Review and Giveaway: Buttoned Up

Buttoned Up (Button Box Mystery - Book 4) by Kylie Logan

Publication Date: 12/03/2013
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 0425265943
ISBN-13: 978-0425265949

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Kylie Logan on the WEB: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Books in the series:

Button Holed (2011), Hot Button (2012), Panic Button (2012), Buttoned Up (2013)

Coverart: Click the image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Buttoned Up, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

For Josie Giancola, owner of the Button Box shop, every button is a tiny work of art with its own story to tell—a story that just might end in murder…
 
Artist Forbis Parmenter has invited Josie to the opening of his latest exhibit of voodoo-inspired works. He plans to make a show of completing the centerpiece—a button- encrusted statue—when Josie arrives with the final button. But just as the big moment comes, Forbis bolts out of the gallery in panic. Is it another of his publicity stunts, or is something more sinister afoot?
 
Josie gets her answer when the eccentric artist is found dead—his lifeless body in the arms of a statue and his eyes and lips sealed with buttons. Now she’s using her expert eye to solve the mystery before a crafty killer slips through her fingers.

Thoughts:

Buttoned Up is the fourth book in the Button Box mystery series by Kylie Logan. Logan once again comes up with an interesting theme involving collectible buttons. This book is a mix of mystery and history with a little voodoo thrown in. Readers will enjoy not only the list of suspects and motives, but also a little romantic tension between lead characters, Josie and Nev, when a woman from Nev's past makes an unexpected return. Voodoo curses, dead bodies and more buttons than you can count make for a very interesting combination in this latest offering from Kylie Logan.

What I liked:

I really enjoyed the theme of this book. Buttons have always been something that I enjoyed looking at and even making pictures with as a child. My grandmother loved to keep buttons in a jar for craft projects, mending and for fun. I liked the idea that Logan's buttons in this book are turned into works of art that are being shown in an actual art exhibit. That was a great idea and it worked well with the mystery aspects of the story.

When Josie finds Forbis in the arms of the statue and his eyes and mouth have been glued shut with buttons, I knew this was going to be a good one. That was very creative and when it is found by the autopsy that he was literally scared to death, it got even more interesting. I often marvel at how cozy authors can come up with such imaginative ways for people to die...LOL. This was certainly one of the best I have read in a while.

I also enjoyed the look into Josie's personal life. With the arrival of Evangaline, Nevil's one time fiancee, it looks like turmoil is ahead for the couple. They have been fairly settled for a little while and I think Logan wanted to shake things up a bit with them. It never pays to be complacent in love or sleuthing. I thought this made for a good side story and helped readers connect to Josie as not only an amateur sleuth but as a person and a woman. I look forward to seeing where things go with this couple almost as much as what Josie is going to get into next.

Who doesn't love a good scare once in a while? I think this one was little too much for Forbis, though. I liked all of the references to voodoo and curses and that sort of thing. It gave the book an eerie feeling that is always good in a mystery. Logan goes a good job of making this a central part of the theme of the book and incorporates it well into the mystery. I've always thought voodoo was a subject that was intriguing and Logan makes it even more so with this offering.

What I didn't like:

There isn't much about this one I didn't like. In fact I can't really think of a thing. It was imaginative and creative and have a very original spin on it. A overall great book.

Bottom Line: 

If you are a Kylie Logan fan you can't afford to miss this one. This is in my opinion the best of the series so far. I didn't figure it out until the bitter end and the surprises just kept coming throughout the book. I was skeptical at the beginning of the series, but it has turned into a really good cozy series that readers are sure to enjoy.

Buttoned Up is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Kylie Logan is the author of League of Literary Ladies Mystery series and the Chili Cook Off Mystery series.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Buttoned Up by Kylie Logan.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US Addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, January 2nd.

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