Waiting for Armando: Kate Lawrence Mystery Series, Book 1 (Kate Lawrence Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]

This is an entertaining little cozy mystery. It is certainly worth ninety-nine cents. However, I find the numerous typos, spelling and punctuation errors to be very distracting. This was probably the poorest edited ebook I've read yet. Too bad.

I have to say up front that the main reason I liked this book is because I live right where it takes place. The author put her action squarely in the 'real world' - with names of buildings, restaurants, streets, etc. that I'm familiar with. I even knew the intersection that she referenced in the 'no turn on red' incident in the book. I live in an area that is not exactly popular with authors looking to set their books there, so that made this book particularly fun for me.

However, as far as the story itself goes, it was only mediocre. The characters were likeable enough, but without a great deal of depth. The story was predictible, and ended with a deus ex machina scene, as well as leaving a few unanswered questions. The plot suffered from my pet peeve as far as cozies go - that the police ask the amateur detective for help when they don't know him/her, have just met him/her 10 minutes ago, and oftentimes suspect him/her of the murder... in other words, the amateur detective has no business in the investigation, and the reasons given run the gamut from unlikely to totally implausible. This one rated about an 8 or 9 on the implausibility scale.

This is the first of 4 books. I'll probably continue to read the series because I already own 3 of the 4, and I enjoy the place setting, but not for any virtue of the books in terms of writing or plot.

Note on Kindle formatting: The formatting (simply as how the words appeared on the Kindle) was fine, but there were quite a few editing/proofing errors. Most of the ones I noticed appeared to be autocorrect errors - the word itself was correct & spelled right, but it was the wrong word for that sentence. For example: one character was said to be 'flapping the men of her dress" to get some air to cool her legs. It's obvious that the intended word is 'hem'. I saw about half-dozen instances of this throughout the book. While in all instances it was obvious what was meant, they also showcased the fact that the book could have been proofed much more carefully (and by a human being) before being published.

This novel seems to be in the vein of a Jessica Fletcher mystery but in an urban setting. If anyone is mistaking Hartford for some cozy little back-water they have made a mistake! This is a sophisticated city and the Capitol of Connecticut. Now why did I feel it was important to tell you this? Because some of the things happening in this book, would never ever happen here or most probably any police department in the country, back-water or not.

Kate Lawrence has left her prestigious and highly stressful job and has decided to down-scale what she does for a living. She decides to apply for an assistant position in a high powered law firm in the Capitol. The law partners are typically annoying, in a cliched sort of way and they treat their support staff like children.

One day soon after she has started her job, Ms. Lawrence comes upon a scene of one of the partners in a fight with his assistant and a a few days later he is found dead. And guess who finds him? Yes, Kate, of course! And being a mystery naturally he is dead under suspicious circumstances and his assistant Ingrid Torvalson, is one of the main suspects.

Now Ingrid has become a rather good friend of our Kate so naturally Kate jumps at the chance to help her out. And this is where knowing that this is a sophisticated city comes in handy. Ingrid and Katherine have been called down to headquarters; they know not why. It has not been announced just how Alain has been killed (yes it was murder) but both of these women seem to be under suspicion. Now imagine, going to see the Detectives on the case and the detectives instead of grilling you, takes you into their confidences not only telling you nearly all the information on how he died, what exactly was used to kill him (multiple natural poisons) but the Detectives asking for your help? This all seemed to force me to suspend my disbelief a little too much.

So now Kate Ingrid and assorted other mad cap women are running around Connecticut trying to build a case for the police. Meanwhile there are several other little plots going on involving Kate's Homeowners Association and her man-friend Armando. (who we never really connect with because he leaves the country soon after we meet him)

All the evidence is used to throw a rather large and overly obvious red herring at you. And when the denouement is unveiled it was like Ms Ivie just plucked a person out of thin air and said- "you I'll make it you who did it!" yes there was a minuscule foreshadowing, but not enough to give you multiple suspects. And multiples really livens things up in a mystery!

Now the editing---yes as another reviewer has pointed out the editing was a bit of a problem. It may have been fixed as the author has claimed, but how in the world did something like this pass by---"Margo flapped the men of her dress to stir the air over her legs." I nearly had an embarrassing accident laughing like a loon after I deciphered that one!

So this was a quick read, but not one that was worth my $3.00.