vrijdag 11 juni 2010

Margaret Grace - Murder in Miniature

This is the first book in the Miniature Mystery Series, and I just couldn’t get into the story.

Murder in miniature

Now that Geraldine Porter is retired, she’s got time to devote to her favourite craft. You’d think the world of shoe-box-sized Victorian shadowboxes and little ceramic bathtubs would be trouble free. But Gerry’s problems are anything but tiny…

As chairwoman of the local Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair and babysitter for her precocious granddaughter, Gerry’s got enough to think about without the curious behavior of her friend Linda Reed. Misfortune seems to follow Linda like a string of melted glue from a low-end glue gun. So when Linda and her prized miniature Governor Winthrop desk go missing the morning of the fair, a worried and annoyed Gerry gets stuck manning two tables alone. Before the week is out, a young woman and prominent townsperson are murdered, an Linda’s Governor Winthrop turns up in a most bizarre place. Then someone starts threatening Gerry. And Linda knows more than she lets on. Now Gerry must get to the bottom of things, or it’s going to be big trouble …



I just couldn’t get into the story. I didn’t sympathize with any of the characters. I didn’t know anything about making miniatures before I started reading, and I still don’t know much more. I do know it will never be one of my hobbies.

The fact that every one called one of the characters Just Eddy, because he didn’t want to tell his last name, was very irritating to me.

Gerry has to help her friend Linda stay out of prison when she is the most likely suspect in the murder of Harold Crane, when her adopted son Jason is the main suspect of robbing the same man a week ago. It is a really convoluted story with Linda, her stepson and her two ex-husbands. Gerry’s other friend, who is also her sister-in-law, her granddaughter and her nephew the police officer in charge of the investigations. Add to that as background a political rally with two large camps, and loud followers and demonstraters.

I keep thinking about why I don’t like the book. I only could read a few pages at a time, before tossing it away again. I guess I don’t like the layout of the book. Little chapters in chapters. And I miss the humor I like in other books, and perhaps that little touch of romance most cozies do have.

So, I am glad the book is finished at last, because in the end I wanted to know who did it. I never got the clues Gerry got, or perhaps enough of the background to understand the relations between the people in it. I am not going to read more of this author/series, and have already picked up the next Joanne Fluke to relax with.

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