my take

Mystery is one of my favorite genres and I consider myself a mystery buff. So I have to admit that when I began reading "Lemon Tart", I quickly rolled my eyes a few times because it seemed so predictable. I had it all figured out. I knew who the bad guy was and why Anne had been murdered, blah blah blah.... And then I got thrown for a major loop and had to eat all my words. :) I didn't see the end twists and turns coming at all, and that's what a fantastic mystery is all about!

Along with Shelli, I also appreciated that Sadie wasn't MORMON and that half the book wasn't spent talking about the Holy Ghost or last week's Relief Society lesson. I read fiction to experience an out-of-body adventure, and keeping the LDS currents minor undertones allowed me to really throw myself into an alternate character with Sadie.

However, it absolutely drove me nuts that Sadie couldn't just let the police do their job. In the real world, she would have been thrown in jail in a heartbeat for breaking into a crime scene. Not to mention removing evidence. I guess in the context of the plot, the bad guy was only caught with the help of Sadie's interference, but I still would like to believe that had Sadie just minded her own business the bad guy would still have received his just rewards.

Speaking of minding one's business, that's the other thing about Sadie that drove me nuts. She's one of those busy-bodies that makes me want to draw my blinds and lock my doors. I felt like she spent more time trying to glean gossip-worthy information from her neighbors' personal lives than actually caring about her neighbors. And, I'm sorry, a pan of brownies (no matter how delicious) does not take the place of a heartfelt and honest apology. I once had my car egged in high school by one of the girls in my Laurel's class and when she got caught she tried to bake me lemon bars to smooth things over. :)

That being said, I think Sadie's character flaws (although extremely irritating) were also endearing and helped to make the mystery as charming as it was. I enjoyed it! And I know I'm not the only one who found my mouth watering every other chapter. By the time the book was over, I had an overwhelming urge to bake something... Anyone else bake a lemon tart? :)It was delicious! And I totally want to track down the other books, both for the mysteries and the recipes. :)

P.S. Sorry Shelli, I only wrote down the Lemon Tart recipe... Anyone else have the other ones?
Oh, and I know exactly what part you're talking about with the romance novel and I laughed out loud because it's so true! Wish I'd written it down....