Rating: 
Summary: No Clue at the Inn
Review: In response to A reader from the East Coast below
THIS IS NOT AWFUL!!!! The characters are NOT shallow or full of cliches and they are NOT full of contradictions!!The marriage of Baxter and Cecily is very real. Reminds me of many marriages I know of today, so I do not think it is unreal. The historical detail is NOT sloppily researched. How would the reader from the East Coast know, did he/she live in 1912 England. How much did he/she research it to know it is sloppily researched? Probably none. And if the plot is transparent and contrived then I must be an idiot because Ms. Kingsbury fooled me. So I guess I am not as smart as the reader from the East Coast. Who I doubt is very smart at all, to say such awful words to someone she has never read before. I am a Kate Kingsbury fan, and I have read ALL the books something that I know reader from the East Coast hasn't and he/she has no right to judge anyone so harshly based on the reading of ONE book. He/she from the East Coast is way out of line and has no credibility in judging anything. This author has almost 20 mysteries in print so she must be doing something right. Or are the publishers who published her book idiots too? Disappoinment is one thing, awful is another. What is AWFUL is the reader from the East Coast's review.A Kate Kingsbury fan
Rating: 
Summary: Another outing for Cecily
Review: OK, I didn't enjoy this book as much as earlier entries in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, but maybe I've just moved in a different direction in the meantime. The book opens as Cecily and hubby Baxter are at the breakfast table discussing a just-delivered letter; their multi-syllabic conversation seemed stilted and Baxter sounded like a pompous jerk.
Things picked up a bit after that scene. And to give Kingsbury her due, the dialogue provided is more believable for the period than if the two had been sitting there chatting in 21st Century American (or Brit) vernacular!
Although I didn't love this book, I don't think the more savage of the reviews posted here are warranted. I like Kingsbury's books overall, they are usually a good escapist read - rollicking good tales and some fun characters along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This is awful. The characters are shallow cliches and full of contradictions. For instance, we're constantly reminded about the happy marriage of the protagonists, the Baxters, yet they seem constantly to be lying and arguing. The historical detail is full of anachronisms, very sloppily researched. The plot is transparent and contrived. There's a grammatical error of some sort every couple of pages. I bought the book because of the Christmas setting, but there's very little holiday atmosphere or detail. I see that this author has a number of other books in print; that may account for the formulaic quality of this one. I hope the others are better; I won't be reading any of them.
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