What a cute book, set in Chicago and published in 2009. This book is a cozy mystery, and just barely a mystery in the classic sense: the body doesn't appear until the last quarter of the book and I'd say the sleuthing doesn't begin until the last third of the book.
Before that, we get a very tongue-in-cheek portrait of the rich on Chicago's North Side.
I read this with a book group (they all loved it) and while my overall impression of the book was that it was an entertaining romp, the others disagreed about whether the heroine, Pauline, was overly materialistic. Some thought she was; others thought that a girl should get, and have, her own. Some defended her by saying that she came from money: they seemed to believe that it was natural to think that money was important if you'd grown up with it.
The others enjoyed the settings: Chicago, Cambodia, Thailand and Aspen. They approved of Pauline's loyalty to her missing cat, Fleur; Pauline's quest to find Fleur drives much of the plot.
O'Connell's first book was Well Bred and Dead, and apparently, Well Wed and Dead, is planned.
The most important part of the book, to me, was that the two main characters actually recited poetry to each other. I don't believe anyone has fallen in love over poetry, in fiction, since Captain Benwick and Louisa Musgrove (in Jane Austen's Persuasion). Marvell was quoted, Milton too (!) and Sonnet 73, "Thou Mayst in Me Behold," also made an appearance. Further, O'Connell gave all of her chapters the titles of famous novels, such as Pride and Prejudice. I loved this, and I wonder if some other book-loving readers would alos enjoy this.
This author has a website (www.catherineoconnell.net), and if you take a look you can see that she is really part of the world that she depicts in her book, and, that she is not Catherine O'Connell, the Irish-American singer and Chicagoan.
There's quite a bit of romance, and quite a bit of comedy. I objected to the denouement of the plot; the others expressed surprise. If you like to be surprised by the ending, I recommend Well Read and Dead to you.
Before that, we get a very tongue-in-cheek portrait of the rich on Chicago's North Side.
I read this with a book group (they all loved it) and while my overall impression of the book was that it was an entertaining romp, the others disagreed about whether the heroine, Pauline, was overly materialistic. Some thought she was; others thought that a girl should get, and have, her own. Some defended her by saying that she came from money: they seemed to believe that it was natural to think that money was important if you'd grown up with it.
The others enjoyed the settings: Chicago, Cambodia, Thailand and Aspen. They approved of Pauline's loyalty to her missing cat, Fleur; Pauline's quest to find Fleur drives much of the plot.
O'Connell's first book was Well Bred and Dead, and apparently, Well Wed and Dead, is planned.
The most important part of the book, to me, was that the two main characters actually recited poetry to each other. I don't believe anyone has fallen in love over poetry, in fiction, since Captain Benwick and Louisa Musgrove (in Jane Austen's Persuasion). Marvell was quoted, Milton too (!) and Sonnet 73, "Thou Mayst in Me Behold," also made an appearance. Further, O'Connell gave all of her chapters the titles of famous novels, such as Pride and Prejudice. I loved this, and I wonder if some other book-loving readers would alos enjoy this.
This author has a website (www.catherineoconnell.net), and if you take a look you can see that she is really part of the world that she depicts in her book, and, that she is not Catherine O'Connell, the Irish-American singer and Chicagoan.
There's quite a bit of romance, and quite a bit of comedy. I objected to the denouement of the plot; the others expressed surprise. If you like to be surprised by the ending, I recommend Well Read and Dead to you.
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