A quirk, if you will

I have a bit of a reading quirk. I like series.  I like them a lot. If I start a series and I like it and I know it's a series then I will want all of the books available immediately. I am not patient when it comes to waiting for writers to write! BUT I never know if a series is going to be a keeper or not.

I have started reading several series of books that, while the first few books were okay, I never fell deeply in love with the characters or the stories and so I struggled. One or two I pushed myself through.  Of those, there's one series that I will probably continue to follow. The others, no.

I started Casey Daniels Pepper Martin Series quite a while ago. I checked all of them out from the library...ready to go! I read the first one and was intrigued by the idea and some of the characters. I never fully connected with Pepper, though, and by the 4th book I was just frustrated.  I made it through part of the 4th book and put it down. It stayed on my nightstand or in my purse for *weeks*. I made excuses *not* to read. (Totally unlike me, by the way.) And then I realized I just really didn't care how it ended or where the next books in the series would lead...but I had some sort of quirky obligation to finish the series, just because I started it! I gave myself permission to let it go! I returned all of the books yesterday and felt a tremendous sense of relief! For whatever reason, those books were not for me.

That said, if you like mystery novels with communication beyond the grave, the Pepper Martin series might be for you. There are things about it that liked. Her job as a cemetery tour-guide is intriguing and helps to keep the plausibility for her continued discovery of mysterious deaths as she acts as a bridge between the past and present. The research author, Casey Daniels, does is top notch. The writing and editing is decent and the books are a quick read. When reading books in a series back to back to back you have to allow for a certain amount of repetitiveness that may not be as apparent when reading them as released. Pepper's bust-size is a little too front and center for me, if you will. I just didn't make a connection with Pepper and I don't know if I would have in later books or not. I found her backstory interesting with her father's fall from grace and her dealing with the aftermath of the drop in status. But I also found her to be really self-centered, not too bright (and she seems perfectly okay with that), a bit manipulative, and not someone I would want to hang with as a person at all. Ultimately, that's probably why I dropped the series. Give it a try and see if you agree with with me or if the Pepper Martin series is your new favorite. Leave a comment and let me know!

Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels Pepper Martin Mystery #1