REVIEW: The Last Word

The Last Word
Author: Ellery Adams

Bestselling novelist Nick Plumley has come to Oyster Bay, NC to research and write his next novel. Olivia Limoges and the other members of the Bayside Book Writers are happy to welcome Nick into the fold. He seems very curious about the house that one of the members just purchased, but as it was a location mentioned in his first book, it seems a normal curiosity. But then Olivia discovers discovers Nick dead in his rental house. Someone strangled the author. Olivia and the other writers scramble to discover who would have wanted to stop Nick's new book enough to kill him. The investigation turns out to be quite complex involving war-time intrigue, lost love and revenge. And, in the end, Olivia will lose a dear friend.

The Last Word is the third book in the Books By The Bay series. It's by far the best in the series so far IMHO. The characters have developed so much more, and Olivia (who can be a real snooty piece of work sometimes) is actually starting to really grow on me. The mystery is complex with lots of interesting twists and turns, and a surprise or two. The suspense didn't stop until the very end. Although the story started off a bit slow....once it got rolling, it really got interesting and suspenseful. I like how Ellery Adams doesn't draw her stories to an abrupt close right after the mystery is solved. The ending is always a mix of tying up loose ends, and finishing out character development. I prefer that to an oh-they-caught-the-killer-so-The-End sort of finish. At times, I do find myself rolling my eyes a bit when the characters get a bit too emo or melodramatic about their love life or personal situations, but that's just me...I don't care for romance novels. So when the scenes lean too far in that direction....I do end up channeling my inner Olivia. ha ha. I listened to the audio book version of this novel and one of the love scenes actually  made me bust up laughing. Just something about the narrator's almost dead pan voice reading about hands cupping breasts and hot desire just struck me as funny. I admit to hitting fast forward a couple times to get past that part.....mostly because I had a construction crew here working on my roof and didn't want them to overhear bits about kissing and breast cupping. (cue giggles again). Not to mention my 13-year old son teasing me about listening to "kissy face'' books. :) (insert more giggling).

I'm enjoying this series. The mysteries are unique and very creative. The characters are interesting. I like how snippets of the novels the Bayside Writers are working on are included in the story as the group critiques each other. All in all, a great series so far! There are 8 books in total....so 3 down....5 to go! :) On to the next!