Fiesty heroine in a thought-provoking story
Rating:
5 / 5
Heroine: short and solid After surviving a harrowing adolescence and maintaining her status as the town's foul-mouthed, hard drinking tart for twenty-plus years, shop teacher Maddie "Max" Maxwell thinks she's one tough cookie. But she soon discovers her "soft center" when her hormones start going haywire with a surprise pregnancy. After all, it's not everyday you go into the doctor's for a scheduled hysterectomy and come out with a due date for a baby--by a guy you are about to dump, no less! ������ �But Max is about to find out that even the toughest cookie is liable to crumble under the right circumstances. If the pregnancy wasn't enough to bowl her over, surely the multiple murders occurring around town will do it. Especially since all of them are connected in one way or another to Max herself! What worked for me: All right, I admit it, Max grew on me. Rough-around-the edges and with odd taste in men she's very different from me, but I think I could enjoy time spent in her company. I thought the writing was clever, and the plot held my interest with its nicely convoluted mystery. The dash of raunchy sexual tension and heart-wrenching plot developments were also a great touch. ���Size-wise Max is closing in on forty and built, in her words, like a fireplug. And her best (and annoying) friend is rather voluptuous as well. What didn't work for me:
It was hard not to flinch when thinking about Max's drinking during her early pregnancy. Overall:
I found this story to be a creative hybrid of women's fiction and mystery. Readers looking to be drawn into an emotionally raw, thought-provoking story would be well-advised to search this one out. Warning: this book has some coarse language and some brief references to homosexuality. If you liked "Ain't Nobody's Bizness" you might also enjoy�the "Steph Plum" mystery series, the "Sam Jones" mystery series, the "Casey Jones" mystery series, the "Odelia Grey" mystery series, the "Women's Murder Club" mystery series,�"Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "Plum Girl", and "Hey Lady, Your Tin Snips Are Showing".
Ain't Nobody's Bizness
Rating:
4 / 5
Madeleine "Max" Maxwell is about to have a sudden life change. Nearing forty, scheduled for a hysterectomy, and as hard
drinking and hard living as they come, she wasn't exactly ready for the unexpected pregnancy that would ultimately change
her life.
But then again, she wasn't ready for the smoky voiced, ex-con, Jackson O'brien, or the murders occurring in her little town
of Hawk Marsh either. Murders directly related to her.
What's a girl to do? She's pregnant, hormones are raging, life altering events are occuring, and Max is smack dab in the
Middle of a murder mystery threatening to drive her insane.
You've got to read this book. Laura Gardner has written a wonderfully witty, superbly emotional, and amazingly twisted
mystery you won't be able to put down.
Who's killing the men in Max's life, and why? Is it the moody ex-con, the psychotic ex lover, or someone else ensuring
their own agenda?
Packed with humor, and an earthy realism that will amaze you, Ain't Nobody's Bizness guides you through six harrowing
months of Max's life. The changes to the person that was, the growth of a woman and mother that will be, the trials that will
knock her down, and her steely determination to stand up against all odds, and face the future to come.
This is a mystery you definitely don't want to miss.Review by: Shadoe Simmons
Mouthy Max Investigates Brother's Death
Rating:
5 / 5
While trying to solve the mystery of her brother's death, tough gal Max confronts her own conflicted feelings about her past as well as her well-concealed softer side. Funny, sassy, and ultimately very moving.
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