A poorly written mystery that is just a flat-out annoying read.

Ellie Avery is a military wife and self-proclaimed organization guru. When her husband Mitch’s commander is murdered in the parking lot of a golf course & several attempts are made on Mitch’s own life, Ellie takes it upon herself to solve the crimes and clear the name of her friend, Denise—the commander’s wife.

The book starts out with a large family reunion hosted by Ellie & Mitch. We get introduced to many members of Mitch’s extended family. What a great array of potential suspects, red herrings, & murder victims…right? Wrong. Turns out—with the exception of a cousin who bears a striking resemblance to Mitch—neither the family nor the reunion has anything to do with the subsequent plot. So, what was the point of the elaborate family reunion sequence? Well, it wastes a great deal of the reader’s time and energy, but—other than that—it doesn’t seem to have much of a point really.

Speaking of pointless…In apparent homage to Ellie’s status as organizing maven, many of the chapters end with ‘helpful’ household organizing tips; although none of them are particularly innovative or useful, or relevant to the story.

Aside from Ellie, the other protagonist of the story is the weather. The author incessantly reminds the reader that it is hot & humid. The heat & humidity actually seem to get more mentions in this book than the murder victim himself. Yet, Ellie is always pulling a handful of Hershey’s Kisses out of her designer handbag…just one of the countless, nonsensical elements that pervade this story.

In addition to all of the nonsense, Ellie’s husband Mitch is particularly hard to stomach. Mitch is a colossal know-it-all who is constantly talking down to his wife like she is an infant. Early on he decides to torment Ellie by sneaking behind her back to change the ringtone on her cell phone; this starts a maddening tit-for-tat battle of obnoxious ringtones that persists throughout the duration of the story. When Denise is arrested for the murder of her husband by the bumbling police detectives, Ellie is quick to come to her friend’s defense. Mitch, on the other hand, thinks the police would never make a mistake, readily abandons their friend, & treats Ellie like a mindless fool for believing in Denise’s innocence…what a guy! Later on, he actually has the nerve to become enraged at Ellie for expressing concern for his welfare after numerous attempts have been made on his life. The author made one of many bad judgment calls when she decided that Mitch should actually survive this installment of the series.

There is simply nothing to enjoy in this military based mystery. ( )

In a bit of a twist, Ellie's husband is involved in the mystery and, at least for me, the actual murderer was a surprise. I wonder how real law enforcement officers feel about civilians and their theories about crime. I'm always mildly indignant on Ellie's behalf when they act like she is a crackpot! ( )

This was my first book by this author. I enjoyed the characters, and the story kept me involved. ( )

Ellie Avery is a military wife and mother who solves murders in her spare time. This is definitely a cozy mystery, so I didn't expect it to be too exciting, but, unfortunately, it didn't manage to hold my interest at all. I didn't connect with the main character even though I am a military (retired) wife. The characters seemed flat and the pace of the book was slow. I do read cozy mysteries, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea. ( )

This book is fifth of a mystery series. Ellie is the wife of an Air Force officer who finds herself and her husband in the middle of a murder mystery with the victim being her husband's commanding officer. The book is a light, easy read that starts a little slow but quickly picks up pace. Some of the minor details about military life are interesting especially for someone like me who has not ever experienced that life. This is a book for people who like cozy mysteries; those who lean toward procedurals or thrillers will probably find the pacing a little slow and the day-to-day family stuff uninteresting. ( )