Scan barcode
hidekisohma's review against another edition
2.0
So a bit of a backstory on this book. About 10 years ago, i picked up a book a called "Blue Wolf" at a rummage sale. It was a cozy mystery and it was...well, it was just okay. I figured that I wanted to try out the first book in the series at that was the third one, so i put it on my wishlist. I got it for christmas that year and promptly forgot about it.
After moving, i went through some boxes and realized i still had this book. So, I decided to give a try. and honestly, it should have stayed in that box.
To put it bluntly, this book is not good. For a cozy mystery, it's all over the place and extremely boring.
Now nearly every cozy mystery has a hook. a setting or something that makes it stand apart from the other cozy mysteries. Like the main character owns a bakery, sells houses, etc. This one, the lady (Alix) sells art in Montana. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that though as she doesn't do a whole lot of art selling other than calling the FBI forgery department once.
The premise is that her brother in law is framed for murder of this lady she doesn't know but the B-in-law was seen arguing with her the night she died.
Since this is the first book, she has to set up shop and also meet people and start her sleuthing career. And here's where the story falls to crap.
First off, i got NOTHING from this world. Normally, i can gather where a story takes place. like a coffee cozy takes place in a bustling city. A knitting one takes place in a cozy english village. This one? I have absolutely no idea. They say "Montana" but i mean... i couldn't tell you more than that. I just assume it's montana with mountains. I don't like purple prose but i like there to be something other than....well nothing.
Alix doesn't really know what she's doing as she farts around the story following tenuous lead after tenuous lead. Apparently what's mixed up in all this is the titular "bluejay shaman" which is a rock with a picture on it of a bluejay.
Here is how a scene plays out.
Alix: do you know about a bluejay shaman?
person: No
(alix goes to talk to another person)
Alix: do you know about a a bluejay shaman?
person: no
Lather, rinse, repeat.
At one point another woman is murdered and they blame Alix, but not officially. The police kind of just think she did it but don't arrest her.
Her best lead is some guy who dresses up and dances in a cave with pretty girls.
In the meantime though the main character has sex with a random cop she thinks is hot.
After running around for 200 pages failing at life, she stumbles into the finale where the wife of the dancing guy is the murderer and she did it because she was jealous. she then shoots herself in the face when the husband shows up and goes "hey. don't shoot people."
they release the brother in law and they find the bluejay shaman picture that everyone was looking for the whole damn book which was apparently in b-in-law's car all along. Oh. and it's a fake because it used blue pigment and the indians didn't use blue pigment. oh. and she breaks up with random cop just because. the end.
I don't normally give a full play by play of the book in these reviews, but honestly, i did it so now you don't have to read the book. From what i told you, it may SOUND interesting, but it really REALLY is not. That's all the interesting stuff that happens in 230 pages. Nothing else is good. All the characters are terrible, including our main character alix. I don't know why, but for some reason, the author really wanted to give her this air of indignation whenever something didn't go her way. like, complaining about how stuff is unfair.
like, here's a line from the book. "How dare she poke a gun barrel into my side? How dare they blame wade for her madness?"
I mean, when you have your main character talk like a bratty pre-teen, that's not a good sign.
I forget what happens in Blue wolf, so i can't tell you if she grows up in the later books or not, but she's not MEANT to be a teenager. she's meant to be like in her 30's I think. she's at least divorced. If the author planned on developing her in later stories that's one thing, but if she wanted her to stay this was as her default personality, it's really just painful.
Zoning out frequently was a BIG problem in this book. i honestly didn't care about anything that was happening. None of the characters were interesting, the story was boring, and the hook was BARELY involved. Alix is a terrible protagonist and i definitely don't want to continue with this series re-reading blue wolf or reading the second book as well. A disappointment to be sure.
so if i hate it so much, why isn't it a 1?
Well.... first of all, it was a pretty fast read. i was able to get through it in a few days. Secondly, i actually DID care about knowing who the killer was, even IF the reveal was a bit of a letdown.
I don't HATE this book, but i just didn't have any fun.
1.5 out of 5 rounded up to a 2
After moving, i went through some boxes and realized i still had this book. So, I decided to give a try. and honestly, it should have stayed in that box.
To put it bluntly, this book is not good. For a cozy mystery, it's all over the place and extremely boring.
Now nearly every cozy mystery has a hook. a setting or something that makes it stand apart from the other cozy mysteries. Like the main character owns a bakery, sells houses, etc. This one, the lady (Alix) sells art in Montana. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that though as she doesn't do a whole lot of art selling other than calling the FBI forgery department once.
The premise is that her brother in law is framed for murder of this lady she doesn't know but the B-in-law was seen arguing with her the night she died.
Since this is the first book, she has to set up shop and also meet people and start her sleuthing career. And here's where the story falls to crap.
First off, i got NOTHING from this world. Normally, i can gather where a story takes place. like a coffee cozy takes place in a bustling city. A knitting one takes place in a cozy english village. This one? I have absolutely no idea. They say "Montana" but i mean... i couldn't tell you more than that. I just assume it's montana with mountains. I don't like purple prose but i like there to be something other than....well nothing.
Alix doesn't really know what she's doing as she farts around the story following tenuous lead after tenuous lead. Apparently what's mixed up in all this is the titular "bluejay shaman" which is a rock with a picture on it of a bluejay.
Here is how a scene plays out.
Alix: do you know about a bluejay shaman?
person: No
(alix goes to talk to another person)
Alix: do you know about a a bluejay shaman?
person: no
Lather, rinse, repeat.
At one point another woman is murdered and they blame Alix, but not officially. The police kind of just think she did it but don't arrest her.
Her best lead is some guy who dresses up and dances in a cave with pretty girls.
In the meantime though the main character has sex with a random cop she thinks is hot.
After running around for 200 pages failing at life, she stumbles into the finale where the wife of the dancing guy is the murderer and she did it because she was jealous. she then shoots herself in the face when the husband shows up and goes "hey. don't shoot people."
they release the brother in law and they find the bluejay shaman picture that everyone was looking for the whole damn book which was apparently in b-in-law's car all along. Oh. and it's a fake because it used blue pigment and the indians didn't use blue pigment. oh. and she breaks up with random cop just because. the end.
I don't normally give a full play by play of the book in these reviews, but honestly, i did it so now you don't have to read the book. From what i told you, it may SOUND interesting, but it really REALLY is not. That's all the interesting stuff that happens in 230 pages. Nothing else is good. All the characters are terrible, including our main character alix. I don't know why, but for some reason, the author really wanted to give her this air of indignation whenever something didn't go her way. like, complaining about how stuff is unfair.
like, here's a line from the book. "How dare she poke a gun barrel into my side? How dare they blame wade for her madness?"
I mean, when you have your main character talk like a bratty pre-teen, that's not a good sign.
I forget what happens in Blue wolf, so i can't tell you if she grows up in the later books or not, but she's not MEANT to be a teenager. she's meant to be like in her 30's I think. she's at least divorced. If the author planned on developing her in later stories that's one thing, but if she wanted her to stay this was as her default personality, it's really just painful.
Zoning out frequently was a BIG problem in this book. i honestly didn't care about anything that was happening. None of the characters were interesting, the story was boring, and the hook was BARELY involved. Alix is a terrible protagonist and i definitely don't want to continue with this series re-reading blue wolf or reading the second book as well. A disappointment to be sure.
so if i hate it so much, why isn't it a 1?
Well.... first of all, it was a pretty fast read. i was able to get through it in a few days. Secondly, i actually DID care about knowing who the killer was, even IF the reveal was a bit of a letdown.
I don't HATE this book, but i just didn't have any fun.
1.5 out of 5 rounded up to a 2
hlandes1's review
3.0
I got this free for the Kindle on Amazon. The edition is full of typos and grammar issues. But, it was free, so I can't really complain, right?
It was a good mystery, set in a part of the world I love, Montana, involving the native tribes of the region. Some of the plot didn't develop accurately, but it was an enjoyable story.
It was a good mystery, set in a part of the world I love, Montana, involving the native tribes of the region. Some of the plot didn't develop accurately, but it was an enjoyable story.