Publication Date: 09/03/2013
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 0425258793
ISBN-13: 978-0425258798
(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound
Cate Price on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Excerpt from Going Through the Notions, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.
Synopsis:
A retired schoolteacher—and yes, daughter of an F. Scott Fitzgerald fan—Daisy Buchanan has finally found her calling in the quaint village of Millbury, Pennsylvania. While her husband endlessly renovates their old house, Daisy happily presides over Sometimes a Great Notion, a quirky shop that sells sewing bits and bobs, antiques, and jewelry.
Daisy has her eye on an antique dollhouse and a classic Singer Featherweight at the local auction—until her friend and mentor, auctioneer Angus Backstead, is led away in handcuffs. It appears he bashed in the head of a drinking buddy who stole a set of fancy fountain pens. Daisy’s sure the sprightly old-timer couldn’t have done it. But if Daisy can’t stitch together the bidder truth—and soon—Angus will be going once, going twice… gone forever.
Thoughts:
First in a new series, Going Through the Notions, is the debut novel by author Cate Price. Price takes on the idea of a 'notions' store, where patrons can find anything from sewing items to old toys. This book has a small town feel and will enchant readers from the first page. Price is a born storyteller, who uses humor and quirky characters to create a world readers will want to return to again and again. Going Through the Notions is a cozy that has some very thrilling moments and Price is able to draw in the reader with a clever heroine and lots of small town charm. A great debut!
Not only is Going Through the Notions the first in a series but it also a debut novel. That in itself often causes problems for the author. A lot of set up is necessary with a new series and often the first book suffers. Coupled with the fact that this is the authors first attempt at publication, it's often a mess. Cate Price handles that pressure with finesse and grace. Her debut title is wonderfully crafted with excellent storytelling. Price was able to keep the story from becoming bogged down with too much backstory and still provide a great whodunit.
I liked the nod to F. Scott Fitzgerald by giving the author the name Daisy Buchanan. The Great Gatsby was one of my favorite novels going up and I thought that was a nice touch. The heroine is a retired school teacher which always makes me think, this lead character will be intelligent and thoughtful. Daisy is certainly true to that. But she can also come across as a bit head strong and maybe a little thoughtless at times, which in my book makes her human. A great heroine for this new series.
I liked the fact that Price gets the small town setting down to a science. She introduces the reader to the town, gives enough history to get them interested, but not too much. She then gives them some quirky towns folk to start to engage with and uses a lot of humor and eccentricities to keep them reading. I thought Price's idea of the small town sheriff bearing a grudge against the main suspect was spot on and realistic. All of her plot devices and clues were well thought out and fun to read about.
This book strayed a little close to the line dividing a cozy mystery from a thriller. But I still think it held up most of the cozy guidelines. It was relatively clean, the lead character was an amateur sleuth with a day job. There was a small town setting. But some of the action go really close to thriller status. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I liked the action and didn't feel it was too graphic. Price just blurs the line a little bit and that's OK.
I got a real kick out of the 'notions' store. To be honest when I first started reading this one I wasn't too sure what a notion was. The author did a great job of making this a true part of the story. I liked the auctions and yard sales and the whole idea. It was very vintage and had a real home style feel to it. It added a lot to the story and made the heroine seem so much more realistic.
Price shows a lot of potential with this series and her storytelling is just wonderful. Her prose is written well and she was able to drop clues to keep the reader reading but not give away too much, too soon. I look forward to more from this author. If Going Through the Notions is any indication, this will be a great series.
Going Through the Notions is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
About the Author:
Giveaway Details:
The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Going Through the Notions by Cate Price.
~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US Addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, September 25th.
1. Please leave a comment describing your idea of a vintage notion. If you don't know what that is... let's have some interesting guesses!
2. Please fill out the FORM.
12 comments:
I actually found sealing wax in that type of store when we were on vacation when I was a kid. Probably pre-teen, because I knew what sealing wax was!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I think I'd expect stuff like in my mom's old sewing box...a mishmash of old buttons, buckles, thimbles, rick-rack and other trim. Just a lot of notions and old patterns and things like that.
I'd say a dress form, old patterns and frog fasteners to name a few.
Anything from the past.
CABWNANA1@bellsouth.net
My Grandma Elizabeth died in 1953. I still have a battered cookie tin filled with buttons that she collected. She also like to tat and I still have her very fine metal crochet hooks and thread that she used when she tatted. I also still have thin vials of glass beads that she used to make jewelry.
anything old people collect?
Buttons, plus I have some silly old notions about life. Don't all books end with "they lived happily ever after." Lol!
I have an old basket that belonged to my Grandmother. It's full of old thread on wooden spools, a package of needles, old buttons, and a pin cushion shaped like a tomato.
I'd think it was old fabrics and threads and anything connected with sewing.
I think it is my Grandmother's vintage jewelry to my Moms sewing box with vintage buttons, lace, and great grandma's sewing thumb cast in brass that is so precious to me.
Note The capachon is difficult and sometimes I have to do it 5-6 times before it works. I have been entering your contest for a long time and not having won but have put a lot of time into them.. I have a very limited budget and always hope to win a book. So I will not be entering an longer as the 2 step process takes far to long and the capachon on top of it is to time intensive. good luck everyone have at it.
To me, vintage notions are little things from the past...like doilies, buttons, thimbles. The word 'notion' to me has always implied something little!
Vintage notions could include old thread. My mother has some and maybe some of it belonged to my grandmother.
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