#1: Dying to Decorate, A Friday Afternoon Club Mystery Series
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This was a great read. Entertaining, informative (I learned some history about the underground railroad), and CLEAN. All combined to make easy and fun reading.
October 19, 2009
I picked up this book because I'm interested in decorating and mysteries, so it sounded like the perfect book for me. The story really has nothing to do with either decorating or a mystery. The recipes were very good, though! Maybe she should write a cookbook...
November 7, 2008
If you are looking for a good mystery...keep looking, this isn't it...an interesting tale with possibilities, maybe, some historical inaccuracies, yes, but not a mystery.The characters are a mismatch of personalities and as supposed believers, I find the attitudes and actions of some to be contrary to that ideal. A loud, obnoxious policewoman who is impatient and rude to all and disrespectful to "Aunt Bette" an elderly woman key to the tale. Another woman is a know-it-all, pushy, domineering "professional" that disregards the speed limit and safe driving and when pulled over by an officer "sweet talks" her way out of a ticket. The main character lets her family and friends treat her like a door mat. There are no consequences to bad behavior. Sure she has a sense of humor, but absolutely no backbone. As a homeschooling mom I'm tired right down to my Birkenstocks of the homeschooling mother being portrayed as the hippie out of time...the quintessential "earth mother"...please!Now to the story, it supposes that the Underground railroad ran through Nebraska where the story is set. An historical stretch. Then of course it deals with the escaped slaves from THE EVIL SOUTH, as it is always portrayed. Will anyone ever write an accurate story about slavery or will we continue to paint with a broad and often inaccurate brush of the south, plantation owners and slavery? One thing I did like was the pages. They have a quilt watermark decorating a portion of each spread, very nice touch, but using the Log Cabin pattern mentioned might have been nicer. I too, as an avid quilter had heard the story of the "Quilt Maps" or quilt codes and found upon further investigation that the Quilt Codes are not supported by historians or quilters or facts, and are pure myth popularized and passed on in the past several years. For more documentation on how the story began you can go to http://ugrrquilt.hartcottagequilts.com/
August 22, 2008
Dying to Decorate by author Cyndy Salzmann is the first in the Friday Afternoon Club Series. The narrator of the story is a woman named Liz, a stay-at-home mom who writes a newspaper column (think Martha Stewart meets Flylady). The friends in the Friday Afternoon Club, or FAC, get together weekly to get a little R&R from their all-too busy lives. They support each other with fierce devotion, and when one of the members goes AWOL from the club for a few weeks, they go on a rescue mission. The group learns that their friend Lucy, recovering from the deaths in the past year of both her husband and her mother, has slid into a depression. She has also recently inherited an old Civil War style home from an elderly aunt, and the FAC thinks it will be the perfect diversion to nudge Lucy away from her slump. The group determines to have a decorating party/get-away weekend to help restore the lovely old house. Startling discoveries and a secret diary found hidden in the house from Civil War times raise serious questions about the history of Lucys past relatives. With help from the diary and Lucys Aunt Bette, the group learns about true strength of character and sacrificial heroism that begins at home.While the novel isnt a mystery in the classic sense, it has great sense of suspense as the story unfolds. Add to that a wonderfully refreshing humor intertwined in a very satisfying story. If that isnt enough, the book includes many wonderful recipes that tie into each chapter. To a book-loving foodie, its the ultimate in reading. With recipes like Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pot Roast, Im So Sorry Snickerdoodles, and Lizs Triple Chocolate Pecan Brownies, its a struggle to decide whether to finish reading or to hit the kitchen to whip up some of the goodies laced throughout the book. Its a fantastic read all around, and I cant wait for the next installment in the series. Her next book, Crime and Clutter (A Friday Afternoon Club Mystery) is scheduled to be released in
October 24, 2006
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