Customer Reviews

Leading an Elegant Death

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

With the series stopped at three and all of those out of print, it's probably beating a dead horse to add another unfavorable review. But the characters are die-cut cardboard, the dialog is sometimes painful to read, and the mystery and detection are slight.

If this series accurately reflects contemporary small-town Alabama life, I can only be even more grateful for my great-great-grandfather's decision to leave the state in the 1830s.

This is a fun first book for this author. Lots of zany characters add interest. Sort of a mixture of characters from Joan Hess' Maggody series mixed with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Lulu. Hillary and Jane are a mixmatched pair who form an unlikely duo to solve a murder. Hillary is a generic version of Martha Stewart, but much more likeable.

Just like Stephanie and Lulu they go about this in the most unorthodox manner and characters are added that are reminiscent of some of the citizens of Maggody.

Add in a good looking detective, a smart young daughter, and an ex-husband who everyone knows because he's from the South and you have the ingredients for a fun fast moving book.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

This is a fun first book for this author. Lots of zany characters add interest. Sort of a mixture of characters from Joan Hess' Maggody series mixed with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Lulu. Hillary and Jane are a mixmatched pair who form an unlikely duo to solve a murder. Hillary is a generic version of Martha Stewart, but much more likeable.

Just like Stephanie and Lulu they go about this in the most unorthodox manner and characters are added that are reminiscent of some of the citizens of Maggody.

Add in a good looking detective, a smart young daughter, and an ex-husband who everyone knows because he's from the South and you have the ingredients for a fun fast moving book.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

i want to start the review with a reasonably calm statement that i find nothing funny in stupidity, incompetance or ignorance. i read the exerpt and enjoyed the author's style. and, after all, we have all had our culinary disasters, and one of those days (or weeks, or months). and i know what its like to worry about keeping a roof over my head--i've been laid off twice and saw one job evaporate when the senior partners departed, with most of the clients, so i have intimate knowledge of what stress does to the decision making process. BUT: this character is an insult to working women, college graduates, single parents and possibly the entire human race. we are supposed to believe that a person who has finished three years of pre-law and a year of law school doesn't know how to research (well, maybe the south is different, but on the west coast and here in new york state, all i have to do is pick up a phone, call the library, and talk to an eager and willing librarian, and i have all the information i could want, sometimes even faxed or mailed to me); thinks 'vin' is french for vinegar (please--i know academic standards have fallen precipitiously since i was a student, but this is moronic); and hasn't bothered talking to her college about financial aid. (i knew a woman whose husband deserted her and their daughter, leaving them destitute, who went on welfare, and to college, ended up with a doctorate, paid off her student loans and was, the last time i heard, working for a delegation attached to the united nations. obviously, not the inspiration for this character. and i am sure that anyone who might read this review knows other women who have managed single parenthood with courage, competance and resourcefulness.) then, we are supposed to find funny a woman who rearranges furniture in the presence of the freshly-dead corpse of an acquantance--and not from shock, but because the room needs redecorating. i forgot to mention, i don't find pathological self-involvement funny, either. and, as a horrible addition, we have a child under ten serving as her mother's prop and sounding like an over-mature eighteen-year-old.

the only reason i didn't give this book one star is that the plot more or less holds together. two apparently separate crimes are linked fairly reasonably.

i have no intention of reading any other book in this series.

With a small-town Alabama setting, and 2 main characters that sounded like fun, I was a bit disappointed by this first installment of the 'Death by Design' series.

When Hilary Scarborough, a flaky Martha Stewart of the South needs a new assistant, single mom Jane Ferguson (who is barely capable of boiling water or tending to a houseplant) applies at the decorator's office.
They both quickly become friends when, within hours of meeting each other, discover a corpse and are soon thrown head-first into the subsequent murder investigation.
It's up to Jane (sounds familiar?) to try and prove Hilary's innocence as well as point the finger at the REAL murderer.
You probably think from this point, I liked the book? Well, it has numerous problems. Both characters are a bit stilted and not-quite-believable. The plot has holes in it large enough to drive Jane's 6-year-old Toyota through, and the secondary characters, save one or 2, are completely bland.
I still gave it 2 stars for effort (since I believe it was the author's first book) and, granted, it did give me a chuckle or 2.

I will definitely read the next book in the series (am I a glutton for punishment?) because I believe the series and characters have potential and I certainly hope some life can be breathed into them in the second installment.

Sorry, Ms. Carter...maybe next time?

If you like Diane Mott Davidson, you will like Paula Carter. There is the same sense of danger mixed with hilarious repartee. I really enjoy Ms. Carter's sense of humor. The characters were believable and easy to like.

I've read both of Paula Carter's new mysteries, Leading an Elegant Death and Death Day Party, and I can't wait for the next episode of Hillary and Jane, the most unlikely crime solving duo yet. Ms. Carter has a deft and masterful touch in creating characters whose foibles could quickly make them unsympathetic to the reader. However, both hilarious Martha Stewart take-off, Hillary, and domestically challenged Jane immediately capture our imagination, as do many of the minor characters, such as Billy the burglar, and Jane's young daughter who is sometimes more level-headed than her mother. This is a quick, fun mystery romp in magnolia country. Loved it.

Frankly, I can't understand the extremely negative and hostile reviews for this debut mystery in a new series. Hillary and Jane are not stereotypical characters; they have completely opposite personalities which allows for some very comical interactions. The characters are interesting and well-defined, and the interactions between Jane and her 10 year old daughter are very credible. The plot is interesting, although not extremely complex, but who says that all mysteries have to have a long convoluted plot line? This book is entertaining and worth the read.

Paula Carter does two things very well in this book. First she recalls all the foibles of being in a southern atmosphere and the small town activities so ingrained in many of the real southerners.

Second she brings to life two excellent characters, Hillary and Jane. These two ladies are from different cultures and backgrounds and Paula uses this as an excellent device to interject humor, mismatched conversations, and off beat situations. If you are looking for something to read while your supper burns on the stove in the kitchen, then pick up this book and enjoy a delightful story. Paula knows southern culture and puts you right in the middle of it. An entertaining book with ingrained humor that just does not stop.

After reading the cover blurb, I couldn't wait to read this first book in a new series set in the South. It sounded like just the kind of book I enjoy. I was disappointed to find that the South portrayed in this book had little basis in reality. I found the plot to be weak, but what really killed this book was the characters. They were cartoonish and stilted. The storyline could not possibly flow when they were such boulders of improbability in the stream. I almost felt I was reading the work of a student who had only heard about the South. I would return this book for a refund if possible. I read 112 pages and couldn't stand any more. I wish I had paid more attention to the reviews here before buying.