Marianna Heusler

A good suspenseful mystery that kept me interested. The mystery is well put together and everything wraps up nicely in the end. The apartment scene with all the cockroaches crawling everywhere makes my skin crawl. I like all of the characters, even Isabella older sister and all the crazy teenage stuff she does.

Since this is the second book, I don’t know the characters that well.

Points:

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Writing: 4/5

Total: 14/20 = 4 *stars*… (mer)

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Cleanliness: Slightly Tainted (4+ Curse Words and/or Euphemisms. Other content: bullying, car accident, dementia, hemophilia, family trouble, mention of dead body, magic, lying, murder, and death.)

One Stone Left Unturned was a story of mystery, history, sadness, and magic. The chapters alternated viewpoints between historical past and the present. I liked how each chapter title told you which time it was in so there was no confusion. The past viewpoint followed Tsar Nicholas Romanov (also known as Nicholas the Bloody) and his family as they fled into exile. The present viewpoint followed Augusta (a modern-day teen) as she coped with bullying, an emotionally-abusive mother, a grandmother with dementia, and more. The topic seemed like such an odd one to me, but it was really good!

I enjoyed the actual historical things that were scattered throughout the story. A large majority of the scenes with the Tsar were taken from history. The author took his real life and filled in the gaps with fiction.

The story of the Tsar and his family and the story of Augusta and her family were such different stories, but yet similar in certain ways. The Tsar's exile was compared to the modern exile of bullying. I really liked that. Of course the magical stone was the main connecting point of the two stories. There were a few coincidences (especially between Augusta and the Tsar's daughter, Tatiana) that I wasn't too fond of, though. I thought that Augusta having to write a paper about the Russian royal family at the same time as she found the stone might have been a little far-fetched.

Although this book is presented as a middle-grade novel, I think it falls more under the young adult category. It dealt with some really tough subjects such as an awful mother, mental illness, and even murder. These topics were done well, but they were also very intense.

I would consider One Stone Left Unturned a mystery/thriller/historical fiction. It was such an interesting read! Everything about the end reminded me of Jumanji, and it was awesome! You'll only understand if you read it. ;)

~I was sent a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review~… (mer)

Trouble Purse Sued (St. Polycarp Mystery Book 4)
Marianna Heusler (Goodreads Author)

From goodreads.com:

After an unfortunate turn of events at St. Polycarp, Mrs. Johnson has been appointed as the interim principal of the school. At first the thought of being the principal was exciting, but the reality of dealing with a budget that didn't begin to cover the school's expenses, demanding parents, a clique of disrespectful teachers and recalcitrant students had wrung every bit of patience and good humor from her psyche.

The prospect that her role might become permanent deeped her anxiety but then she learned that she might end up with no job at all. Apparently the archdiocese was deciding whether to close St. Polycarp for good. It seemed that fund-raising was going to be critical—thousands of dollars—and she didn't think that the children's sales of chocolate bars was going to keep St. Polycarp's doors open.

That's why when Mrs. Hopwood, her best friend and sleuthing partner in solving a series of unfortunate—murderous events—offers to donate some vintage clothing and accessories she recently inherited from her aunt Eunice to raise money for the school, Mrs. Johnson agrees.

The catch—a fashion show with students as the models—flyers, catalogues, online bids—another grand scheme hatched by Mrs. Hopwood that only gives Mrs. Johnson a bigger migraine and in true St. Polycarp fashion spurs a series of unfortunate events.


Leona's Review:

This is my first read by Marianna Heusler. I received a complimentary copy from the author to read and review.

It took me awhile to get into the book with so many characters and problems. This is a dark cozy mystery.
The main characters are two who work at St. Polycarp Catholic School, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Hopwood. There is Tracy, a lady who fell on bad times after her husband is murdered. We have the student, Melissa Ortiz, whose father is about to be released from prison for a murder he said he did not commit. Other characters make a long line-up.
The school is falling on hard times and will close unless they can raise some money. Mrs. Hopwood's aunt died and as Mrs. Hopwood was cleaning out the attic, she found some vintage clothes. They decided to hold a sale and fashion show to raise the money.
There are a number of murders and lots of mystery; I will say that the end surprised me.
Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Hopwood got irritated with each other quite a bit and I finally told myself to think of them as sisters who argue but still are the best of friends. Also the title was not very clear to me, so when I repeated it three times, it made sense to me.
I want to give it a 3.75 star. Not quite a 4 star but certainly not a 3 star. The opinions are my own.
I will read the other books in the series even though this was a stand alone read.

Find Marianna Heusler at:
www.mariannamystery.com
Her fashion blog is mariannaheusler.typepad.com
She is a goodreads.com author.
Marianna has also written for Woman's World Magazine.

Leona Olson
http://www.mnleona.blogspot.com… (mer)

My Review of “No End to Trouble A St. Polycarp School Mystery” By Marianna Heusler

I would like to thank the author for an edition of “No End To Trouble : A St. Polycarp School Mystery” by Marianna Heusler for my honest review.

The genres of this book are mystery or cozy mystery.

I find that the author describes St. Polycarp School as a building were there were several murders a few years before. Father Felix, the former head of the school is now at the Vatican, and there is a new principal, Mrs. Logan. Mrs. Logan is portrayed as a cold ,callous demanding, rigid, assertive, no nonsense type of leader. The new principal has plans for a new over-haul of the school from a change in curriculum, to a change in staff. Mrs. Logan has brought her secretary and other members from her former school to St. Polycarp. Her manipulative ways of dealing with a tenured teacher (that she chooses to get rid of) is to place the teacher where she will not be comfortable, and have less of a chance to succeed. For example a second grade teacher would be moved up to fifth grade.

Two of the former teachers of St.Polycarp, Mrs. Hopwood and Mrs. Johnson were able to solve the murders in the past at the school and are unhappy that Father Felix is away. In addition, they are miserable that Mrs. Logan is the new principal. Mrs. Hopwood is moved from the second grade to the fifth, and is insecure and terrified of dealing with the new curriculum and the older children. Mrs. Johnson is not thrilled with the rigid principal and regimented rules. The teachers, staff, parents and children are not happy.

On back to school night the parents arrive to meet and greet the teachers. There is a spread of cookies and brownies, and everything seems to be in order.That is, until one of the Kitchen staff takes a brownie off Mrs. Logan’s desk, and drops dead. Was this brownie meant for Mrs. Logan?

There are many twists and turns, and there are teachers, staff, parents and others who could have a motive, and are suspect. Of course our busybody teachers Mrs. Hopwood and Mrs.Johnson want to get to the bottom of this. Could this get them fired or possibly murdered?

This was a delightful and intriguing mystery and I enjoyed reading this.… (mer)