A Killer Plot (2010)

I love it when I find a good cozy mystery series set in NC where I live. I've had the Books By the Bay series on my TBR shelf for months waiting for the school year to end so I could indulge myself. Summer is here....and I cracked open book one as soon as I could! Glad I did!

Olivia Limoges is a wealthy heiress, but life wasn't always like that for her. As a child, she lived in Oyster Bay, NC with her parents. Then her mother died during a violent storm and her father disappeared. Olivia was then raised by her wealthy grandmother. As a young adult, she inherited the family money and lived a jet-set life for years. She returned to Oyster Bay to open a restaurant. Unfortunately her standoffish, brusque manner makes her the subject of much gossip in the small town and she finds herself with few friends. At the coaxing of a writer friend, Camden Ford, she joins a local writing club, The Bayside Book Writers, fixing up a building on her property to give the club a place to meet. Unfortunately Camden is soon murdered, a mysterious haiku poem left at the scene of his death. Other deaths follow....all with haiku left near the bodies. Olivia and the Bayside Writers are on the case. Who thinks they have a poetic license to kill? And can the lively writers solve the case before more people die?

I had a hard time liking Olivia at the beginning of this story. In fact, I almost stopped reading the book several times. I found her rude, spoiled and just unlikable. But......as her character developed and I learned more about why she is prickly as a hedgehog....I began to understand the character better and started enjoying the story. She is definitely a strong female main character, and she has flaws. But Olivia starts to learn about herself and begins to grow as a person in this story. Just get past the part where she is being an ass......don't stop reading! It gets better...I promise! The side characters are all quirky, fun and help round out the group of amateur sleuths.....an edgy punkish rebel, a worn out mom, a sweet man with low self esteem, and a widowed police chief....just a nice group of creative folks. And a great group of friends for a cranky, spoiled restaurant owner. Add in her pampered poodle and it's a nice well-rounded diverse group.

The mystery is engaging, even if the haiku poems left seemed a bit over-the-top. It's a cozy mystery....over-the-top is expected. The book moves along at a nice pace, with plenty of suspects. The background theme of the writer's group and Olivia trying to find some peace about her past did not overpower the mystery but added dimension to the book. Ellery Adams does not write fluffy cozy novels, but really develops her characters and puts some depth into things. I like that for the most part, although sometimes it does get a bit too emo for me. There is a bit of a slight love triangle/confusion in relationships sort of plot device that starts in this first book. I hope it gets resolved quickly. It's just too tropey of a plot device in cozy mysteries.....and to be honest Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen used up all my patience with it. Overused and often annoying. I'm hoping the situation is decided and finished quickly.

All in all, a nice start to this series. I'm already reading book 2. I like the characters, the location and the writing style. Glad I finally found the time to read this series! ( )

This is one of my favorite cozy series. I definitely want to read all of the books. I love Olivia.

The characters are the best part. The mystery itself is convoluted and full of twists and misdirections.
The narrator didn't really seem to be engaged with the main character or her very personable dog. ( )

Olivia is a wealthy business woman who is more comfortable with her dog than she is with people, especially on a personal level. She doesn’t mind being alone, and she doesn’t mind breaking rules if the occasion calls for it. When the head of a writers’ group approaches her for a favor, she finds herself intrigued by his request. And when her town is threatened by a murderer in its midst, she becomes personally involved. The first in a series, this mystery has an intricate plot and complex characters. The charm is not only in the small town setting, but also in the imperfect and flawed characters who people it. This audio version is excellently performed by Karen White who adds much to its enjoyment. ( )

Olivia Limoges is the subject of constant gossip to the residents of Oyster Bay, North Carolina. Ever since she came back to town after having left when she was a child to be raised by her grandmother, after her mother died after an accident during a hurricane and being abandoned by her father, Olivia has kept to herself. All she needs in her life is her dog Captain Haviland a black standard poodle and her unfinished novel which she hopes to finish soon. With a little cajoling from the charming writer Camden Ford, she agrees to join the Bayside Book Writers, to hopefully break her writer's block, and even make a few friends. When townspeople start turning up dead with haiku poems by their bodies, anyone with a flair for language is suddenly suspect. It's up to Olivia to catch the killer before she meets her own poetic ending.

The mystery has enough twists and turns to keep the reader off track but not for them to lose interest in the story. The characters are fun, believable, and a little on the eccentric side. The author does give the reader how the the world of a writer is different for each of the members of the writer's group. The author's description of the town and characters makes it possible to picture them in your head. I liked how Olivia seems to grow throughout the story from being someone who only cares about herself to caring for others and starting to make friends with the members of the writer's group. ( )