Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran

Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran ISBN-13: 9780425270288 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: August 5, 2014

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Read ’Em and Eat is known for its delicious breakfast and lunch treats, along with quite a colorful clientele. If it’s not Rowena Gustavson loudly debating the merits of the current book club selection, it’s Miss Augusta Maddox lecturing tourists on rumors of sunken treasure among the islands. It’s no wonder Sassy’s favorite is Delia Batson, who is painfully shy—which makes the news of her murder all the more shocking.

No one is more distraught than Augusta, Delia's relative and best friend. Sassy wants to help any way she can...but Augusta wants her to find Delia’s killer!


My Review:
Well Read, Then Dead is a cozy mystery. The characters were interesting and varied. The heroine avoids conflict and is always trying to soothe over or divert any conflicts. Yet midway through the story, she decides that she needs to go confront a man who scares her, has threatened her, and that she's certain is a murderer...and she's going to do this by herself! Huh? She simply takes the guy's word for it that he's not a murderer. When she tells the police about his alibi, she finds out that the police already knew about it.

Skip ahead to nearly the end. It's a fairly straight forward mystery, and there have been enough clues that I know whodunit. The heroine is still trying to figure it out. She gets a note to met an anonymous person to get more information. She thinks about how she'd be yelling, "No! Don't go" if this was a horror movie, but she still doesn't think this is dangerous. She goes alone, only leaving a message about her whereabouts on the phone of someone who is currently having phone problems. Yeah. You know what happens. Only she doesn't know who tried to kill her. She only succeeds in discovering whodunit by yet again nearly getting killed. Good thing the police arrive in time to save the day!

And, of course, the boyfriend realizes she's making dangerous, foolish decisions in how she's investigating the murder and asks her to stop--and she gets in a huff about him trying to tell her what to do! These poor cozy mystery boyfriends--would the heroines really prefer a fellow who doesn't care if they get themselves killed? Sorry, this novel just hit too many of my pet peeves.

There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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