try though I didn’t like her other book. The writing just didn’t land with me.

annarella's review

4.0

This is the good start of a new series that has a lot of potential.
I liked it and found it engrossing and entertaining. Like any book in a new series you get to know the character and their background. I liked Nora and will be happy to read again about her.
The mystery is solid and, even if it wasn't hard to guess the culprit, it kept my attention.
Look forward to reading the next installment, this one is recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine