[Mystery Thrillers Book] à Dating Dead Men (Wollie Shelley Mystery #1) PDF by Harley Jane Kozak ↠ eBook or Kindle ePUB free

It's funny - I love to read this author's blog, but this book was so all-over-the-place. I did like the main character, Wollie, but thought it was nuts how far she would go for a man she didn't know (who could be a murderer). The storyline was uneven and disjointed. Harley Jane Kozak I have to say I'm quite surprised at some of the poor reviews this book has gotten. It may not be a great work of literature but then, it clearly does not pretend to be. It's a lighthearted, clever, madcap mystery with an odd romance thrown in. Add an interesting family and two quirky friends and you've got a winning, albeit unusual, cocktail.

The characters were all well-developed and the plot, though a bit convoluted at times, was well thought out. I loved Wollie's character and the author's breezy, conversational style was easy to get lost in.

This book made me laugh out loud more than once. What more could I ask for? Mystery Thrillers It was ok. The middle dragged, but the ending wasn't too bad. I might pick up the next in the series, but then again, I might not. Hardcover

★★★★✩ I like to make greeting cards. In fact, my BFfL (best friend for life) insists on dragging me out of the house (and away from my books!) every now and then to a card-making class. I love a good mystery, too. Throw in a little romance and I’m ecstatic. Combining these three elements, the bases of this series, piqued my interest when I saw book #4 was on audio at my public library (everyone knows I’m addicted audiobooks).

Since Debbie, one of my GRs friends, has a fit every time I start a series out of order, I thought it might actually be worth the effort for me to arrange an interlibrary transfer via my computer (the easy part) and physically go (the hard part) to my Brick & Mortar Public Library to retrieve the first in the Wollie Shelley Mysteries available to me only in the Dead Tree Version (hardback). Surprise! It was.

What can I say? This is a fun book, with occasional touching moments. I thought the heroine was going to be TSTL when she instantly falls for a potential murderer, but she held my attention. Got to love a woman named after an eighteenth century feminist (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) who keeps a Regency Romance in her jacket pocket â€" just in case there’s time to read it.

Time? That Wollie doesn’t find; there’s a lot happening in this book. There is also wit and charm; enough that I’ll be making another trek to the library for the second in the series. That’s saying something, since I’m the spoiled “Download Queen of Cyberspace” now. Ms. Kozak’s writing flows at a nice clip making it well worth the journey. I liked sentences like: “He hacked again, hard enough to rearrange his lungs.”

I’ll keep you posted about the audiobook.



English Many years ago, I used to browse the library stacks to find things to read. Once in a while I'd get lucky and come across something that I really liked. This book was one I found in that way. I remember really enjoying it--finding it terribly quirky and funny--part mystery--part romance. Lately, I've found the desire to revisit some of my past favorites to see if they still hold up to my memories. This one did. I enjoyed it just as much this time around. Call it chick-lit if you will, but I think it's just a fun read.
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I first knew Harley Jane Kozak for her work as an actress (she played Rick Moranis’ wife in the movie Parenthood, among many other roles); Dating Dead Men is her first book in the series featuring L.A. greeting card artist Wollie Shelley who is participating in a research project, dating 40 men in 60 days. Her plans hit a speed bump when she finds a body at the local state mental hospital where her schizophrenic brother P.B. is a patient.

When Wollie gets taken hostage soon after by a charismatic “doctor” on the run from the Mob, she finds herself drawn into a treasure hunt for a mobster’s pinky ring, while dodging assassins, mobsters and psychopaths. Nevertheless, Wollie's determined to protect her brother, care for the fake doc's ferret while helping his little girl find her voice again, take ownership of her franchised Welcome! Greetings store, and survive all her blind dates.

I found it to be a well-written and funny first novel with interesting characters, especially her co-worker Fredreeq and best friend Joey (the former star of Gun Girl) who help prepare her many dates and cover for mishaps with the humorless Welcome! Greetings representative Mr. Bundt. I will admit that some of Wollie's blind dates started to blur together after a while, but then again, Wollie likely felt the same way.

Since the description of the main character fits Harley Jane Kozak to a “T,” I had no problem envisioning her as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (as Wollie explains, her mother was whimsical when it came to names; apparently P.B. got it worse).

The only drawback to having a series of mystery novels where dating is the theme of the series, is that it precludes the opportunity for Wollie to settle down with anyone, and I really liked the guy she connected with at the end of the first book. Oh, well. I’m curious enough to check out the next book in the series, though. I will try to keep an open mind! Mystery Thrillers The book could not keep my attention for more than a few moments at a time. The pace was frenetic, the characters inconsistent and what I understood of the plot was improbable. Miss Golly Wolley wants to own her own business on the one hand but does insane things like breaking into a hospital past midnight to leave her brother aluminum foil for no particularly good reason. Basically she is the kind of woman who walks down a dark alley in the middle of the night and then wonders how she could be so unlucky as to get attacked. Good golly Molly. Harley Jane Kozak I couldn't identify with the wacky characters. Their behavior was hard to believe. This was less humorous or entertaining than the first Stephanie Plum. The story is mostly visual; could be a TV movie for a teenage audience. I won't read any more in this series or anything else written by Harley Jane Kozak. 336 Picked this up in the audiobooks section of the library because I needed something for my commute. Figured it would be light chick lit.

While the protagonist was likable, this is a story that tried to do too much and took too long. First she's going on 30 blind dates, then she meets a dark/handsome/dangerous stranger, then she tries to help him get out of trouble, then she has to save her brother from murder charges?! All while harboring a fugitive ferret?

I figured I would ride it out for the commute ... then I realized it was one of 9 discs, and it was taking too long to get to anywhere, so I skipped discs 5-8 and just listened to the end. And it wasn't even satisfying.

All this to say: Don't bother.
0385510187 Funny, whimsical and a surprisingly good read. Don't place too much emphasis on the storyline being a bit unbelievable; what rational, untrained, everyday citizen misled, trick and manipulate stone killers? English

Los Angeles greeting-card artist Wollie Shelley is dating forty men in sixty days as research for a radio talk show host’s upcoming book, How to Avoid Getting Dumped All the Time. Wollie is meeting plenty of eligible bachelors but not falling in love, not until she stumbles over a dead body en route to Rio Pescadoâ€"a state-run mental hospitalâ€"and is momentarily taken hostage by a charismatic “doctor” who is on the run from the Mob. Wollie fears that her beloved brother, a paranoid schizophrenic living at Rio Pescado, is involved in the murder, so rather than go to the authorities, she decides to solve the crime on her own. As she meets up with an array of small-time crooks and swaggering mobsters only slightly more sinister than the men she’s been dating, Wollie realizes that “getting dumped” is the least of her problems. Finding true love, she discovers, sometimes means learning how to avoid getting killed . . .

Dating Dead Men will keep readers guessing until the final bullet is shotâ€"and cheering for the irresistible Wollie as she makes her way out of confusion and into the welcoming embrace of Mr. Right. Dating Dead Men (Wollie Shelley Mystery #1)