I've finished off two mysteries this week. Both were from Paperback Book Swap. First was Embroidered Truths by Monica Ferris. If you like a nice light mystery and or a crafting mystery this is a good series to cuddle up with. I enjoyed the main characters and the bond they'd developed. I'm pretty sure I read the first book in this series, Crewel Yule, quite a few years ago. This one stood on its own so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Unlike some of the crafting mystery series, this one has several crafts in it so if embroidery isn't your cut of tea they talk about other crafts also. I've read a couple of Monica's books and have liked them. I have another one of her mysteries, Blackwork, that I have in my stash to read hopefully this week.
The second book was an Amish mystery, Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth by Tamar Myers. Overall it wasn't a bad mystery, it was a light read similar to Embroidered Truths. My issues with this book were that they weren't consistent with the Amish/Mennonite that I know. The main character, Mennonite, just didn't come across as that likeable, she was crabby to say the least. The cook, Amish, was just nasty, vindictive, and bad tempered - so un-Amish! The main character calls a phone number of one of the murdered guest to discover it was a chicken takeout place and gets into a flirty conversation with the guy that answered. This unknown guy at the end of the book calls her back and sets up a date with her even though they live 200 miles apart. I can't see any Amish woman doing this especially when it's doubtful from the description given of this guy that he was either Mennonite or Amish (in other words he's English). Some may find the dialogue between the main character and the cook funny but I personally did not find it to my taste. It did contain recipes and a couple of them I might try.
Overall this book wasn't my cup of tea not because it wasn't a good mystery but I felt it portrayed the Amish incorrectly. I was looking for a quaint cozy Amish mystery and this didn't fit the bill for me. If she had taken the religious aspect out of the book and just had it as a crabby innkeeper, her lazy sister, and her stubborn cook it would have gone over a lot better for me. Yes, I know all Amish (or other religious people for that matter) don't act true to their religion but when you're marketing to a specific genre I would think you'd want to be a little bit closer to what people expect out of the Amish genre. I had hoped I'd like this series since there are several more books but I doubt I'll order any more of them.
I do read things other then fiction. I started this a couple months ago and just finished it yesterday. Overall it was an okay book but it was so basic it wasn't grabbing my interest well. I was specifically looking for a book using Ayurvedic medicine for female issues. This was a good introduction but I was looking for something more in depth. She did have some useful information for additional reading which I plan to check out and she did have a little bit different slant on the mind/body types that was interesting. I have another book that I plan to read that I think has the more in depth information I'm looking for though.
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