Well, this was just a silly little book, I mean novella.It ended at 78% on my Kindle and the rest of the percentages were taken up by reviews of the book and a sampling of the next book in the series. This book was simple enough for a middle school student to read and it seemed that it was more appropriate for a tween or a teenage to read than it was for an adult – simple mysteries, clues were easy discovered and things worked out well for the main characters with very little effort put into it. In all honesty, it reads like a teenager wrote this novella with a little bit of help from the mom, the aunt and the grandmother. It reminded me of a Nancy Drew novel that just featured older main characters instead of younger onesThe characters were not well developed and neither was the plot. It seemed like the authors first created a basic outline and then just filled in some information to start a story. The characters were presented with a problem and then within a few pages, they would solve that problem (very easily). Then, the authors would give the characters another problem and then they would very easily solve that one too. This continued throughout the entire book. There was no major problem in the story and all the problems were solved in very convenient ways.As far as antagonists, here was one “frenemy” of Zoey’s (Penny). Penny did not do too much damage and was basically not a threat at all. I’m not even sure why she was even in the story except to try and cause some very minor bumps. There were no “adult” situations, the language and “sexual tension” were very clean and there was nothing that I saw that would be too mature for a child to read.This book was way too short for the story to properly work. The authors did have some fun ideas but they were poorly executed.This novella was not character driven or even plot driven: it was author driven. The authors were the ones to place the characters in all the scenes and created the odd plots. The authors forced the dialogue among the characters and created unrealistic scenes. There was no tension, no suspense and no real mystery.The dialogue was sometimes cute but more often than not, it was boring and you could tell that the On an unrelated note: I have a problem with authors naming characters after themselves or characters claiming to be authors. I have no problem with pen names but don’t make your author’s names the same monikers as your main characters. It just looks pretentious, it makes you appear conceited and it looks like you are trying too hard.I wished that the authors had taken their time to really write a longer and more complex novel that offered the required tension and suspense needed in a mystery story. It was a quick read and it too quick to be properly developed. I would have left example quotes but the book is filled with them and I had no desire to write about them.I was very disappointed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------P.S. However, the sample chapters of Cruise to Murder show that that the dullness, forced dialogue and lack of tension continue in the series. A great example is at the end of chapter 3: Claire and Zoey are standing in the water, talking to each other: “Why is it called sea weed? How does anyone know what are weeds or what are sea flowers?” (Claire) “I don’t know but I do have some seaweed –or see flowers–wrapping around my ankles,” Zo said, walking back toward shore, to more shallow water, to get it off. Claire was shocked to see a bloated hand and wrist emerge out from the water behind her mother, like a ridged shark fin following after her. WHERE IS THE TENSION? WHERE IS THE SUSPENSE? The mother walks away and then Claire is shocked to see a bloated hand and wrist. There was nothing leading up to that moment that would heighten the shock – the problem just blended right into scene and was instantaneously meaningless. I was not shocked. I was not surprised. I actually had to read it twice to see if I missed anything. It was so lackadaisical that I felt absolutely emotionless when I read what Claire saw in the water. This is a mystery! Shouldn’t I feel shocked along with the character? I love this book... Too bad it was so short. This book is perfect for those who want something short and easy to read, it even has riddles... How awesome is that? The book although short got straight to the point and it kept me wanting more. I didn't think that this book would be even remotely scary but there were a few times that had me pull up my bed cover to my chin. I love how the author described the mansion (I have a thing for stained glass windows).
What do You think about The Riddles Of Hillgate (2000)?
Plot skips but otherwise easy read. Even if mother and daughter too close for my taste.
—Kristi
It's a good quick read and would be great for the car if traveling.
—Kellymoran7
Awesome short read. Funny looking forward to more by the authors.
—cutepande
