Well, I finally finished Murder by Serpents by Barbara Graham. I have to say that I wasn't overwhelmingly impressed, and I'm not sure why. The main characters were well-written and likable, the plot was well-thought out and logical, and the ending (though a bit sad) made sense. Maybe part of the problem was that the book is part of the Quilt Series...I assumed it was a mid-series book based on the way it was written. When I tried to look it up to provide you with the name of the first in the series, though, it seems that this WAS the first book. Argh! It definitely feels like the reader is already supposed to be familiar with this town and these characters going in....am I missing something and there really is a Book 1 out there that I've overlooked?
Another problem is the pathetically minimal copy editing the book was apparently subjected to before being sent to print. There are numerous typos, wrong words, bad punctuation, characters' names being spelled differently in different places, etc. Even worse, there is one instance of a scene in the book that clearly should have come BEFORE a scene I had already read. Honestly, if someone was paid to proof this book, the publishing company should demand a refund.
That being said, the story is pretty good, especially if you like snakes, small towns, and mysteries, not necessarily in that order. There are also instructions to make your own mystery quilt, so if you have the necessary skill set to do so, you'll probably enjoy the book way more than I did. Cheers!
