Stamped Out [Paperback]

the reviewers who gave this less than 3 stars...and for the very same reasons..I, too, am glad to have found it at my library (that makes it easier to put down, barely able to get to the end) because I found I really didn't CARE about any of the characters on any level.

As a retired crafter, I find myself leaning towards these crafty-mystery titles more often these days. This one is among a few others that have disappointed me. Halfway thru and I had to say there wasn't much of anything interesting between the pages, the people were basically unlikeable (and I tried hard to find a redeeming soul amongst the lot). At that point, I also realized there wasn't much of a mystery going on either. April, as the main character, left tons to be desired...and why did the author name her April so that her dad could call her Apy??? UGH!

Also, the plot of April leaving her husband for stealing and ruining her business reputation is ringing familiar bells in my head from another book I read awhile ago (cannot recall the title), so I felt the unoriginality immediately.

I had thoughts of also reading this author's other series (quilting), but have definitely changed my mind...No more, free or not...

Unable to continue her married life in San Francisco, April Buchert returns to her roots in Aldenville, Pennsylvania. She is done with her husband Ken who turned out to be a crook and decides that a change for scenery would do get good, even if it means dealing with her divorced parents, Bonnie and Ed, who love to meddle with her personal and professional life. Coming back home turns out to be more of a necessity as she is in desperate need to work again, earn money and to clear her head from her heartache. Instead of helping her dad, the owner of a construction company, with simple tasks she gets tangled up with restoring an original mural and eventually discovers a skull in a small Castle by her new job, which had to be demolished. Everyone looks at her father for answers since he was in charge of constructing it over fifteen years ago, expecting an explanation of the missing body and a skull with a hole in its side, clearly not an accident. With her father taken into police custody by an overly eager officer Yost, who seems to have a real hunger to bring her family down to its knees, April decides to try to solve the mystery of the skull and of a haunting night from her youth that might have something to do with it.

With the support of her childhood friend Deana, and the Stamping Sisters club - a small group of local women who have been friends and craft project fanatics, April takes on the task of sleuthing as once again she's getting familiar with the town she grew up in and which she left in a hurry after finishing school. Things have changed and so have people, someone who's pretending to be a friend has killed a man and left him in her father's construction. April must find out who did the crime, not only for her father's sake but for the safety of everyone involved, as more people associated with the incident seem to be dying in mysterious ways. The more she gets involved the more she realizes that people who seem innocent have more skeletons in their closet than the wilder characters.

I actually enjoyed parts of the book but it had a lot of issues. Overall it was a typical light cozy, and the scenery was described beautifully, all the nature, the interiors and exteriors were colorful and full of life, in fact the only thing I had no clue about its appearance was April herself. The author left the imaginary process completely to the reader; I wish that could have been embellished on since everything else was well described. The arts and crafts aspect was cute but didn't really make the book any more solid, April didn't get to do much with her stamps or even with the mural ( which she had no clue how to restore, something she was hired ti do), it seemed that the cozy factor was a way to lure readers to get the book and the project included was a bit silly, not really useful for anything. Worst of all the women in the stamping club were bit annoying and catty, I couldn't imagine being friends with many of them, and there was a lot of tension going on; the finances and the construction work being in danger since the murder put it to a halt were little nerve wracking. In these days I read to get away from daily grind, not to read about peoples money problems and their parents divorces. I felt like the murder took a second seat and I hate to say it but the mystery/death itself was not very interesting. It happened long time ago, the character wasn't even in the picture unless I got to read about people recollecting the past and believe it or not I guessed who the villain was, not really too hard if you pay attention in this book. So the mystery was lukewarm but the book was okay, I will read the next in the series because I am curious how the characters evolve. I enjoyed reading about April and her mom, it seemed that their relationship benefited greatly form all the changes. Not a bad book but nothing to rave about, it was a fast read but when it came to sleuthing it skated on thin ice or ridiculousness.

April Buchert returns to Aldenville, Pennsylvania after her marriage fails and her career is ruined. April is a restoration expert who creates intricate rubber stamp patterns on walls and she will be working alongside her father retoring the town's famous Winchester mansion. This seems like the perfect way to make a fresh start. Alas, it all goes horribly awry once a skull is discovered in the rubble following the demolition of an abandoned guesthouse and April's father becomes an immediate suspect.

I didn't enjoy this story although I did read it through to the end to see if it improved. The disappointing thing is that there were a number of good elements but they weren't developed in a coherent way. I found that I didn't care for any of the characters and neither the `mystery' nor the crafting was enough to carry the story forward.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews  2.6 out of 5 stars