Very Good love the series
Not the best cozy series out there, but not the worst, either. It's a pretty quick read, and would be even quicker if all the unnecessary and unrelated filler material were taken out. But, I guess that's part the quirky appeal of the series.... short filler chapters that "round out" the characters of Erin Gilbert and her landlady while they discuss interior decorating subjects.
My pet peeve about these books is that the author leaves out important facts early on in the story, then just plops them in at the end and explains them with a sentence or two. (ex: Gilbert says, "I'm going down to Harlem." The author explains, "Harlem is the name given to a part if the city near downtown." --- Then, after Gilbert makes the statement about going there and the author explains where it is, Sullivan saves her by figuring out where she was going and showing up in the nick of time. Oops.... did I give away a major plot line? No, I didn't think so.)
I thought this was a good read. I started at #4 in the series, but it's pretty much a stand alone book. It was easy to catch up, the author does not make it difficult to figure out who is who in the cast of characters. I liked the premise of the book, having worked in interior design in the past. I thought it was over simplified at times, and then other times, the ideas Erin was working out were so complicated,it seemed the author just couldn't make up her mind.
But the story was plausible, and there were so many people coming and going, trying to figure out the killer was difficult.
The only thing I didn't like about the book, and found very distracting, is when Erin is at home with her landlady, Audrey. The typeset was different and the style of writing changed ever so slightly, so I was taken aback, and it took a bit to decide if there was any meaning whatsoever to changing things so abruptly. I didn't find any reason to at all, but it didn't take too much away from the book.
I liked it, and would read the others in the series.