book review: A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield

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A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime NovelThe backstory: A Bad Day for Sorry was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel written by an American Author in 2010.

The basics: Stella, a much larger woman than the one depicted on the book cover, is a fifty-year-old widow living in rural Missouri. She owns a sewing machine shop and repair store. She's a widow; she killed her long-time abusive husband. Stella also runs a side business where she threatens (and uses force) against men who have mistreated the women in their lives to scare them straight.

My thoughts: Sophie Littlefield has created a memorable character in Stella and an unusual, but compelling mystery story. The mystery part of this novel involves the search for Tucker, the 18-month-old son of Stella's newest client, Chrissy. Stella doesn't play by the rules of law, but she does have a crush on the sheriff, so he pops up from time to time. This premise could easily veer into stereotypical or ridiculous territory, but Stella's sassiness and sweetness are beautifully mixed with raw humanity and honesty. Littlefield manages to interject serious issues of domestic violence with humor and never lets her characters become one-dimensional.

While Stella and I are worlds apart, I enjoyed reading about her life. Littlefield captured the quirkiness of rural Missouri beautifully.

The verdict: A Bad Day for Sorry is funny, quirky, suspenseful, and original. It's sure to delight mystery fans and fans of Southern fiction. The second Stella Hardesty novel, A Bad Day for Pretty, was published June 8, 2010.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Length: 279 pages
Publication date: it's out in paperback now
Source: my local public library

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Comments

  1. AmusedOctober 11, 2010 at 11:30 PM

    This sounds pretty entertaining!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ZibileeOctober 12, 2010 at 8:05 PM

    This does sound very unusual, but like a book that I would probably love. It's always the quirky ones that stay with me, so I am going to have to check this series out. Thanks for the great review!

    ReplyDelete
  3. S. KrishnaOctober 13, 2010 at 9:45 AM

    I enjoyed this one as well! I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JennersOctober 15, 2010 at 1:30 PM

    This sounds like a neat twist on the murder mystery genre. And sounds like it has so much potential for a series.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 19, 2010 at 10:33 AM

    Sounds good! Thanks for sharing :-
    ) I love mysteries...and this one sounds really different.

    ReplyDelete

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