Stringing Along

I just finished the second (of five) book in the Megan Clark (or Murder By The Yard book group) series. It is called By "Hook or By Book" and was written by D.R. Meredith. I enjoyed it.

One of the things some people do not like about book series is the repeating of information covered in a previous book. For example, the introductions to the characters are similar to the introductions in a previous book. OF COURSE!!! There are reasons for this. Number one - the reader may have not read any of the previous books in the series so introductions are important. This is certainly the case here as well. And the introductions are consistent - the character does not become a totally different person. However, the author can build on the character description so we get to know the character better. People can change.

It was an interest in discussing mystery books that started the first book in the series. It is a shared interest in string figures that is the occasion for this book. Because of the shared interest, Megan and the Murder By The Yard book group organize a string figure convention. Things start off well. But one murder leads to another and the suspect and connections have to be determined. There is no shortage of suspects - Megan is a suspect again. And Megan of course starts her personal investigation. Needless to say, Megan is again responsible for solving the cases.

Do you remember the reason why Abigail the book store owner liked mysteries over romances from the previous book? To paraphrase - there are hundreds of ways to commit murder. Two ways were the causes of the murders in the previous book. Well ..., two other ways are used here - the hangman (a string figure that can be dangerous) and nicotine poisoning. The way these were done was interesting.

One of the interesting things about this book are the descriptions of how to do different string figures. I was more interested in the story so I brushed past these and did not try any of them. I would think trying these while reading the book would take away from the story. But the instructions are real.

The other thing I thought humorous is how the author introduced another one of the books she wrote in this book. The character who mentioned the book title could remember the book but could not remember who the author was.

Would I recommend this book? You bet!!!!