Hooked on Ewe

By: Hannah Reed

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's early September in Glenkillen, Scotland, when American expat (and budding romance novelist) Eden Elliott is recruited by the local inspector to act as a special constable. Fortunately it's in name only, since not much happens in Glenkillen. For now Eden has her hands full with other things: preparing for the sheepdog trial on the MacBride farm, a fundraiser for the local hospice, and helping her friend Vicki with her first yarn club skein-of-the-month deliveries. 

Everything seems to be coming together until the head of the welcoming committee is found strangled to death with a club member's yarn. Now Eden feels compelled to honor her commitment as constable and herd together the clues, figure out which ones are dogs, and which ones will lead to a ruthless killer...

©2015 Deb Baker (P)2018 Tantor

I’m loving this series

Hannah Reed has crafted the second book in this series with all the fun and enjoyable characters of the first one. Angela Dawe, as always brings a wonderful performance bringing life to it all. I’m thoroughly enjoying this series and hope there are more to come.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Intrigue in the Highlands

Hooked on Ewe is a fun and entertaining light cozy mystery. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. I look forward to the next book in this series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good, but not as good as the first.

The main character appears to have lost a few IQ points and a significant amount of self control since the first book. It was still an entertaining read, but I had to roll my eyes quite a few times.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I tried this author/narrator twice and returned

I was disappointed with the fist book and foolishly tried the second - never a third!

A fun listen

I liked the first book a little better because the characters were new
The main characters is ok but pretty full of herself

A good cozy mystery read

I en joyed this book. I like a good cozy to relax with, but so many these days rely on tired and annoying "tropes" rather than good solid writing.

This series, so far, has avoid the cliches. The main character is not stupid (well most of the time) or spineless. The local police are not corrupt, incompetent or obnoxious. While there is some romance, it is not a romance novel masquerading as a mystery.

The characters are interesting. The setting is wonderful. The plotting is generally good, though it was a bit predictable.

Great literature it is not, but it was a very enjoyable read.

The narrator was very good.

A charity event gone horribly wrong!

Eden Elliott joins in organizing a fundraiser for the local hospice of a sheepdog trial in <strong>Hooked on Ewe</strong> by Hannah Reed. The charity event takes place in the MacBride fields in Glenkillen, Scotland, where Eden is staying to work on a romance novel. Her friend Vicki, has inherited half the estate of her wealthy father, along with her half- sister Kirstine Derry, who resents Vicki's presence in her lifelong home. Thus Kirstine gets upset when Vicki inaugurates her new Skein of the Month Club on the day of the charity event. This club involves a kit of yarn from wool raised on the MacBride farm, dyed by hand, prepared, and spun by Vicki, along with a set of instructions to make a project with the yarn.

As the set-up progresses, Eden finds herself having to deal with the controlling Ila Linzey, who keeps the books for the hospice and seems to think she is in charge of everything. The woman is so demanding and critical of everyone's actions that Eden eagerly passes over her job to Sean Stevens, the Special Constable, which is a volunteer law enforcement position. As the day progresses, Ila seems to disappear, but no one tries to find her because they are just as happy not to have her looking over their shoulder. However, when everything is over, they go to open the van used to transport the folded up tent, but when Eden opens the side door, the body of Ila tumbles out, with the yarn Vicki made wrapped around her throat.

Eden has become friends with the local detective, Inspector Kevin Jamison, and he asks Eden to consider taking over Sean's position as Special Constable as Sean goes to police college to become a fuil-fledged officer. So Eden gives up her writing for a time to help investigate the case.

<strong>Hooked on Ewe</strong> had a clever plot that kept me fascinated. The mystery had all that one could ask for in a detective story, and the local color adds great flavor to the mystery. The storyline kept me wanting to keep listening without putting the book down. I especially loved the depictions of life in a small town in Scotland. These images are beautifully woven into the plot, so they are not just background but part of the book.

I loved the distinctive characters found in the book, each of whom brings realism to her or his identity. Eden, the first-person narrator, has depth and strength of character. We all become ready to kill Ila, long before someone actually does so. Special Constable Sean is endearing in his own bumbling but sweet way. The many other characters come just as alive as the previously named ones.

Angela Dawe performs the audio edition of this book. She really impresses me with her smooth transitions among the American accent of Eden, the Scottish brogue of the locals, and the London accent of Vicki, who grew up mostly in the British capital. Her performance of Eden's first- person narration effectively conveys Eden's curiosity and resourcefulness.

I had a great time listening to <strong>Hooked on Ewe</strong>, which was exciting in its mystery. It had great characters in whose lives we get invested. Further, the setting serves as another character in the book. I do recommend listening to the first book to get a good introduction to the setting. I give this book five stars!

Entertaining cozy

I enjoyed the characters enough to overlook Eden's bonehead moves and want to know more about how the Scottish relationships work out. Great narration.

Liked it better than the first

Although I wasn't going to get the next book because of the male voices, I did try it again. I liked this book better. The male voices didn't seem as awful as the first book but Leif's voice still did not improve. I do like the mystery and characters much better this time. I will be looking forward to the third book.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good fun

Although the characters are rather ‘cartoon highlanders’ the story is well written and bowls along. The narrator does a reasonable job of a Scottish accent.