MRD Group Reads Anne George

Our Firewheel Mall Mystery Discussion Group selected a cozy by Anne George to read for the October selection. The title of the book was Murder on a Girls' Night Out. This is the first in the Southern Sisters Mystery Series by the author. There are nine books in the series. If you are interested in more information about the author, here is a link to a web page for her - Aunt Sister and the Mouse.

This is a murder mystery set in the Alabama area which (if you have not figured it out already) yet involves two sisters - one in her mid sixties and the other older. The story is told from the first person point of view by one of the sisters whose name was Patricia Anne but her sister referred to her by her nickname - Mouse. The other sister was Mary Alice but she was referred to a lot as Sister. Boy ... was it hard keeping up with their names. I can't tell if it was a cultural thing or a generational thing.

In the story Mary Alice has been going to a club called Skoot 'n Boot. When she discovered the club was for sale, she decided to buy it. She convinces her "younger" sister to come along and check out the club. It certainly looks promising but the next day things start to go haywire. The guy she bought the club from ends up brutally murdered. And things do not stop there. A day later the club is ransacked inside. Why was the guy murdered and how was the murder connected to the ransacking of the club? Patricia Anne's husband and daughter warn her to keep away from the club but her "sister" keeps dragging her back into it.

So ... how did our little group feel about the book? First I will give you the "straw" / thumb vote. It came down to this - five thumbs up, two thumbs down, and one thumb that could not make up it's mind. The overall feeling was that the book did not get high marks for the mystery per se. What was generally liked about the book was the humor and the character development.

As far as the thumb that could not make up it's mind, that was mine. I'd say the book was OK but that reminds me of a story. One night years ago my wife tried a new recipe. She was disappointed in the recipe and asked how I felt about it. I said it was OK ... and I had a second helping of it. She asked again - what do you think of the recipe? Again I said it was okay. Then she asked a different way - do you want me to make this again? I told her not really but I would eat it.

Now I will not say I would not read another book by the author, but I might. There were things I liked and there were things I had a problem with. I am not sure if this type of writing is my "cup of tea" or not. Only time will tell!!!