My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the third book in this series, but the first that I’ve read. I don’t normally read out of order as I prefer to read the first book in a series first. However, this was a free book and it looked good.
The book starts out with bang -- almost literally. The opening scene involves, AJ, the main character, literally finding a dead body in her mother’s front yard. Turns out her mother knew the dead man and it kind of goes from there, with some serious and some funny turns along the way.
AJ is on her second career, managing and teaching at the yoga studio she inherited from her Aunt. The one thing that isn’t smooth sailing is the rocky relationship she has with the other manager, Lily. It was kind of hard to really grasp the roots of the bad relationship, but I think this is because I haven’t read the first two books. I was okay with it as I didn’t really care for Lily and liked the relationship AJ had with the other employees of the studio.
I liked this book. I liked AJ. I liked her mother, Elysia, though she’s a bit of a flake. I like the relationship AJ had with her mother, though it’s far from perfect. I couldn’t get all that much of a feel for the cop boyfriend, Jake, and their relationship, but, it’s a mystery not a romance and I got enough of the relationship to not feel lost. In fact, there is a side story involving Jake that’s kind of interesting.
But, most of all, I liked that this was a mystery. Not a genre book with a little mystery thrown in. Yoga didn’t take center stage, but was simply a part of who the character is; some descriptions of routines, but not paragraphs or chapters devoted to excruciating detail on yoga poses or routines (and I enjoy yoga). I’ve read a couple of books where it seemed like it was more important to present the hobby and the mystery was a secondary story line. Not so here. To me, the mystery was front and center. The mystery, however, didn’t detract from getting to know the characters, from a little drama on the home front, or from a little humor. And, I didn’t figure out who done it.
I’m looking forward to going back and starting at the beginning of this series and working my way to the present.
The book starts out with bang -- almost literally. The opening scene involves, AJ, the main character, literally finding a dead body in her mother’s front yard. Turns out her mother knew the dead man and it kind of goes from there, with some serious and some funny turns along the way.
AJ is on her second career, managing and teaching at the yoga studio she inherited from her Aunt. The one thing that isn’t smooth sailing is the rocky relationship she has with the other manager, Lily. It was kind of hard to really grasp the roots of the bad relationship, but I think this is because I haven’t read the first two books. I was okay with it as I didn’t really care for Lily and liked the relationship AJ had with the other employees of the studio.
I liked this book. I liked AJ. I liked her mother, Elysia, though she’s a bit of a flake. I like the relationship AJ had with her mother, though it’s far from perfect. I couldn’t get all that much of a feel for the cop boyfriend, Jake, and their relationship, but, it’s a mystery not a romance and I got enough of the relationship to not feel lost. In fact, there is a side story involving Jake that’s kind of interesting.
But, most of all, I liked that this was a mystery. Not a genre book with a little mystery thrown in. Yoga didn’t take center stage, but was simply a part of who the character is; some descriptions of routines, but not paragraphs or chapters devoted to excruciating detail on yoga poses or routines (and I enjoy yoga). I’ve read a couple of books where it seemed like it was more important to present the hobby and the mystery was a secondary story line. Not so here. To me, the mystery was front and center. The mystery, however, didn’t detract from getting to know the characters, from a little drama on the home front, or from a little humor. And, I didn’t figure out who done it.
I’m looking forward to going back and starting at the beginning of this series and working my way to the present.
