Description (from cover):'While walking her poodle, Olivia Limoges discovers a dead body buried in the sand. Could it be connected to the bizarre burglaries plaguing Oyster Bay, North Carolina? The Bayside Book Writers prick up their ears and pick up their pens to get the story...
The thieves have a distinct MO. At every crime scene, they set up odd tableaus: a stick of butter with a knife through it, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths, a deck of cards with a missing queen. Olivia realizes each setup represents a cliche.
Who better to decode the cliche clues than the Bayside Book Writers group, especially since their newest member is Police Chief Rawlings? As the investigation proceeds, Olivia is surprised to find herself falling for the widowed policeman. But an even greater surprise is in store. Her father--lost at sea thirty years ago--may still be alive...'
My thoughts:
I adore the first book in this series and I adored this one. I can go on and on about the things that make this a fantastic cozy mystery, bur I really want to focus on the one thing that really got my attention: character development. This author is the master at character development. This book opens the reader to connect with the haughty Olivia Limoges. As the reader, we get to see her struggle to change who she is to be more sociable and make friends and we get to see how she handles life when it knocks her for a loop. I simply am in awe at the author's development of her main character in this book. I feel connected to this characters and that is a major trait that many authors struggle with.
I love how this book has a mystery, but that it also focuses on Olivia and her life. Olivia is somewhat of a loner. Her haughty attitude has alienated her from the townspeople of Oyster Bay, but she does have some close friends in the Bayside Book Writers group. These friends become almost like family in this book and some strong bonds are created not only between the characters but with the reader as well. They solved a mystery before and when another strange string of robberies hits Oyster Bay, they have to take matters into their own hands.
I simply couldn't put this one down. I love cozy mysteries and tend to like them even if they are not the best written books just because I enjoy the genre so much. This author blew me away. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next one and I am probably going to be reading the whole series straight through for the next couple of days. I am now a huge fan of Ms. Adams and think that she can write an exceptional story. I adore this series and cannot stress enough how well-written this series is. I gave the last book the highest rating on my blog and I enjoyed this one way more than that one. This series just keeps getting better and better.
Overall Rating: 5+
Title: A Deadly Cliche
Author: Ellery Adams
Series: Books by the Bay Mystery #2
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 1, 2011
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
