Rating: 
Summary: Best of the series so far
Review: Beth Saulnier reaches new heights of frustrating the hell out of her readers with this, the third novel in the Alex Bernier series. Even for those of us who aren't great devotees of the pop mystery genre, if you believe you're a smart, perceptive person you often believe you should be able to suss out what's really going on, solve the mystery before the narrator/protagonist does. But not Beth's books - God love her, she drives me CRAZY with legitimate misdirection and intricately detailed subplots. This time, despite completely missing whodunnit, I even thought I'd found some holes in her plotting - but she managed to plug them all closed for me. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Best of the series so far
Review: Beth Saulnier reaches new heights of frustrating the hell out of her readers with this, the third novel in the Alex Bernier series. Even for those of us who aren't great devotees of the pop mystery genre, if you believe you're a smart, perceptive person you often believe you should be able to suss out what's really going on, solve the mystery before the narrator/protagonist does. But not Beth's books - God love her, she drives me CRAZY with legitimate misdirection and intricately detailed subplots. This time, despite completely missing whodunnit, I even thought I'd found some holes in her plotting - but she managed to plug them all closed for me. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: loving Alex
Review: Even though she is a Republican I am falling in love with Alex Bernier, the heroine of Beth Saulnier's series. The Fourth Wall is the third in the series, and I strongly recommend reading them in order. Alex's life--as important and as interesting as the mysteries--is best understood chronologically. Alex is young, about 27, and a newspaper reporter in a small college town in northern New York. She is tough, funny, girly, very smart, independent, nosy, non-sentimental. She's not a perfect creation--she does not have female friends, she dismisses feminists although of course she has benefited greatly from previous and present-day feminists, and as I've already mentioned her politics are suspect. But Saulnier has created an outstanding voice--spending time with Alex is delightful. The mystery in The Fourth Wall gets a bit convoluted. However, I highly highly highly recommend all three books. This is a series to look forward to as it continues.
Rating:
Summary: loving Alex
Review: Even though she is a Republican I am falling in love with Alex Bernier, the heroine of Beth Saulnier's series. The Fourth Wall is the third in the series, and I strongly recommend reading them in order. Alex's life--as important and as interesting as the mysteries--is best understood chronologically. Alex is young, about 27, and a newspaper reporter in a small college town in northern New York. She is tough, funny, girly, very smart, independent, nosy, non-sentimental. She's not a perfect creation--she does not have female friends, she dismisses feminists although of course she has benefited greatly from previous and present-day feminists, and as I've already mentioned her politics are suspect. But Saulnier has created an outstanding voice--spending time with Alex is delightful. The mystery in The Fourth Wall gets a bit convoluted. However, I highly highly highly recommend all three books. This is a series to look forward to as it continues.
Rating:
Summary: Better and Better
Review: I loved this book for the references to the Ithaca/Binghamton area (where I live) but I had hard time figuring out who was saying what in the book!! There were whole pages where a conversation would take place between two characters where I couldn't tell what character was saying what line...sometimes I had to go back to where the conversation started and figure it out a few times!! Other than that, Beth Saulnier truly writes with a Gen X appeal and I enjoyed reading about this 20 something gal reporter and her determination to get to the bottom of the issues.... She has such a great relationship with her co-workers and her boyfriend which is also a wonderful thing to read about. It's also a wild read because the author, through the character Alex Bernier is pretty much writing about herself.... Beth's (and Alex's) love of the Ithaca area shines through and I appreciate that, being a NY girl myself!!! After reading this book, I longed for some more CNY references and got more by reading addtional books in the Alex Bernier mystery series!! (Four books in all so far!) Keep 'em coming!!
Rating: 
Summary: Who's talking?....and a wonderful retreat through Central NY
Review: I loved this book for the references to the Ithaca/Binghamton area (where I live) but I had hard time figuring out who was saying what in the book!! There were whole pages where a conversation would take place between two characters where I couldn't tell what character was saying what line...sometimes I had to go back to where the conversation started and figure it out a few times!! Other than that, Beth Saulnier truly writes with a Gen X appeal and I enjoyed reading about this 20 something gal reporter and her determination to get to the bottom of the issues.... She has such a great relationship with her co-workers and her boyfriend which is also a wonderful thing to read about. It's also a wild read because the author, through the character Alex Bernier is pretty much writing about herself.... Beth's (and Alex's) love of the Ithaca area shines through and I appreciate that, being a NY girl myself!!! After reading this book, I longed for some more CNY references and got more by reading addtional books in the Alex Bernier mystery series!! (Four books in all so far!) Keep 'em coming!!
Rating:
Summary: good, and getting better
Review: I started reading this series because Ms. Saulnier is a friend of a friend of a ... Anyway, I didn't know what to expect when I started, but I've been impressed with her work. The Fourth Wall is a real step forward from Distemper (which was pretty good). Life in this college town is really believable, the story keeps you guessing, and the little twist that pops up in the middle regarding her already complicated love life is absolutely inspired. I thought it took too long for the story to finally return to the events referred to in the opening, but it sure helped keep me hooked, so I guess Saulnier knew what she was doing. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Better and Better
Review: I've just finished The Fourth Wall, and I've already finished the previous 2 Alex Bernier books. This one is Beth Saulnier's best one so far. Alex is caught up in not just one but three separate murder mysteries, all pretty much unrelated but Saulnier links it all up pretty well. The parts of the book about Alex's personal life adds spice to the story and insight to her character. I liked the way Saulnier began and ended this book, absolutely fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun, Great Plotting
Review: It's great to stumble across a book as fun and engaging as Beth Saulnier's The Fourth Wall. I hadn't really ever heard of her before and after reading this novel, I don't know why. The Fourth Wall is an excellent crime/whodunit novel with a terrific heroine. Alex Bernier is a twenty-something reporter in upstate New York with a detective boyfriend and an uncanny knack of attracting trouble in the worst way. Three dead bodies show up in the novel and only one of them is clearly a murder case--but it just happens to have been dead for about 80 years. The various story lines are very well entertwined and the resolutions are all plausible and satisfying. This is an excellent escapism read, very entertaining. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun, Great Plotting
Review: It's great to stumble across a book as fun and engaging as Beth Saulnier's The Fourth Wall. I hadn't really ever heard of her before and after reading this novel, I don't know why. The Fourth Wall is an excellent crime/whodunit novel with a terrific heroine. Alex Bernier is a twenty-something reporter in upstate New York with a detective boyfriend and an uncanny knack of attracting trouble in the worst way. Three dead bodies show up in the novel and only one of them is clearly a murder case--but it just happens to have been dead for about 80 years. The various story lines are very well entertwined and the resolutions are all plausible and satisfying. This is an excellent escapism read, very entertaining. Enjoy.
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