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peggyemi's review
4.0
It is time to return once again to Celebration Bay and just in time for Halloween. This is the 4th installment of this series from author Shelley Freydont and I find this to be a very enjoyable series. This is a well written story with a nice pace. The mystery has twists and turns and Ms. Freydont throws in some red herrings to provide some distractions as to the identity of the real killer. In addition, the characters in this town are wonderful, including Whiskey, the Westie owned by Liv Montgomery, the main character and town event planner. They are an eclectic mix of individuals who are likable and have the feel of people you would meet in a small town. She has created such a wonderful town and engaging, fun inhabitants that the reader is drawn into the story and forgets that Celebration Bay is a fictional place. My only request for Ms. Freydont is that I would like to see a little more development of a few of the re-occurring characters. Otherwise, this is a great Halloween themed cozy and fans of Ms. Freydont.
staticdisplay's review against another edition
3.0
this had a bunch of Halloween details, including haunted houses and a zombie parade, which is a lot better than many cozy mysteries with a holiday theme. I vaguely remembered the characters, I think I've read one other book from this series. the mystery is about a woman whose body is found near a vandalized haunted house. I would have given this a higher rating, except: 1. the weirdness about witches - witches are just people? and 2. all of the guys following Liv around, and her thoughts about how she can't date because of gossip... it didn't come across as cute and funny to me, I thought she actually wasn't angry enough. plus, everyone dismissing it as a way to show that they "care" was irritating, too, because if people "care" in a way that's disrespectful or controlling, I wouldn't just write it off like that. plus, part of the story is that Liv is considering whether she made the right choice to move to Celebration Bay, and I found her longing for Manhattan life more convincing than her decision to stay.
cj_mo_2222's review against another edition
4.0
This series by Shelley Freydont is charming and has such a clever premise. The town of Celebration Bay, New York really enjoys each holiday that comes up all throughout the year. Liv Montgomery, whose job it is to organize all of the various festivities, seems to spend her free time solving murders on the side.
“Trick or Deceit” is set during Halloween and I enjoyed reading about all of the events, such as a haunted house competition, in Celebration Bay. I like Liv, with all of her energy and plans for the town, along with her enigmatic assistant Ted. I love the idea of celebrating each and every holiday with gusto the way they do in this festive town. This installment started out slow and it took a while for me to get into the story, even though I’ve read and enjoyed each of the prior books in this series. My affection for the characters got me through and I wanted to keep reading to discover the identity the actual murderer out of the various suspects Liv investigated. Because of the slower pace of this book, I would give it 3.5 stars, but because I enjoy the characters and this series so much, I have rounded up to four stars. I am looking forward to the next book and hope it has the spark and excitement of the earlier books.
“Trick or Deceit” is set during Halloween and I enjoyed reading about all of the events, such as a haunted house competition, in Celebration Bay. I like Liv, with all of her energy and plans for the town, along with her enigmatic assistant Ted. I love the idea of celebrating each and every holiday with gusto the way they do in this festive town. This installment started out slow and it took a while for me to get into the story, even though I’ve read and enjoyed each of the prior books in this series. My affection for the characters got me through and I wanted to keep reading to discover the identity the actual murderer out of the various suspects Liv investigated. Because of the slower pace of this book, I would give it 3.5 stars, but because I enjoy the characters and this series so much, I have rounded up to four stars. I am looking forward to the next book and hope it has the spark and excitement of the earlier books.
meliaraastair's review against another edition
3.0
Liv is back as Celebration Bay's event planner, where every season is another way to bring in guests. This time it's Halloween, and the winner has just been picked when a judge turns up dead inside the ransacked winner's house. Meanwhile, a former acquaintance from the city is coming in to hopefully fall in love with the town and hopefully be willing to put in a good word for a new community center. But how can the town put its best foot forward with this nefarious action going around?
I read the first three books in this series a few years ago and remember really enjoying them, so I'm not sure if this book was just difference or if I've just been feeling more picky this week. Liv is a little more grating than I remember, there is a little less about the town fun, and more about personal drama. The characters otherwise have potential to be really entertaining, but nothing really interesting happened with any of the side characters in this story. Liv just kind of floats through her "I'm better than everyone else cause I used to be from the city" - which is not how I remember her - and does her own thing and she doesn't interact with the other characters as much as I wish.
I can't really put my finger on why, but I had a lot of trouble staying focused on this book. From my memory, the first three were a lot better, so I'd recommend those. But skip this latest installment.
I'll go 6 of 10 overall and 4 of 5 for readability. Not terrible, not amazing, but didn't keep my attention well.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
I read the first three books in this series a few years ago and remember really enjoying them, so I'm not sure if this book was just difference or if I've just been feeling more picky this week. Liv is a little more grating than I remember, there is a little less about the town fun, and more about personal drama. The characters otherwise have potential to be really entertaining, but nothing really interesting happened with any of the side characters in this story. Liv just kind of floats through her "I'm better than everyone else cause I used to be from the city" - which is not how I remember her - and does her own thing and she doesn't interact with the other characters as much as I wish.
I can't really put my finger on why, but I had a lot of trouble staying focused on this book. From my memory, the first three were a lot better, so I'd recommend those. But skip this latest installment.
I'll go 6 of 10 overall and 4 of 5 for readability. Not terrible, not amazing, but didn't keep my attention well.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
cantwelljr's review against another edition
2.0
This was just ok. The mystery was pretty mediocre, the villain was pretty obvious, none of the red herrings were very tricky. It's a serviceable cozy mystery and if you like the main character and the town, it's probably more like a 3 star. BUT. While I like the amateur detective just fine, I could not stand the people in the town she lived in. Somehow the same tropes and stereotypes that are totally fine in Murder She Wrote are completely unacceptable in this book. Part of that I think is due to the age of the sleuth; Liv (the event planner and amateur sleuth) is much younger than Jessica Fletcher and doesn't get the respect that comes with age. Also, the men in this book basically treat her like a teenager; they either want to hook up with her or they want to control her dating life. It's so infuriating. And the constant refrain from other women of "they're just like that because they care about you" is even more infuriating. I just wanted to be like NO, the reason they're like that is because they have a misplaced sense of superiority and lack of respect for her autonomy. Yes, these guys do care about her but they would never behave that way if she was a man. This book made me hate small towns in New England.
All patriarchal problems and boring plot aside, I just don't think I could read more from this series because I still can't get over the idea of an entire town banking its entire culture and economy on the idea of going in hard on every single holiday. Just too weird.
PS: What the hell was up with all the pearl clutching over the witches?? This was from 2015, not 1955. Good lord.
All patriarchal problems and boring plot aside, I just don't think I could read more from this series because I still can't get over the idea of an entire town banking its entire culture and economy on the idea of going in hard on every single holiday. Just too weird.
PS: What the hell was up with all the pearl clutching over the witches?? This was from 2015, not 1955. Good lord.
murderbydeath's review
3.0
3.5 stars
The mystery in this one was pretty easy; I spotted the killer fairly early on and the motivation was somewhat obvious. Still, it kept my attention and it was a fun read themed for Halloween.
Wordier review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/1279307/trickordeceit
The mystery in this one was pretty easy; I spotted the killer fairly early on and the motivation was somewhat obvious. Still, it kept my attention and it was a fun read themed for Halloween.
Wordier review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/1279307/trickordeceit
julieputty's review
3.0
Pretty standard cozy entry. If cozies are your thing, it's fine. The interactions of Ted and Whiskey are the most entertaining part. The rather overblown self-importance of Liv the least.
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