CANAPES FOR THE KITTIES starts rather slowly, but it never drags. This light and easy-to-read cozy reminded me a bit of Christie in the atmosphere it built up. About a third of the way into the book, it turns creepy and more interesting. Good premise, nice structure, likeable characters (mostly mystery writers!) -- and I love the cats! I wasn't too happy with the outcome -- I thought MY theory of who did it would have been more interesting! But still worthwhile for the nice, fun visit to a friendly village of eccentrics. Nicely done. This is my first Babson. Now I'll look for more!

Although feline references play a dominant role on the cover and title of Marian Babson's latest cozy, it is a gallery of mystery writers who do the catting about when they move into the same English neighborhood occupied by a collection of rivals.

The kitties do play a supporting role, a duo named Had-I and But-Known, owned by cozy writer Lucinda Lucas, and Roscoe, by Macho Magee (formerly known as Lancelot Dalrymple). But they act as cats, not as characters on a par with their owners, as seen in Rita Mae Brown's series, nor do they offer hints as to who done it, as in Lillian Jackson Braun.

No, like the cats, Babson wants to play with the English literary scene, so her authors are beset by the neighborhood's new arrivals: the venomous critic Plantagenet Sutton, a college professor who collects writers like some collect butterflies, and a husband-and-wife duo seeking to record in camera and prose a year in the life of a charming English village. Not only that, but the characters in Lucinda and Macho's books seem to be acting up as well, resenting their creators' plans to replace them with other series.

Babson is a writer with a long track record, and she capably serves up in "Canapes for the Kitties" a charming, breezy cozy laced with some tart darts thrown at some tempting targets.

Dick Francis has his horses, Sue Grafton has her alphabet.

Babson has her cats and they figure in some way (generally quite funny)in each of her mysteries.

This book, like all of Ms. Babson's, is short, a fast read, excellently written and quite funny. She draws her characters quite well and describes the surroundings with such broad strokes that you can almost see it.

While others fall down on the job, with each new title Marian Babson holds onto the title of champion.

The author writes a clear summery of the case falling prey to repitition in places. However, I cannot be persuaded by the author's conclusions. It seems that the auther should have paid more attention to the "Iago of the Vestry" who had a previous affair with the murdered woman, was bitterly dumped by the murdered woman, just happened to be on the scene the night the murder happened and whose car mysteriously went up in flames shortly thereafter. Also, what happened to Daniel?

What was the cause of those murders? Why did it occur then, when the affair was going on for years? I have a suggested solution.

It happened a few days after the Halls came back from their New England vacation in the mountains. I think something happened there, where Mrs Hall had a narrow escape from a fatal accident while with the Reverend. She thought about it, and realized that if she had an accident, Reverend Ed would inherit her fortune, and be free to seek another rich wife. Eleanor would be dropped like yesterday's newspaper. Mrs Hall discussed this with her brothers, and they decided to confront the Reverend while he was with Eleanor, so he could not deny the affair, and would be forced to end it. The emotional interaction escalated beyond reason, and the deaths occurred. The best laid plans of mice and men still go astray.

The case was not solved so justice would triumph over the law. The Reverend Ed messed up his own marriage, and destroyed the Mills' marriage. Alive, he would break up another marriage. It was all for the best. When someone poor falls in love with a rich person, the poor person often comes to an unhappy ending. The rich have many resources to accomplish their ends. This is the moral of "Love Story", that love does not triumph over material facts. No matter how hard you wish it were different. Love conquers all? Forget about it!

This newer compilation was written after everyone involved had died. It lacks an index to its many photographs, and complements Kunstler's book. Page 71 mentions the curious phone call from Eleanor; doesn't it sound like a coded message? The posed photo on the cover lacks the letters.

Chapter 12 ridicules the "Pig Woman"; is this just class bias? He says "her story changed"; but is this unusual? I believe her story to be true since it dovetails with other known facts. Tomlinson says her story was made up because of the "Oh Henry" cry; yet this just happened to be her brother's name! (Or was it her version of "Oh Hell"?) You can test if a khaki coat (or pants) looks gray in the moonlight.

Many times the author questions statements made by the people involved, as reported in the newspapers. Then or now, how reliable are newspaper stories? Page 217 uses the word "katzenjammer". Think of a cat when it wants to go outside: frantic and nervous. Page 226 tells how fingerprints could be forged in the 1920s. On pages 236-7 Tomlinson commits the folly of trying to analyze someone from a long ago newspaper account; it doesn't convince me, and seems like a smear of the chief prosecution witness. Why use the comments of Salome Cerenner when there is no corroboration? His description of psychopaths' "grossly inflated sense of their self-worth and importance" sounds like many managers found in the corporate world. Jane Gibson's story was checked out by the detectives; Kunstler's book explains this. Does her story sound too good to be true? Is it very different from other eyewitness stories?

Chapter 23 shows Tomlinson doing a better job than Kunstler in analyzing Willie's testimony (p.253), and in the story of the examination of Reverend Hall's checkbook (p.271). His comments on Simpson (p.300) seems to be just a whitewash of the trial. On page 309 Tomlinson rules out the Stevens as not the type to murder to avenge family honor. Were they from South Carolina where that was more common? On page 313 Tomlinson mentions Jeffrey MacDonald; he needs to read "Fatal Justice".

Chapter 29 provides "One Man's Solution" which makes Willie the sole perpetrator. He talks about the failed marriage of the Mills, but says nothing about the Halls; why not? After earlier rejecting Jane Gibson's story, he adopts it as his solution! His comments as to a blood-stained Apperson and Willie's suit are very good! I believe his solution is wrong because he previously rejected Jan Gibson's testimony but adopted it for Chapter 29. The straw hat covering Reverend Hall's face says somebody wanted to keep the crows from pecking at and disfiguring the face; I think this says Mrs. Hall. The throat cutting and excision of the tongue and larynx suggests jealous hatred; I think this says a woman used to cutting up chickens. Some say the 1926 trial was bungled because of the 'not guilty' verdict. But it also succeeded in preventing the Stevens from ever being prosecuted!

I am a fan of Balogh, but this is below her usual high standards! The hero of the novel, Nigel "Nige" Wetherby is "slender," with perfectly curled and powdered hair tied in a satin bow. Following this description is the prompt assurance that he is not effete! Despite assurances, however, Nigel fails to excite one's imagination. He is a wimpy character, totally lacking in the usual masculine epithets such as strong, muscular, tall, etc. I found myself hoping that he would not claim the attentions of the fair Casandra. But alas, that is the whole point of this book! Further, though Balogh attempts to remain true to the time-period by using Regency-type vernacular, she over-uses certain expressions. Each page has either a Cor-Blimey, Zounds, La or I'faith. The lack of variation and uninspiring hero make for a cumbersome and monotonous read.

I bought this book, started reading it, and then put it down. I was rather turned off by the first couple of chapters. However, recently, desparate for something to read, I picked this up to finish it. It was worth it.

Balogh develops the relationship between her hero & heroine in a compelling manner. Contrary to another opinion expressed here, I don't think Nigel is at all "wimpy."

Keep an open mind as you read the initial chapters. It's worth the effort.

It's Cassandra's twenty-first birthday, and she's blissfully happy. Having inherited the Earldom of Worthing in her own right (she's the countess), she's looking forward to the freedom of managing her own property without interference from her relatives - all of whom she loves, but who persist in treating her as a child.

But an unexpected guest arrives: Nigel, Viscount Wroxley, who claims to have been a friend of Cassandra's late father. Nigel charms Cassandra, much to the disgust of her relatives, and she finds herself very much drawn to this handsome, charming and very attentive man. So when he asks her to marry him, she has little hesitation in saying yes.

Balogh lets her readers know early on that Nigel has at least one ulterior motive for coming to Kedleston and for wanting to marry Cassadra. I guessed relatively early what these motives might have been, but I was very unsure, certainly with regard to the second, of whether I was correct. Balogh plays her cards very close to her chest in this book, leaving the readers, as well as Cassandra, guessing as to whether Nigel is really a villain in need of reforming, or a very badly-misunderstood good guy.

Balogh very cleverly doesn't allow her characters to sink into uncommunicative misunderstanding in this book; although Cassandra is furious when she finds out part of the truth about Nigel, she doesn't lock herself into her room and stay there. Instead, she decides that she will not be afraid of him, and as a result we get some wonderful scenes in which her love for him - and his for her - battles with her dislike of what he did.

There are also a couple of delightful secondary romances in this book, something I always like.

Oh, and as for the reader from San Diego who didn't like Nigel as a romantic hero, isn't it a bit shallow to expect all heroes to be tall, dashing, well-built and devastatingly handsome? As it happens, Balogh, does write about heroes and heroines who do not fit the usual mould - but on the other hand, read the book carefully. Nigel *is* tall. He has dark hair. He is handsome. And, although he is slender, his valet comments at one point that he needs to fill out still, after his experiences.

As for the 'Zounds' and 'Egad', this book is set in Georgian (just pre-Regency) times, and such vocabulary, along with long, bagged hair and powder, was common.

Not one of the better books in the MSW series. Almost none of the characters are likable except for the infamous J.B. Fletcher and even then with some of the nastiness directed towards her by other characters, the amount of patience she displays borders on the unbelivable. The descriptions of surroundings though are rich and make you almost feel like you're there! Not the best of the lot, but not too shabby either!

Jessica is off to the beautiful US Virgin Islands to get away from a harsh Maine winter. She checks into her hotel owned by old friends called Lovers Lagoon, which is being run out of buisness by another hotel next door. One night when Jessica is walking on the beach she discovers the body of one of the owners. Jessica does some checking in to the murder, and finds out something shady has been going on at the hotel. This is one of my favorite Murder She Wrote books I've read. The plot though is very similar to the book Murder At The Powderhorn Ranch, that's why I gave it a 4 star

This is the first book I read in the "Murder, She Wrote" series. Jessica Fletcher, the main character in the story is off to Lover Lagoon for a vacation. She knew the owners and were on good terms with them. It was one night when she was taking a walk at Lover Lagoon when she discovered the body of one of the owners,Walter Marschalk. She was determinded to find out the murderer. Walter's previous job was a famous travel writer and so Jessica accept the invitation of the owner of rival inn, Diamond Reef, to have dinner with a group of travel writers. She found out that Walter was not well-liked among his friends. As the story goes on, Jessica found a lot of suspects and discovered a lot of unexpected things. I find the story moveing on a bit too slow and the ending is also abrupt. But overall it is a nice book.

As always, I enjoyed the Christmas with Southern Living 2000, but found that some of the suggestions for decorating and gifts were more 'seemingly crafty' than in other years! As an interior designer, I enjoy the fine furnishings and decorating tricks, but wasn't as thrilled this time around. Recipes look great though and I'm eager to get busy planning for next season!

This book has such a wide variety of Christmas ideas packed in I'm surprised it's light enough to carry. Many decorations are not too costly to be reproduced at a reasonable cost for the home or as gifts. I already have some under construction for gift giving with several more in the planning stage. The food and table designs have me aching for the season to be begin! Check out the section on decorating mantles and fireplaces, it's amazing. I love this book!

A not-so-smart co-worker lent me this book after describing the Sweet Potato Hash Browns. She'll never get it back! Okay, I had to buy my own because she's been missing hers! This is chocked full of great traditional and some unusual recipes: Eggnog Pie, Triple Nut Tart, Forest Mushroom Soup, Ham & Lentil Stew, White-Chocolate Macademia-Nut Coffee Cake, and on! Plus, there are lots of neat ideas for decorating for Christmas. Such as, a mantel scarf with pockets, a front door basket, coasters from cording, photo balls, and more. This is a MUST have!

The best part of this book is the fascinating insight one gets into the crazy world of professional bodybuilding. It makes me realize that one needs a full-frontal lobotomy to actually want to participate in this seedy environment that requires one to become self-absorbed and take illegal and dangerous drugs to compete effectively.

In Flex Wheeler's book Flex Ability, we see Flex's rise in a "sport" full of narcissistic, immature, backstabbing group of steroid users. I give this book 2 stars just for this interesting and honest perspective.

However, Flex himself is nothing more than a huge disappointment. He is no hero. He is no savior. He is in fact he same narcissistic and immature individual that this sport breeds. He ignores his responsibilities and indulges himself shamelessly. In a steriod-like rage, he bullies and beats those smaller than him. He hangs all his troubles on his past and attempts suicide numerous times. He throws tantrums when he comes in only 2nd or 3rd in national or international competitions and has absolutely no appreciation for his friends, fans, his natural God-given and genetic abilities or his success. He is, in my opinion, a loser.

Eventual, Flex finds God. But I'm unconvinced that this new perspective on life has changed Flex at all. In his book, he has no pictures of his first child (of which he took no responsibility) or his second child. He still storms off the stage when he loses a major competition convinced he should have won.

All in all, interesting book on bodybuilding, disappointing book on Flex Wheeler the man.

I was immediately drawn to this book due to my lifelong fasination with muscles, especially as displayed in the world of bodybuilding with the art of muscle sculpting. I was delighted to not only find a story of a great athlete but also pages filled with risk, struggle, love, belief, triumph, endurance and miracles. This is a story of a stronger than life spirit that meets his every challenge with a strength greater than any amount of physical weight that can be lifted. What an incredible inspiration Flex Wheeler is and his story is worth knowing.

Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival by Flex Wheeler is written in a fluid of connecting pieces that easily allows the reader to paint a vivid picture of the authors life story. This was such a nice easy read that I found it hard to put down. Flex Wheeler is a man with integrity who tells it like it is, makes no excuses and picks himself up and moves on to his next challenge. Childhood trauma, poverty, fatherhood, pro-athlete status, steroids, diuretics, severe auto accident, hereditary disease Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), fame, drug free and finally peace - Flex has survived it all. Readers young and old can take something away for themselves from his life story.

Today Flex is a champion of his spirit and speaks out about the dangers of using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and uses his life story to teach others.

Flex Ability: A Story of Strength and Survival by Flex Wheeler is a book worth your time and attention. This is a great choice for an afternoon summer read!

This book really lets you see the real Flex Wheeler from the inside out. He gets down to the dirt of what is printed about him and clarifies the untruths. You'll love this book. I could't put it down.

I've read every Paretsky / Warshawski book but the last (as we speak), but I'm disappointed at the pretty unbelievable action in this one. I often feel like our author and our leading lady have the same problem as Robin Cook sometimes -- when the characters start moving around and breaking into places and being mugged, being tailed, etc. etc., it just gets a little tough to believe. I believe if V.I. stayed put a little more and did a little more cerebral work and a little less hotdogging 'round Chicago, we'd both be happer.

I'm still a fan, but I'd rather see fewer and more well developed characters, a somewhat less complicated yet compelling plot, and surely less social commentary. Letting some reasonable actions speak for themselves is better than rubbing our faces in it. Would like to see Paretsky stop reading Grisham and get back to her earlier self!

I've read many reviews who fault Paretsky on the believability of this book - but I say who cares? Vic Warshawski isn't meant to be realistic (a real PI would never be as interesting!) Vic is the kind of character everyone can relate to - she's fast and tough, but thoughtful and very kind hearted. Her escapades in Tunnel Vision - including a run in with a rather large aeroplane and a fight with a Romanian muscle mountain - are engaging, exciting and fabulous to imagine. Paretsky is one of the very best crime/thriller writers around today! If this is the first Paretsky you have read - the others are a must!!!

This is my first exposure to Sarah Paretsky. I thought that Tunnel Vision was a first rate mystery. The details in the underground scenes were fantastic. I felt like I was really there, just steps behind the flood. It was so vivid it was terrifying. I can see those chicago tunnels yet! Sarah Paretsky has a good head for technical detail, good as Crichton et. al., hell, good as any man, writer or otherwise. This is by no means a gentile "ladies tea party mystery. "V.I. Warshawsky is tough yet desireable, one cool lady detective. Highly recommended.

Ticket Home is a wonderfully written book. James Pratt's talent for drawing his readers into the story is remarkable. He presents various aspects of love; from brotherly, to familial, to marital; and invites his readers to discover their own understanding of love and compassion. Ticket Home is a romantic saga and much more.

I have read everyone of James Michael Pratts books and have loved everyone of them. I love the romance between the people in every book. This one touched me and I think I cried almost through the whole book like I do with all of them. Paradise Bay was the same way. I enjoy Mr. Pratts work and will continue reading as long as he writes.

I highly recommend reading this book. I really enjoyed it. It has romance in it, and you also learn about what it was like living during the war. It was a very interesting story. I really enjoyed reading James Michael Pratt's other books too: "The Lighthouse Kepper" and "The Last Valentine." I highly recommend these too! They teach good values and a lot about relationships as well.

I think what went wrong is that I had a lot of expectations to this novel and I thought I was about to read an "Ellie Haskall-like" storyline complete with that wonderful british wit and humor that this author so wonderfully puts to paper.

However, I could not get very involved with the storyline and I ended up "Plowing" through the book just to get it done. My only interest turned out to be the Silver Spoon that was missing for 200 years and I was looking forward to its recovery and reasons for disapearance than any of the murders. I didn't even notice that anyone had died. I appears that Ms. Cannell either wrote this as a first novel or she must have been in a horrible state of some kind when she did write it. I'm happy to see an addition to the Haskell series in "The Spring Cleaning Murders" and can't wait to read it. God Save Dorothy Cannell!!

This was not a pleasant read and it would have been better in the Cannel sytle of First Person writing.

I liked Flora and Vivian even though they were rather colorless and drab compared to Ellie Haskell's world. But I was just so shocked by the story's mostly negative difference, that I don't think much of this book. I KNOW the author can do better than this. Don't I have the Ellie Haskell mysteries as proof? But this wasn't too bad and being shorter it was easier and quicker to get through than that other, Down The Garden Path. However the mystery was an utter flop. I'd guessed who the murderer was almost as soon as we learned of the butler's death, and though I did falter briefly in my conviction due to suspicious behaviour on an innocent's part, I knew it all. Which is downright spooky and says little for the story's merit, since I'm the kind of person that doesn't think and reason when she reads a mystery but shuts her brain up and lets the main character do all the figuring out! But no, it wasn't terrible...not really, though still very disappointing...and nothing like Ms. Cannells' other books.

To tell the truth, I was disappointed in this book. I thought the story line was great, but the developement of the story wasn't as good as it could have been. I look forward to reading Dorothy's books! But this one didn't meet my expectations.

It is funny and cute beyond words ~~ and a quick read. If you're looking for something is easy on the eyes and brain (meaning you don't have to think deep, probing thoughts), then this book is for you.

It's about a rich and cranky billionaire ~~ the king of toilet paper ~~ who decides to throw his greedy heirs off balance by announcing that he has found a new heir ~~ his long-lost granddaughter, Annie. Grady Sullivan is hired to be Archie's bodyguard, only to fall in love with the sassy granddaughter. And that's just the beginning of the adventures that the Peevers family saga endures. Between a butler who is known to "lift" things from the ugly mansion they all are residing in, a son who hides behind his wife's skirts, a dumb blondshell who giggles through everything ~~ guns, arrows, car crashes and everything that can make a mystery novel work. And of course, the romance between Annie and Grady makes for a happy ending.

It is a cute book ~~ one that you can take to the beach or read on the subway because it doesn't require a lot of thinking. And it is a guarantee that you'll laugh at some parts of the plot. Great book for a light read ~~ though the writing isn't of top quality. Like I said, if you want something light and sassy, then this should do it!

Toilet paper tycoon Archie Peevers of Peevers Mansion just outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, doesn't trust his nearest and dearest who may just be out to kill him for his money. So he hires bodyguard Grady Sullivan and formulates a plan. Knowing none of his relatives have the gumption to pull a trigger or slit his throat, Archie assumes someone will try poison, pills, a midnight trip down the stairs.

To keep everyone off kilter, Archie produces the obligatory missing heir. Annie Kimble is beautiful, intelligent, and trouble. Indeed, Annie has been hired to pretend she is his granddaughter from a liaison fifty years ago. Annie's a delightful character who first endured Archie's scare tactics and then a pinch behind before he announced that she's perfect for what he has in mind. Annie has her own agenda: fifty thousand dollars for one month's work of driving Archie's family insane for fun and profit.

As the Machiavellian plot escalates, Grady falls for Annie. So now not only does Grady find himself protecting an eccentric old man, but also a sharp young woman who is filing a 1099 on her proceeds. Events move along quickly as Archie's orange juice is laced with arsenic. Someone fires a crossbow through the window at Archie. As the tension builds, so do the laughs, keeping the reader highly entertained.

The sequel of TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is a masterpiece of characterizations. This eccentric cast of characters keeps the plot moving along delightfully, keeping the reader guessing. I admit that the butler is my favorite secondary character with his snide observations, shred opinions, and Lurch-like appearance. Indeed, a light, humorous read with a touch of romance, Kasey Michaels has created an entertaining romantic suspense novel too good to miss. Highly recommended.

Kind of an anomaly, don't you think? A guy who reads romances. (Okay, I've read three, and this is the third of them.) Well, this guy picked up the prequel to this book, the outstanding "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and ran through it in a mere four days. If that was not a taste of things to come, nothing is. I got this book from the local Library on Monday -- and returned it on Tuesday evening, DONE. That's right, I demolished this book -- 377 pages worth -- in about 27 hours. Having been inspired by the other one, probably, I was eager to read about the adventure that Quinn's partner would have in this one. I was right. Although I didn't exactly root for Grady the way I had for Quinn, and didn't see as much of myself in him as I had Quinn, I really liked him, and found that he was just so root-for-able, especially when he leapt to protect Annie when her privacy was violated the way it was, which I found abhorable. Of course, I had to go back and forth a couple times to grasp how Annie was related to the Peeverses, but when I did, it was a shocker that helped me like the book even more. And when Grady got the Peeverses to make the $10-mln donation to the Kidney Foundation in Annie's name and told Annie that HE would take care of his OWN wife, that made me an even bigger fan of his. This was a book that was more grab-ya-by-the scruff-of-the-neck-and-pull-ya-in than the other one was. The other one, I just fell in love with the characters and stayed to the end. This one, I couldn't get away from. GREAT BOOK! I'm really starting to like stuff written by Kasey Michaels.