Review: Stiff Competition by Annelise Ryan

Stiff Competition by Annelise Ryan is the seventh book in the Mattie Winston mystery series. It's due out January 26, 2016 from Kensington.

In this book, Mattie Winston is a new mother just returning to work. On her first day back, there is a murder in a hunting area involving a bow and arrow. Lars Sanderson, a developer, seems to have many enemies and several girlfriends. There is no dearth of suspects. As that mystery progresses, Hurley's daughter Emily disappears. Hurley is Mattie's steady relationship and her son's father. They put off getting married because of difficulties Hurley has been experiencing with Emily as the two of them get used to being father and daughter. Hurley's gut tells him Emily's disappearance is not the usual cutting class. When she doesn't show up for days, it would seem that Hurley is right.

Dom keeps Matthew, Mattie's son, while she is at work. Izzy, her boss, is Dom's significant other. There is character development between the two of them as Dom reaches an important decision about whether or not he wants to have children in the future.

Basically, there are 2 mysteries going on concurrently. I wanted to know who killed Lars, but he wasn't a very likeable character. And we only got to know him from other's points of view after his death. Emily's disappearance gets a little less page play until about 80% through, but it is key to character development for both Mattie and Emily. Even Hurley's character benefits from this mystery in terms of growth.

The one thing I could have done without in this book was the amount of description given to Mattie's breastfeeding and the details as to what it involved. The rest of the book was fine. And I have nothing against breastfeeding, it just was too much information. I really didn't need to know what made her milk let down.

I gave this book 3.5 stars instead of 4 stars because of all the breastfeeding details going on. I still would read another book by this author. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Stiff Penalty by Annelise Ryan

Expected publication: February 24, 2015
by Kensington Books

Assistant Coroner Mattie Winston has her hands full in Stiff Penalty by Annelise Ryan. This is book six in the Mattie Winston mystery series. There are 3 mysteries in the book that run concurrently. One is the mystery of who is calling her and hanging up. The second is who is following her. And the third is who killed the high school math teacher Derrick Ames with a barbecue fork through the heart. And to top it all off, Mattie is pregnant.

Hurley and Richmond are the main characters that work with her. They are both police. Hurley is also her love interest. And she has to find a way to tell Hurley she is pregnant before someone else does. 

On her way home one evening, Mattie is shot at by an unknown assailant. As a result, she ends up with constant police protection for pretty much most of the book. 

Why did I give this book 4 stars instead of 5? The format was a little confusing. Part of it is told directly and part of it is told to her psychiatric counselor. Sometimes the transitions are rough. The other reason it gets 4 stars instead 5 has to do with my opinion of the ending. I wasn't as satisfied as I could have been, but it is still a good ending. It is definitely open to another  book in the series.

It gets 4 stars because the characters are well developed and interesting. The plot is good and moves well. There is humor. And the writing is good. I would read another book in the series without hesitation. I really liked the Mattie Winston character.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Teaser Tuesday - Stiff Penalty by Annelise Ryan

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of  Should Be Reading.

Anyone can participate. just do the following.

Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t  give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Add caption

"It was  nice to have a place to run to, but the location of the cottage meant I was only a stone's throw away from the home I had shared with David. I know this because I've thrown stones at it a time or two." Mattie Winston, our sleuth/heroine, is speaking as part of the recap before the action in this book starts. at location 55 on my Kindle.

Mattie Winston, once an ER nurse then an OR nurse, is now an assistant to the Coroner. As part of her job, she is required to look into causes of death. The setting for the mystery is small town Sorenson, Wisconsin. 

The synopsis from Goodreads.com:

Deputy coroner Mattie Winston knows a thing or two about dead bodies. That's why she's on the case of Derrick Ames, a high school math teacher stabbed to death with a barbecue fork straight to the heart. Sure, she's turned up some motives and a few suspects, but nothing adds up. Especially when the evidence points to Ames's teenage son. Newly pregnant Mattie can't believe it, even as her own long-estranged father may be following her. But one thing's certain, she'd better start figuring things out fast, or a deadly perpetrator could be subtracting two more victims from the population of Sorenson, Wisconsin.

 I'm beyond location 55 now and I am still enjoying the book. What's your teaser this week? Leave it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy Reading!