Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday #34



Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's topic is "Series I Don't Plan To Finish". At first I was not going to participate, because the books I read do not come in a series. I rarely read fiction. But, the more I thought about it, the more I decided to share a not-so-secret secret: I dig some cozy mysteries. I am tweaking the topic this week to fit my parameters, and it is about the one cozy mystery series I will read until the bitter end.

Cozy mysteries in general are often exactly what I need when I am in a rut and can not interest myself in any of the 4,000 books on my TBR. So, using BookBub, I stumbled across this little gem of a series Mercy Watts by A. W. Hartoin. So, being honest, I kind of hated the first book. I gave it a 2 Star rating based almost exclusively on the fact that the author really screwed up her presentation of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Lincoln in general. I raged on the book pretty hard for those mistakes, but I also kept reading because I kind of had a thing for Mercy's hot cop not-cousin, Chuck. Yes, I have a book boyfriend. (And they are not actually cousins. Her uncle married his mom and they got divorced like, two years later.)

As the series has gone on, it has greatly improved. There are some inconsistencies that bug the ever-loving crap out of me, such as when Mercy and Chuck became not-cousins (ages vary, like the author has not done her own research on her own characters). There are others too, but I overlook them because I heart Chuck so. And Mercy isn't half bad either, once I started to get to know the character. There have also been some pretty interesting cases and the author has a talent for the genre. Some of those discrepancies just need to be fixed, and then it will be a pretty darn good series.

Here they are, in order even. Check Amazon for a deal. I got the boxed set at one point for $.99 that included the first short, and books 1, 2, and 3.

15564064 17984882
.5                   1

19481831 16170968
  2                     2.4

15994955 22023973
2.5                     3

23800197 25268360
  3.5                 4

26699966 29420347
5                    5.5

29860574 33917377 35595202
6                        7                       8

I absolutely CAN NOT wait for book 9. Or a short, or SOMETHING. Who would've guessed, right??

Happy Reading!
Sarah

8 comments:

  1. I really like that cover design for the books. Cozy mysteries are a genre I never really read though I do like Renee George's Pit Perfect books which Barb put me on to. I'd like to read more but I sort of don't want to waste time ploughing through a lot of stuff I don't like to get to the few I do!

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    1. I feel the same way! In 2016 I got super far behind on my Goodreads Challenge so I added in some cozy mysteries and chick lit. I had to nix the chick lit right away, it was awful. But that is how I found Mercy. The covers are pretty funky and I like them too. She and her mom both look like Marilyn Monroe, which is a little much for me sometimes, because it becomes a topic of conversation often, but the mystery aspects are really good. Plus, Chuck, the Hot Detective. So, there's that too.

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  2. Sounds like a fun series! I like a good cozy msytery series too, occasionally- although I haven't read one in a while. I have a few favorites though! :)

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    1. It really is, and the mystery aspect is pretty good. I read a ton of them in 2016 when I was trying to catch up on my Goodreads Challenge and I was surprised to find a couple I actually really liked.

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  3. These look really cute! I love a good cozy mystery!

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

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  4. I am not a great cosy mystery fan though once in a while they are fun. Mercy - presumably it's her on the covers? - has a seriously amazing hairstyle!

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    1. Well if you are ever in the mood to try, I recommend Mercy fo' sho'. The running theme through the series is how she gets hassled a lot because both she and her mom look like Marilyn Monroe. It took a bit for her to grow on me, but I like the series and can't wait for the next book!

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