Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

One Sentence Summary: A 36 year old woman who has issues with her dad moves back to her hometown to work at his law firm and solves two murder mysteries by herself.

Number of Pages: 441

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: While Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is a good book to pick up and read on a beach during the summer months, it's just an okay read. My two biggest issues were with the main character and with the implausibility of her detective skills. I found the main character annoying and full of herself. She becomes obsessed with solving two murder mysteries but is not a detective or a lawyer or a part of the police force. And she doesn't have any training or experience whatsoever to qualify her to check into these cases. I literally had to roll my eyes at some parts in the book. It's an easy and a fast read, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

One Sentence Summary: A difficult mother-in-law is found dead under peculiar circumstances.

Number of Pages: 340

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth is a fun, quick, entertaining read perfect for summer or a vacation. It's not a book that will change your world, but it is a perfect easy read, especially for anyone with a hard to love mother-in-law in her life. I have no criticisms of this book.

Cherokee America by Margaret Verble

One Sentence Summary: A one sentence summary is impossible to do for this book. I have no idea what it was about. I wish I did. The book took place in the 1800s and it was kind of about relations between blacks, whites, and Native Americans.

Number of Pages: 385

Rating: 2/5 stars

Review: I had high hopes for Cherokee America. A trusted source recommended it and Ron Rash (author of Serena, which I loved) talked it up. The book started with a solid 4/5 stars, but it lost me along the way. There were a bazillion characters, and 90% of them were forgettable. Somehow, there were almost as many plots and subplots as characters. I kept reading thinking the plots would link together and make sense, but they never conjoined and many seemed to get lost and left unresolved. Cherokee America was filled with interesting historical tidbits and the writing itself was actually good. However, the book had zero focus. Maybe it would be better as a set of short stories. Or perhaps trimmed of characters and plots to create a narrower focus. As is, though, the book was a big, swirling mess of a disappointment.