Anatomy of an Alibi

 

Even though I was not the biggest fan of First Lie Wins I decided to give Mrs. Elston another try. Anatomy of an Alibi was in a book magazine I got from the library and sounded interesting so I put a hold on it. 

I struggled with the story at the start, lots of characters, lots of information dumping, and jumping around. Despite finding a dead body early on the story drug, lots of fluffy parts in my opinion. I did not care about any of the characters, all of them were lying in some way, and even though I did not figure out the twist it did not seem possible to figure out until the very last 30 pages or so. 

While the writing was okay I do not see myself reading any more of Mrs. Elston's work her style is just not for me. 

Best Offer Wins

 

After seeing several videos on reels about Best Offer Wins I put in a request at the library and a few months later it was my turn. Thankfully it was not as horrible as other books I have seen on reels. 

The main character Margo was flat out annoying. The lengths of her obsession to get a house was beyond crazy. Until the end I kept waiting for a "mystery" or "thriller" part to start. I can see how the author tried to pull the reader in but it was not working for me. 

I am giving it three stars because the story was at least believable even if cringeworthy in parts. 

My Husband's Wife

 

After seeing so many reels about how amazing My Husband's Wife was last year I quickly put a hold on it from the library. Lucky I was the first person to do that. 

I did enjoy My Husband's Wife but Rock, Paper, Scissors still takes the number one spot for my favorite Mrs. Feeney novel. Since the story is told from multiple points of view I struggled a lot in the beginning to keep all the characters separate in my mind. I had NO CLUE what was going on for at least a hundred pages of the book, were people dead, who was who, had crimes happened, who was lying, and who was telling the truth. Finally I started keeping better track of things and weaving possibilities of what happened together. Of course I was wrong, like always, Mrs. Feeney is a master of bringing everything together in the end making it all work out. 

A good read but not a popcorn thriller since I had to focus so much on keeping track of everyone and who said what. 

The Housemaid is Watching

 

The Housemaid is Watching is the third and final book in The Housemaid series. Of the three books it was my least favorite. 

The story moves A LOT slower compared to the first two books in the series. I kept waiting for something interesting, intense, or exciting to happen but it never really did until closer to the half way point. 

Millie is a well rounded character with flaws, likes, ambitions, and problems which I like about her she seems so real. Everyone else came off as sort of flat though and I did not really get to know them well. 

Parts of the plot I figured out and parts I did not figure out which is fine. While it is sad to see Millie's story end everything wrapped up nicely and nothing really left to tell about Millie in a book. 

I did read the novella, The Housemaid's Wedding, and it was horrible. Not worthy of being a novella at all better as a epilogue to the second book or prologue to the third book. 

I also tried to read Graceless Heart, I made it to page 100 in one sitting. Put the book down and five days later I had no desire to pick it up. Fantasy use to be what I read now it seems all I read is mystery and I am trying to branch out some. At least I checked it out from the library. 

The Housemaid's Secret

 

The Housemaid's Secret is the second book in The Housemaid series.

My favorite thing about The Housemaid's Secret is it was written in the same enjoyable style as The Housemaid, I was worried it would have a different flow and not the same dual point of view that I enjoyed. 

Despite figuring out some of the mystery I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story. It did take me longer to read but that is due to my asthma acting up and interfering with reading time. 

The Housemaid

 

I got The Housemaid series for Christmas and was eager to read it since I saw the first book was made into a movie. 

Millie is an interesting character who guards her secrets well. Despite having obvious secrets I liked Millie and I was rooting for her to get a happy ending. Yet liking Millie was not enough to make me keep flipping the pages early on in the story. Figuring things were being set up for some big reveal I was confused as to why the story did not have a mystery or thriller aspect until wham out of no where it hit me and I could not stop reading. 

The more I read Mrs. McFadden's books the more I see she is either an author you love or dislike. No real in between for her. Thankfully I love her writing, her plots, her twists, and her characters. Since I have The Housemaid's Secret I don't have to even wait to start it tonight. 

Poor Unfortunate Soul

 

Poor Unfortunate Soul is the third book in the Villain's series and so far my least favorite book, it was more like poor unfortunate readers. 

I wanted Ursula and her minions. I wanted back story, anger, pain, revenge, and information on what made Ursula the most powerful sea witch of her time. What I got was three stories shoved into one. Prince Tulip from The Beast Within, the odd sisters and Circe, and then flavorings of Ursula. 

Despite not liking Poor Unfortunate Souls I did finish it without skimming and I did the read included sample for Mistress of All Evil. I will continue to give the series a try.