Book Review: Cooking the Books

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Title: Cooking the Books (Sloane Templeton Mystery. Book 1)
Author: Bonnie Calhoun
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Date: April 2012
ISBN: 978-1426733888
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Reviewed by: Cara Putman

Sloane Templeton’s life is chaos in Cooking the Books. Her mom’s died, she’s running a business she doesn’t want, and she longs to get back to computer forensics. Instead, she’s trying to avoid a bad, old boyfriend, while maintaining a relationship with the Greek doctor down the street. She’s got her aunt’s cooking to avoid, her colleague’s group of shooting old timers, and thugs all around.

Bonnie Calhoun’s debut novel sings with personality. Sloane’s voice is strong and sassy with an edge of sarcasm. She’s trying to find herself in her new reality while staying alive. There are moments of poignancy laced with sheer lunacy. This book is perfect for people who enjoy first-person detective novels where the mystery involves a non-professional. Sloane has the skills she needs to solve the murder, but doesn’t realize it. The book is a romp with a thread of serious undertones. The faith element is woven in carefully, adding to the story without distracting from the action.

At times, there was almost too much going on in the novel. In the end all the layers and details come together seamlessly. And Sloan’s voice is very strong…filled with clichés and color. For those who like an action-filled mystery, this is a great choice.

Reveiw by: Cara C. Putman http://www.caraputman.comhttp://www.facebook.com/caraputman
Releasing in 2012: Cherry Blossom Capers, A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island, & Rainbow’s End (All Barbour)
ACFW Publicity Officer Http://www.acfw.com

Comments 0

  1. Thank you Cara for such a great review. LOL…Sloane’s life is just as busy and crazy as ours are as writers 🙂 ROFLOL…although I don’t know too many of us that need to pull a gun…er,uh…on second thought… *snort-giggle*

    Thanks a bunch. Be blessed.

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