Patricia SprinkleCritiques

I really enjoyed this book. It takes place in 1950 and is told from the point of view of 12 year old Carley. I actually picked this up at a used book fair and didn't even realize it was the second in a series, but I was able to follow along with no problem and don't feel like I missed anything by not reading the first one.
I really enjoyed the setting of a small town in 1950. It's just over 400 pages and there is quite a bit that happens during the course of the book but it was a slower paced book and I really enjoyed that. Carley often pretends that she has a radio show and talks to her listeners and I thought that was a really interesting way of filling the reader in on what was happening.
There was some heavy content but for the most part it was softened because it's told through Carley's point of view. For example someone is raped but Carley overhears a conversation and doesn't understand why someone would tape the girl. As a reader you're able to put all the puzzle pieces together and figure out what happened but it was easier to read because it wasn't told in a graphic way. There is also domestic violence and an unsolved murder and one scene that I didn't like where she inadvertently sees a husband and wife at an intimate moment in their bedroom.
One quote I liked was "So I decided to heed the Bible's wisdom that God helps those who help themselves." "Actually, that's Ben Franklin," Uncle Stephen interrupted apologetically. "God's far more likely to help those who can't help themselves."
Overall though I quite enjoyed this book.
This book was reviewed on the Literary Club Podcast episode 59
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984185

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Author series

I liked the idea of bringing a genealogical slant to things, but not enough to compensate for the things I didn't like, so I won't be finishing this series.

I don't see much benefit to spelling out all my objections, since most of them stem from my personal experience as a southerner, a liberal and a genealogist. The writing is perfectly fine for light reading, and most of her facts are correct so far as I know, i just didn't particularly like the reliance on stereotypes and misleading generalizatons.

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This is just a really fun mystery story with a lovely Southern flavor.

too boring to finish. I stopped after a couple chapters. what horrible, self-centered characters. ugh

Good mystery, lots of clues and some suspense. I liked the characters and the flow of the story for the first two-thirds of the book. I was really excited that I had found another, new to me, author and series and was enjoying the story. Then it just started to fizzle out - the characters changed personality, the story lost its direction, and it stuttered along to the end.

I liked the idea of bringing a genealogical slant to things, but not enough to compensate for the things I didn't like, so I won't be finishing this series.

I don't see much benefit to spelling out all my objections, since most of them stem from my personal experience as a southerner, a liberal and a genealogist. The writing is perfectly fine for light reading, and most of her facts are correct so far as I know, i just didn't particularly like the reliance on stereotypes and misleading generalizatons.

Drove me crazy with all the "if only I had known" comments

Southern mystery featuring woman judge.

I thoroughly enjoyed this addition to the series. I liked the setting and enjoeyed learning about the lifestyle of the characters.

As per the 2016 Reading Challenge, this was the first book I saw when I went into the Keller Friends of the Library book store.
Synopsis: MacLaren Yarbrough, a Georgia magistrate and co-owner of a feed store/nursery, is off on a trip to Scotland to look for ties to her family. As she leaves her husband teasingly admonishes her to stay away from mysteries and not to look for dead bodies. Of course, she ends up trying to solve a double homicide and in the process finds some of her long lost relatives.
Review: This quirky story does a good job of describing many of the places in Scotland I've actually visited; that made the story more fun to read. The mystery was nicely tangled, although all of the clues were overt. However, the dialog is filled with cliches, making some of the characters quite tedious. Overall, it was an entertaining book.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, I liked the story (even though I could figure out who dun it), and l actually liked the flow of the protagonist's narrative.

I like the thought of combining genealogy (one of my favorite hobbies) with mysteries (one of my favorite genres). I could also apreciate the Atlanta setting, since I was born there and have visited the city a number of times since.

That being said, I wish this story had utilized more genealogical sleuthing. The protagonist just gets introduced to genealogy in this book, and she doesn't do much of it. The research she does do is primarily for a family that's not her own, but that of an "adopted" aunt.

Since this is the first of three (so far) books in Sprinkle's "A Family Tree Mystery" series, I can see how this book could serve as the protagonist's introduction to genealogy. I liked this book enough to pick up the next two in the series and see how the genealogy line plays out.

This is the first book I've read in the Family Tree series because I happened to see it at the bookstore the day I was there. I enjoyed the book once I got into it but the real action started too late in the book. About 100 pages in I was starting to wonder why I was still reading it and had vowed never to travel south of the Mason Dixon Line. The book seemed to be all about Bara and her relationship with Jack Daniels. But I liked Katharine, the amateur detective/genealogist character, enough to go back and read the first two books in the series if I come across them.

I'm not sure Katherine Murray, heroine of Patricia Sprinkle's Family Tree mystery series, will ever get around to researching her own family, since she keeps getting caught up in other people's searches. This time out, it's Dr. Flo Gadney, retired Spelman professor, who asks her help in finding out whether some graves on a Georgia sea island belong to her ancestors. An amazing find of the type every genealogist longs for leads to murder and tragedy. Well-drawn characters and a thrilling plot make this a worthy second entry in the series. I especially enjoyed the setting.

This is Book 2 of the Job's Corner set. The first is 'The Remember Box'. I thought they were both good book, but I liked this one a bit better, probably because I was already familiar with the characters and didn't need to spend the first 100 pages of the book getting into the story. It's a good story. A bit of 'everyday' life in a small southern town in the early 1950's. There is 'domestic violence', the solving of a murder, weddings....
I kind of wish there were a 3rd, just to catch up on characters in later years.

Much better than a 3, but I would probably have given a 3-1/2 stars if possible. I originally picked up the book 'Carly's Song' at the library, because the cover caught my eye. Then I read the review and realized it was a continuation of 'The Remember Box' so I've decided to read this one first.

It was a nice story, but basically just several 'stories' from Carly's childhood. It was the kind of book that I read a few pages and then put it down and fell asleep. I didn't feel compelled to stay up late and read. I even almost put it down and decided it wasn't worth finishing. Not that it was a terrible book....just that there are other books on my list that seemed more exciting and worth my time. But I have a 'rule' for myself that unless a book is absolutely terrible or totally not my kind of book, I read at least the first 100 pages before I decide not to finish. This one took a few pages more than 100, but not many. It rapidly turned into a 'can't put it down' book!

The book is told from Carly's point of view. Carly loses her mother and is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who is a preacher and just beginning with his newest church. It is a very tiny NC town, 1950, and racism and the fear of communism are in full swing. Uncle Stephen, the preacher, puts great effort into leading the congregation past this, and they resist. Sides are taken, there is a murder and a trial, and the church is divided over it all. It's a good story. I can't wait to start 'Carly's Song'!

Enjoyable book. I liked Katherine and enjoyed her evolving sense of self and strength. Her choices and progress through the book made sense. I wasn't crazy about her relationship with her former boyfriend, especially given his current behavior. I am curious to see how that evolves in the future. There was one character totally left hanging - why was he even there? While there was some red herrings, I found the primary protagonist behind the problems likely early on as well as the reasons behind other events that took place. However, the book held my interest.½

MacLaren Yarborourgh's old boyfriend shows up in town with his son who is running for governor. Joe Riddley's barn is burned down by Tad who runs away. A homeless person is found dead near the water tower. Who would want to kill her and why? Mac has to puzzle this out while being somewhat laid up with an injury. This installment of the series got off to an extremely slow start. I was quite ready to abandon it, but then it began to pick up, first slowly about halfway through the book and then more rapidly in the last third of the book. I really get annoyed by the people in the town, but then there's a Southernness about it that rings true as well.½

This is a very good choice for someone looking for a good story with strong characters, local color and a heroine to root for!½

The second book in the Thoroughly Southern Mystery series has MacLaren Yarbourgh attemptng to solve two mysteries - did the minister kill the young girl and who shot her husband.

Reverend Blessed has detailed the murder of a young woman by what he saw in a dream but the police don't believe that it was a dream. As Mac delves deeper into the people involved in the victim's life, she is threatened and Joe Riddley, her husband is shot. To protect herself and her family she has to find the killer.

I've been reading this series a bit out of order but it is still fun because of the characters and the environment, I will definitely continue on.½

I enjoyed this book but there were also some things that I didn't like about it. I thought that Katherine, the main character, was portrayed very realistically, which allowed me to identify with her. On the other hand, I think there were many things that had gone on in her life to which she was oblivious, and things that she might have figured out sooner if she had just thought about them.

The book centers around Katherine's find of a diary and necklace which were in her Aunt Lucy's possessions when she passed away. The diary was written in German, of which Katherine knows a little from her college days. However, I think that if the diary had not been written in German, this book would not have had so much of a mystery. I'm not sure that I liked that about the book - does that really qualify it as a mystery? Once the diary was translated, the majority of the "mystery" was solved.

I also was not sure where the author was going with bringing Katherine's high school boyfriend back into her life. Katherine's husband works out of town and they only see each other on the weekends. There is a sense sometimes that the marriage is happy, but on the other hand, it's hard to say.

These were only minor issues to me, as I did enjoy the book and will likely read more from this author.½