Books Can Be Deceiving

By: Jenn McKinlay

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Cupcake Bakery Mysteries comes the start of a series about a library where the mysteries refuse to stay in the fiction section....

Lindsey is getting into her groove as the director of the Briar Creek Public Library when a New York editor visits town, creating quite a buzz. Lindsey's friend Beth wants to sell the editor her children's book, but Beth's boyfriend, a famous author, gets in the way. When they go to confront him, he's found murdered - and Beth is the prime suspect. Lindsey has to act fast - before they throw the book at the wrong person. 

©2011 Jenn McKinlay (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Loved it

This is a great start to a very good series. The characters are well developed and the plot had enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I look forward to the next book.

Good start for this library themed series

Loved the characters. Plot was quite good as well, I'm a sucker for library related mysteries I especially like those strictly about people with no assorted cats or dogs thrown in . Not so patiently waiting for the next book in the series h

Beth is way too codependent

This is a story about two best friends: Lindsay and Beth. Beth's boyfriend is found dead & Lindsay becomes fiercely protective of Beth & borderline obsessed with proving her innocence. Their relationship is often very codependent. Every single thing Lindsay does is for Beth. Beth is unrealistically meek & helpless, and depends on Lindsay to do most everything for her, including speaking on her behalf during her big meeting. It's odd.. Because it's book 1 I'm hoping things change as the stories continue.

Good Story, Irritating Narrator

What did you like best about Books Can Be Deceiving? What did you like least?

I enjoyed the story, but it was a bit of a challenge to stay with it because of the narrator. Her "voices" were irritating and didn't seem to fit the characters, and her intonation didn't fit the story, at least not for me.

Any additional comments?

I'm not sure if I'll spring for the next book in this series. I would like to learn more about the characters, but I don't know if I'm curious enough to listen to this narrator again. I might switch to paper for the next book.

Crafty Mystery .. I LOVE IT

What made the experience of listening to Books Can Be Deceiving the most enjoyable?

I love that this book combined two things I love , books and crafts.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Books Can Be Deceiving?

The great detail in which crafts and other books were described and/or discussed.

What does Allyson Ryan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did an amazing job,She made it easy to listen

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Excellent book, I love that even though I guessed the ,murderer it was still an excellent listen.

Coming back for more

Where does Books Can Be Deceiving rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is definitely near the top of the books I've listened to! I have come back for more of this series and intend to keep doing so.

What does Allyson Ryan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Allyson Ryan brings the characters to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I have really enjoyed the character development and the development of relationships between characters. Jenn McKinlay does a good job of giving her characters depth and making them different from each other, yet all relatable.

Annoying to hear "said" so many times!

"He said" and "She said" is SOOOOO annoying. Story has been pretty good but if the next book has as many "... said" statements, I won't be able to listen to another one.

Cozy series, is good.

Where does Books Can Be Deceiving rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Middle range. They are entertaining but somewhat predictable. However I did buy the whole series.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Maybe but does give voice to the various characters

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I would not make a film of it

Good story

The narrator did a very good job. The book's nicely written, setting and plot work well. Characters are this author's flaw. I've read some of her other books and there are always characters that make me cringe because they're either empty archetypes or full-blown stereotypes (gave up on her Hat Shop series because of this). One other thing with her books: I don't mind it when our amateur sleuth isn't very smart, but I do mind when it's written as though we're supposed to think they are (smart when it comes to sleuthing, whether or not they're good when it comes to their jobs is separate, same applies I guess, but not the intelligence I'm referring to). If your characters are going to do stupid things (miss clues in front of their faces, take forever to put things together, tell a friend to stop and think and not call the police after the friend lays out an explanation as to why they should...) embrace it, make it a part of them, stop trying to convince me they're so clever if they're not going to behave like it. But yes, I did enjoy this book. lol

Full of twists and turns

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was how crabby people in the town were. It seemed like more people were sulky and moody than not. However, slowly, the author got off the grouchy mode and it improved. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator and the story in general. There were a couple times where I felt there was too much detail about how the main character was reacting and and feeling about something. I’m looking forward to another book in this series.