Book Reviews of Blessed is the Busybody (Ministry Is Murder, Bk 1)

LOVE this new series! It's fun to read a book about religious people who aren't conservative! Great mystery and description of small town life.

Likeable characters and good plot. Fun series.

This was a fun book. Has both mystery and humor. Quick read.

This is the first book I have read by Emilie Richards, although I have maybe of her books on my bookshelf to be read. I put off reading this series for a few reasons. !. The main characters name is Aggie, which lead me to believer she was a blue haired ministers wife. 2. I am not a big fan of Christian authors.

Those two objections could not be farther from the true. 1. Aggie is a mother of 2 kids, who has been married about 12 years to Ed. 2. I wouldnt consider this Christian Fiction like Janette Oke, or Gilbert Morris. The characters are Unitarian Universalists, they drink alcohol, hire homosexual employees, and believe in 1st amendment rights even when it comes to pornography. So it never gets preachy except when it comes to politics.

I really enjoyed the books and all the characters, even the bad guy. I thought it got a little preachy about politics, but didnt get preachy about Gay rights. I dont think the views will offend Christians, or non christians.

I also liked that the police officers respected her and the main character wasnt trying to undermine his authority, but clues kept getting dumped on her front porch so to speak.

I think I will enjoy this series, and would recommend it most people.

At first I thought this was really going to be "hokey"---with the daughter performing mock burials of the live cat in the backyard, but I quickly became engrossed in Aggie's life as a minister's wife in a small town in Ohio. I'm sure most ministers aren't treated to dead bodies on their front stoop....the ensuing mystery and violence were tempered by interesting characters and fun/funny situations. I look forward to reading #2 in this series!

I really enjoyed the 1st book in this series. I liked the small town atmosphere of Emerald Springs. The free-spirited minister's wife Aggie & her kooky realtor friend Lucy were fun to follow as they tried to solve the murders. The plot had lots of twists & turns, and I never guessed who the murderer was. I am looking forward to more books in this series.

Love Emilie Richards. However had a hard time getting into this one. I actually had to put it down and start back later. Once I got past the beginning loved the story line.

As a minister's wife, I was interested in a mystery in which the amateur is also married to a minister. The mystery did not disappoint and the characters were charming and fascinating. Even the busybody in the title, who is loved by some and hated by others, is made human and understandable.

Aggie's husband is a minister of a Unitarian-Universalist church so there is no "religion" in the story. I did identify very strongly with Aggie's situation of raising children in the fishbowl of the parish.

This is the first of a series and I will definitely look for the second, out in December 2006.

What a cute book. Loved the characters and the plot was fun too. Looking forward to reading the first three in the series.

Excellent first book. I love the way the author makes what you think you know just a bit more twisted then you expected.

First in a cozy mystery series.

Nice quick read. Entertaining.

I just finished reading this, and I loved it! Emilie Richards has a knack for blending humor with suspense. Great cozy mystery!

this is the first in a new series; I really enjoyed it and plan to continue reading the others when they come out.

Excellent book about a minister's wife in a small town in Ohio. It is not preachy and has great characters.

Cute mystery story about a pastor's wife solving a murder.

A very enjoyable and well written "cozy". Excellent picture of clergy life. Will be happy to read her next.

Aggie, is an unconventional minister's wife with her own calling.......solving murders. The first in a new cozy mystery series with humor and a good mystery. I look forward to the 2nd in the series coming out 12/06

I enjoyed this book well enough, but felt sometimes that the author was trying too hard I know this is her first cozy, and maybe that is why. I enjoyed the storyline/plot, and liked the characters. Sometimes I think we got TOO much information about what Aggie was experiencing or thinking. I didn’t guess the ending, which is good. I am a minister so I understand the “life in the fishbowl” which I think she captured quite well.

A delightful tongue-in-cheek cozy mystery.

I just couldn't get into this book. I gave it over 80 pages, and finally gave up. I gae it one star, which I thought was generous.

A delightful amusing story...

Interesting, though sometimes wierd, characters. She certainly does alot of character development. Unfortunately, it is to the point of making the characters well concieved as a single trait, so most of the characters become almost parodies. Let's see - by page 10, our protagonist loves everybody except one person who she absolutely hates. Guess who gets killed? By page 10, you have also guessed the motive, the ironic twist coming at the end and the relationship to the event which happens by page 5. There is a subplot, too, but, it resolves itself just as expect, when expected for the expected reason.
Absolutely predictable but cute, light read. Very, very light read.

Haven't read

Good quick read!

Wonderful!!

Aggie's free-spirited ways have been raising many an eyebrow at the Consolidted Community Church, tucked away in the cookie-cutter perfect Emerald Springs, Ohio. But nothing is more shocking than the naked body of a murdered woman turning up on her front porch. Suspicion falls on Aggie's husband, who had been counseling the victim before her death. And Aggie doesn't have a prayer of clearing his name unless she can uncover the truth in a town not known for confessing its sin...

First in a new series!

Quick, light reading with a little who done it mystery.