Title: Maggie Dove
Author: Susan Breen
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Alibi
Publication Date: June 14, 2016
Source: Random House Monthly Mystery Chatterbox
Well. I must say that Maggie Dove was not a book I would normally pick up and read on my own. It is pretty far out of what I would normally read.
Maggie Dove is a cozy mystery about...Maggie Dove. She lives in a small town, is a widow, and her daughter died young as a result of a car accident. Maggie Dove is one of those ladies that is a strong member of the community. She knows and talks to everyone. She once upon a time was a murder mystery author (she gave it up when her daughter died). She had few grievances with other members of her community, save her neighbor.
Her neighbor wanted her to move a much beloved tree in her yard because it was in his view from his house of the Hudson river - and he wanted to paint the river without the tree in his way. And that is where the story starts. Maggie's neighbor took it upon himself to try to poison her tree because she wouldn't move/remove the tree. And then, shortly after, he was found dead underneath her tree seemingly from a heart attack.
Now, as I have already stated, this is a book that I normally reach out and grab. While I like mysteries, I do tend towards those meant for younger audiences - YA, NA, MG...or I like them to have some sort of paranormal aspect to them. Maggie Dove was none of the above. The main character was 62 years old, much older than characters that I normally read and I found it hard to connect to her. She and I had little in common, so I wasn't able to relate to her very well.
Also, the story line seemed rather one dimensional. We followed along with Maggie as she was trying to figure out what happened to her neighbor. I felt like we were categorically looking at each individual character in the story. One at a time. And I would have liked a few more twists and turns in the story....and that the ones that were in it...I wish they had been more twisty and turnier. The whole story just felt like it was on the same pace the whole way through.
While I found it pleasant enough to read, I also don't think I would have finished it except for the part where I wanted to know the "who done it and why." I had committed enough time to it, that I decided that I needed to know and I didn't want to cheat to find the answer. And while I wasn't surprised, I still was at the same time. So I will give Maggie Dove that.
My Rating
3 Stars
This review was based on an eARC copy provided by the publisher through House Party/Chatterbox in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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