What do You think about Damsels In Distress (2007)?
Maybe this is my fault for reading this book without reading any others in the series, but it didn't really hang together that well for me. The motivations of the characters were a bit hard to follow- why are the main characters angry with each other? Why is everyone falling over themselves to befriend the main character, who clearly dislikes them? And it may be a small thing, but why did no-one seem to have a mobile phone? I kept thinking this was written a lot earlier because of the ways the characters acted... Though maybe it's more a reflection of my age. And no-one had heard of Renaissance Fairs? It was fun though, I thought the characters had potential (maybe they would be more fun to read in earlier books in the series) and can't go past the premise of the bookshop owning sleuth. Wouldn't mind reading others, wouldn't go out of my way to do so.
—Catie
I just love to listen to Joan Hess' books! I love the characters and the plots. I love the way the officers call the main character, "Ms. Malloy," when they think she shouldn't be where she is at, which is usually in the wrong place at the wrong time. Claire Malloy is funny and intelligent. Her daughter is a typical teenager: "Your going to ruin my life, mother!" This mystery centers around a Renaissance fair in Claire's home town, with every nut in town that loves the Renaissance times becoming a murder suspect. Since Claire has come to know these people, she feels she needs to find out who the killer is, and why they killed two people.
—Sandi Willis
Okay, I enjoy reading Joan Hess. She's funny and witty; she's light reading and she doesn't telegraph her endings like so many "light" mystery authors. Like Madelyn Alt, she makes me chuckle with her witty asides and observations on humanity, kids and whacked-out adults. But here, she combined another weakness of mine: Renaissance Faires!She provides us with a scathing satire of the silliness of a certain group of people that pretty much "invented" the concept of RenFaire's, though here, she refers to them as the "Association for Renaissance Scholarship and Enlightenment" or ARSE.A murder happens in the town of Farberville, AR and, of course, Bookshop owner, Clair Malloy (why are they all Irish?) has to investigate. And, of course, her fiance, Det. Lt. Peter Rosen, is off at FBI Terrorist Training in Quantico.Claire finds out that the jolly band of SCAdians... I mean ARSE-Members... are not all as tight and friendly as they show on the surface. I won't give away any more other than I did laugh-out-loud at several points.Good book for a cold (and broke) Saturday night read!
—Jack
