Never Preach Past Noon: A Leigh Koslow Mystery (Leigh Koslow Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: Well written mystery
Review: After finding and losing so many jobs, Leigh Kostow decides to become self-employed by opening up an advertising agency that quickly becomes a success. During a winter lull, a tired Leigh needs rest and time to take care of her Aunt Elizabeth, who fell down some stairs at the parsonage. Apparently Aunt Elizabeth was seeking proof that the pastor Reginald Humphrey was a con artist when she suffered her accident. Leigh should have known by now that a broken legs and crutches would not hinder her aunt from snooping.

Leigh can never say no to her aunt and soon follows up on every clue that Beth finds. The night the Pastor is supposed to officiate at a wedding, he disappears. For three days, no one knows what happened to him. By accident, Leigh finds Reginald's body in the freezer of the animal shelter. The bride's father admits to stuffing the body there so that the pastor would not ruin the wedding, but he swears he did not kill the man. Leigh and her aunt begin investigating the homicide doing whatever it takes to obtain the truth.

Edie Claire is a bright new mystery writer who appears already to be a master of characterization. She populates her tale with likable people and the feline antics of Beth's cats. The author also has the chutzpah to make the reader feel sorry for the killer. The fast-paced story line retains a serious tone with humorous interludes to ease the tension and turn the sleuthing relatives into real people. NEVER PREACH PAST NOON is a winning amateur sleuth tale that showcases a new talent.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Better than a boring, seemingly endless, homily
Review: and haven't we all been through some of those?

I scream at my favorite team when watching the game on TV. Why? I know they can't hear me! I guess that quirk carries over to reading murder "mysteries." I figured out what was going on in this church and wanted to scream at Edie Claire's endearing characters - to reiterate what they obviously already knew but didn't. That's all I'm going to say - so I don't spoil it for you. I don't divulge plot (if I told you, wouldn't it lessen your enjoyment of reading it?)

Nonetheless, Never Preach Past Noon was more interesting than some of those homilies that seem to drag on WAY past noon.

Rating:
Summary: Three's a charm!
Review: Edie Claire has another winner! Her heroine, Leigh Koslow, is back to solve another mystery. This time it is her endearing Aunt Bess who needs her help. The preacher of the newly formed congregation is missing. Is he dead, or just missing? Aunt Bess has all of her "good intention" ideas of what has happened to the preacher. Leigh, on the other hand, is cautious about investigating another murder. Also, Leigh wants to come clean with her friend Warren, but her ex-lawyer Katharine keeps getting in the way! This mystery has a wonderful plot that will keep you guessing until the end. The ending is one of the best that I have read in some time! I can't wait for the next Leigh Koslow mystery.

Rating:
Summary: One heck of a great read!
Review: Entertaining and full of surprises! The preacher is missing and Leigh finds herself trying to locate him. Of course, her family is involved-that adds to the fun. Plenty of plot twists, interesting characters and an ending unlike any other. You'll enjoy this one, even if you haven't read Ms. Claire's earlier mysteries. I highly recommend this delightful book. I can't wait for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Would like to give this book 6 stars!!!
Review: Leigh's Aunt is acting suspicious. She breaks a leg while leaving her pastor's burning house. The pastor claims that she saved his life. Then he is found dead in mysterious circumstances. Various parishoners are receiving messages from the beyond encouraging them to give money to the dead pastor's pet charity. They all thought Humphrey was a con man, but a con ghost?

I enjoyed this mystery. The characters were quirky enough to be entertaining and the subplots and mystery were excellent.

Rating:
Summary: A good summer read
Review: Leigh's Aunt is acting suspicious. She breaks a leg while leaving her pastor's burning house. The pastor claims that she saved his life. Then he is found dead in mysterious circumstances. Various parishoners are receiving messages from the beyond encouraging them to give money to the dead pastor's pet charity. They all thought Humphrey was a con man, but a con ghost?

I enjoyed this mystery. The characters were quirky enough to be entertaining and the subplots and mystery were excellent.

Rating:
Summary: very good advice --
Review: This gentle and deceptive book tends to grow on the reader. Although it probably would help to read the books in the order they were written, to better pick up on the characters and their lives, the author does an excellent job of bringing you up-to-date with them, rather quickly.

Leigh Koslow is a very ordinary sort of woman of today; approaching thirty, no steady guy, her own rather new business--and a mother. Lucky girl, her mother is a twin, and there is even another aunt, Bess Cogley. The three sisters are as different from each other as it's possible to be, and thus exert strange influences over Leigh as she tries to live her life.

When Leigh is awakened by a call from the local hospital advising that Aunt Bess is in their custody and would like a visit from her niece, the fun begins. Aunt Bess, dressed as a biker chick, suffering from smoke inhalation and a broken ankle, has another visitor when Leigh arrives--the minister from Bess's church.

Through a wide variety of clever ideas and suggestions, plus some not-so-clever, Bess and Leigh set out to investigate the background of Pastor Humphrey, whom Bess suspects is really a very clever con artist. Winding through the story are the members of Leigh's family and their assorted pets, plus the members of the church, and a former class-mate who might prove to be her soul-mate, if she can sort out her feelings quickly enough.

The minister disappears, and is eventually found--in the storage freezer at the animal shelter. Suspicion falls first on one person, then another, until finally, with a few surprises thrown in, the death is ruled natural. Other surprises follow, including an epilogue which attempts to explain some of the things that have happened. It seemed more like a short story appended to the book for the sole purpose of tying up loose ends. However, it didn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the book, at least to this reader.

Rating:
Summary: Would like to give this book 6 stars!!!
Review: This is the third in a series of Leigh Koslow mysteries. As with the two previous books, the characters are developed early thereby keeping the reader's attention.

This book has such a surprise ending that the reader will think about this book and ponder the ending for at least two or three days after the last page has been read.

I recommend the entire series.

Rating:
Summary: One heck of a great read!
Review: This series hooked me from page one of the first book, and it just keeps getting better.

Leigh Koslow is the best of heroines -- spunky and determined, yes, but also human. She's not perfect - and wouldn't you hate her if she was? -- but she's delightful, the type of person you'd love to have for a next-door-neighbor. Half the fun of this series is meeting and getting to know Leigh's rather quirky family, and this book gives us a wonderful look at Leigh's Aunt Bess. Aunt Bess is a sweet, chocolate sundae, sprinkled liberally with nuts. (Nuts being the operative word!) When she finds herself in trouble, where else would she turn but to her problem-solving niece?

Never Preach Past Noon follows Leigh and friends through the pursuit of secrets involving a minister/con man, with plenty of twists and surprises along the way. A page-turner supreme, it'll keep you guessing until the final startling revelation. A wonderful novel with a wham-bang ending!