Murder of a Sweet Old Lady

A Scumble River Mystery, Book 2

By: Denise Swanson

Narrated by: Christine Leto

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

When she left Scumble River years ago, school psychologist Skye Denison thought she’d never be back. But after a run of bad luck in the big city, she has a new appreciation for the down-home charm of small-town life - and decides to start over in the town where she started out...

When Skye’s beloved grandmother is found dead in her bed, the family consensus is natural causes. Still, Skye insists on an autopsy - an examination that proves the sweet old lady was, in fact, murdered! But who could have done the deadly deed? Skye is determined to find out, though her snooping doesn’t sit well with the relatives. Family tensions can mean only one thing: family secrets. And when a series of hooligan attacks on Skye’s property leads to an outright physical assault, Skye has to wonder if by exposing the rotten roots of her family tree, she’s one step closer to exposing the killer…

©2001 Denise Swanson Stybr (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Good small town cozy

What did you like best about Murder of a Sweet Old Lady? What did you like least?

I am enjoying this series. This is book 2 and continues with the characters from Murder of a Small Town Honey, now caught up in the mystery of the murder of Skye's grandmother. This is a small town cozy mystery series so if you don't like some small town drama, descriptions of homemade meals and the occasional visit to a pork chop supper, pick a different series. We spend a lot of time with Skye's relatives in this installment and now we can completely see why she moved away in the first place. She endures a lot of family stress and work stress in this one. I used to think school psychologist sounded like a good job, but this installment definitely talked me out of that as Skye's job provides a lot of unpleasant drama for her. Additionally her love life does not come to satisfying conclusion in this one, but there is hope for improvement going forward. The mystery kept me interested throughout despite some occasional over the top perhaps not entirely believable twists. However, I don't think readers of books like this are as concerned about such things if they can accept that some random school psychologist in a small town will keep getting caught up in murder investigations in the first place. I have downloaded the next in the series. I'm not sure I love Skye exactly, but I do like the narration and the books keep me interested.

Good plots

I am really enjoying this series, except when Denise chooses to use our Saviors name inappropriately.

Murdering a family member? Spooky...

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Instead throwing Mrs.J into the well, it would be better if she went out for grocery shopping. That way, the attention won't get dragged away.

What did you like best about this story?

Aunt Mona sure feels guilty and horrible for getting an abortion even if she is a Catholic. Grandma should also feel shocked if she finds out about it.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Sure, I love mysteries, books, audiobooks, movies... All of them!

Good cozy mystery

Just plain old enjoyable. Not too many characters to be confusing so that you have to think terribly hard and just enough to make it interesting. It wasn't a book that I couldn't put down but it fell nicely into the "good cozy mystery" category.

Narrator did a fine job, changing voices... good enough so you could tell who was speaking.

I was able to figure out who the culprit was an hour and a half prior to the end of the book but it didn't really ruin my listening to the rest of the book either.

Not terribly exciting so if that's what you're looking for, maybe not the book for you but if you want an "easy read" then pick this one up for your collection. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Cute

Cute book in series! Really enjoyed it a lot! Going to listen to the next one

Family Issues

Where does Murder of a Sweet Old Lady rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have to admit I wasn't too sure about this series when I first started it, but now I am really into this series, these books are pretty good, so I will have to rank this series high on my list.. I am only on the 3rd book and there are 19 so I hope the interest and excitement can stay through out all 19.. The Harry Bosch series are my favorite but these are right after that.

What did you like best about this story?

I really like how this story just falls inline behind the first book, characters are the same so I don't have to try and remember new names.

Which character – as performed by Christine Leto – was your favorite?

I again like Sky

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

yes I couldn't believe who the killer was and the reason behind why she committed the crimes.. I also was sad at the ending.. but the ending was good.

Any additional comments?

none

5 stars

Family can be murder. This is a sad mystery but Sky persevered and solved the mystery. This is my second time listening to this book and it still enjoyable.

Not What I Hoped For

I purchased this book hoping to find smart, interesting characters and a somewhat upbeat story.

What I found was Skye, the main character, living in an intolerant small town surrounding by some of the most awful family members I could imagine. I'm sure these situations exist in real life. However, they are not what I Iook for in recreational reading.

I really wanted to like Skye. However, at the time this story is set her life seems rather grim. When I got to Chapter 10, I just couldn't listen anymore. I had completely lost interest.

Christine Leto's narration was fine.

Not worth the time or money

The characters are unbelievable and poorly developed. The crimes and their execution are even less realistic. The actress does a good job but can't save this book.