Member Reviews

Maia Chance has a way of making her characters come to vivid life. She is able to infuse humor that readers are able to relate to and make you feel as if you are right there in the mix of it all. In "Bad Neighbors" she has let her main Characters, Agnes and Aunt Effie, show how they have matured and grown since they first started out in Bad Housekeeping. What a fun and crazy ride you won't want to miss.

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Agnes Blythe has gone back to Naneda, NY to help her Aunt Effie run their B&B. She meets her former boyfriend, Otis, and they begin to date once again. There is a murder in town and Otis becomes the prime suspect. Agnes must find the real killer before they book Otis. I enjoyed this book very much. There are lots of characters and drama which keeps you turning pages. Bad Neighbors makes for good reading! Thank you to Net Galley for sending my an advanced copy for review.

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Rebounding from being dumped by her ex-fiancé, Agnes is beginning to feel at home again in Naneda. Sort of. She’s been dating the good looking, love of her life, Oits Hatch and the romance was moving right along. Sort of. She’s also been helping her great aunt Effie renovate the historical Stagecoach Inn that was beginning to look respectable. Sort of. They weren’t ready for guests but when they receive a call that a tour bus full of leaf peepers has broken down, they are asked to take in a few tourists that need a roof over their heads. Agnes reluctantly agrees to go pick up the stranded tourists only to arrive just in time to see her beloved Otis being helped into a police cruiser. In hand cuffs, no less! She soon learns the body of Hatch Automotive employee, Mikey Brown was discovered with his head bashed in and Otis is their numero uno suspect. As the leaves unfold in all their glory, Agnes and her Aunt Effie start their own investigation, eagerly assisted by their stranded tourists.

The adventures of Agnes and her Aunt Effie are even better in this second installment of the Agnes and Effie mystery series. I really enjoy books that give you a good story and great entertainment without taking itself too seriously. You root for the good guys and curl your lip at the snarky ones. Readers who enjoy their stories laced with a little push-pull of romance will enjoy the angst and self-doubt that is Agnes’s life. And how can I not bring up Chester? We all have a cousin like Chester or we want one. Our friends are glad we don’t. Love him. Chance delivers an overall good book that makes us all a little glad we don’t have an Aunt Effie in our lives. But then again. . .

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First off thanks to Author/Publisher for giving me a copy of the book for review.

This book has all the required elements of a cozy mystery....A nice inn in a small town(Naneda), cute boyfriend
(may be), Fun Aunt (Effie), group of understanding guests (Lo, Myron), a festival they are looking forward to. The characters are realistic and the plot is not too complex .

If the pace of the book is picked up slightly, i can see this book reaching far more audience. Neverthless cozy mystery lovers should pick this book and series up.

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This book is filled with laughs on almost every page. The quirky characters make it such an enjoyable read. The mystery was solid, storyline superb, and the author did a spectacular job tying everything together at the end of the story. I love how the relationships between the main characters has developed and "matured" in this latest addition. If you are looking for a light, hilarious, highly engaging, and enchanting mystery, look no further.

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I love the characters' age differences and how well they work together.
Agnes is 27 and very unsettled. Effie is 70 something with a past. Together with cousin Chester they are renovating the Stagecoach Inn, in Naneda NY, into a B&B.
When a tour bus breaks down four passengers need a place to stay but the Inn isn't officially open. Effie agrees to take in Dr. Hank Li, Myron & Lorraine Berman and tour guide Dorothea Bulstraode for free.
Mechanic Mikey Brown's body is found at Otis' garage, Agnes & Effie start investigating when suitor rival Det. Albright fixates on Otis. The town is competing a for fall festival tourism award and everyone is anxious to win.
There are a lot of characters in this book and it is initially hard to keep track of so many until the author wheedles it down to a half dozen potential murderers. From that point on the plot is easy to follow but hard to guess the guilty party.

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Agnes and (chain-smoking Great Aunt) Effie (along with cousin Chester) are an absolutely adorable team! The trio is in the process of renovating the Stagecoach Inn in their hometown of Naneda, New York, but before the inn can even open for business they're asked to take in a few leaf-peeping travelers whose bus has broken down. Agnes' boyfriend Otis has been hired to fix the motor coach, but he's soon hauled off to jail because his employee has been found murdered in the trunk of a car in the garage parking lot. Add in the new to town cupcake making conniving siren, Delilah, a flea-ridden feral cat, secret gambling, a headless horseman mask, and the rest of the craziness behind the town's autumn festival, and you have the delight that is Maia Chance's second Agnes & Effie Mystery, Bad Neighbors. Laugh out loud funny, and quite a well-written mystery to boot! 5 stars!

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I've been waiting for this 2nd book in the series to arrive. It was fantastic! Just as good as the first. I can't wait until the next one comes out. I really like the lead female character. Fun read.

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Bad Neighbors is the second installment in the An Agnes & Effie Mystery series set in the small town of Naneda, New York featuring Agnes "Aggie" Blythe. Aggie, her Great Aunt Euphemia "Effie" and Cousin Chester are still working on getting the once condemned Stagecoach Inn renovated and it's not as easy as the home improvement shows on TV make it look.

Effie receives a call that a motor coach carrying leaf peppers from Golden Vistas Motor Coach Tours has broken down and a few of the Senior citizens need a place to stay. Thinking that this is a very bad idea, Aggie heads down to Hatch Automotive, the auto repair shop run by her boyfriend Otis Hatch, to retrieve the group. Pulling into the parking lot she's greeted by patrol cars one of which is hauling Otis away, it seems that someone has bludgeoned Mikey Brown one of the mechanics to death and the police think it was Otis.

Determined to clear her boyfriends name, Aggie sets out with the help of Aunt Effie and the group of Seniors to uncover the killer. It soon becomes apparent that although the local townsfolk are quick to make fun of Aggie and Effie, they are harboring quite a few secrets that they'd just as soon stay under wraps. More bodies turn up, money goes missing and somebody's trying to bribe the Peeper Prize judge.

Mayhem and madness follow Agnes and Effie wherever they go and their hijinks will have you laughing out loud from cover to cover. A quirky cast of characters and a shocking twist at the end undoubtedly mean many more adventures for the duo.

I received an advanced copy of Bad Neighbors from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Banks. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

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Love this author and this book. I can’t wait to read the next one.

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I received a free ARC of Bad Neighbors from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Aunt Effie and Agnes return for another crazy murder investigation in their small home town. A gaggle of broke down winter leaf tourists discover a body at the automotive shop of Otis, Agnes' love interest, and he is the prime suspect in the investigation. Agnes and her aunt make it there mission to find the real killer and clear Otis' name before the killer strikes again or they become victims themselves. This is a fun read. It can be read as a stand alone novel or as the second in the series after Bad Housekeeping.

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Walking into book two of a series is always daunting, when you haven't read book one, that is. Thankfully Agnes and Effie made me feel right at home from the very first page, and the 'gaggle' of tourists helping with their investigation were a riot! Along with the serious side of cozy mystery, the crime and the murder, it's important to like your characters and want them to succeed in catching the crook. I definitely loved Agnes, and felt her nerdgirl charm was perfect for this book.

Of course the mystery was spot on too, and involved clearing the name of Agnes' potential beau, Otis. I hope the pair of them learn to communicate a little better though, because their relationship is one I'm hoping to see grow in the future.

This is a fun mystery series that should delight fans of the genre. Can't wait to read both book one, and the next in the series! Five stars.

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Agnes and Aunt Effie are the best!! I had been waiting for a second book to come out and Maia Chance did not disappoint! Agnes, Chester and Aunt Effie are in the process of renovating the inn and hoping to find an architect to help them. In the process of all of this Agnes' somewhat, possibly, maybe boyfriend Otis becomes a murder suspect. An employee of his has been murdered and he is the main suspect. Aunt Effie and Agnes decide that they are going to clear his name. Hilarity and crazy antics ensue!!

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This is the second book in the Agnes and Effie Mystery series. Not only is this a quick and easy read, it is fun and will keep you in stitches. You will not want to put this book down until you finish and then you will be begging for me. Can't wait for the next book in this series.

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This book will appear to those who love their quirky, crazy, not perfect characters and humor in their mysteries. I am one of those and enjoyed it well. I'll likely be purchasing the first in the series because of it.

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Unfortunately, this book didn't catch my interest with the main characters. I find it annoying when book characters are repetitive. Agnes is always mentioning her the extra pounds she carries or being out of shape but makes no effort to make changes, Accept it or make changes! Agnes being a smart mouth to her aunt was also problematic to me.

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Agnes Blythe has settled into helping her eccentric Great Aunt Effie restore the Stagecoach Inn in Naneda, New York in time for the 'leaf peeping' season.
Agnes and Aunt Effie are called when a tourist-laden motor coach breaks down outside of town. The Stagecoach Inn isn’t anywhere near ready, but Agnes and Effie agree to take in a few of the seniors while the van gets repaired. Agnes finds herself pulled into the investigation when she learns her boyfriend, Otis Hatch, is the Naneda Police Department’s prime suspect when a mechanic at Hatch Automotive is found beaten to death with Otis's wrench.
With bodies falling faster than the foliage, Agnes, Effie and a few others must muddle through the suspects and clear Otis’s name of murder before it's too late.
I requested an ARC from NetGalley and received one to my delight.

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I want to live in Naneda and be friends with Agnes and Chester. The dialogue is pithy and I would be in tears everyday from the continuous laughing. Maia Chance gives all the characters, not just Agnes, great one liners. The blatant sleuthing of Agnes and Effie is wonderfully agreeable. Instead of accepting that it's normal for an everyday person to ask probing questions, Agnes and Effie are questioned back by the suspects and instead of getting away with sneaking around they get caught. This is all very refreshing. The cast of characters and the situations they get into are so funny; I cannot give enough praise to the hilariousness of this book. This is at the top of my favorite murder mysteries I have read this year, right up there with Craig Johnson's Longmire series. The reader will enjoy tagging along with the gaggle as they solve the murder.

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A fun cozy mystery of nerdy Agnes and her crazy Aunt Effie. Trying to get their Inn up and running, they end up taking a few guests that are stranded in town due to the murder at the mechanic shop. The head mechanic, Otis, is Agnes' love interest, and lots of eclectic characters fill out this book. Chuckled through the majority of the book, and kept me guessing on the outcome. Fun series, and look forward to more by this author. Highly recommend.

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Bad Neighbors by Maia Chance is a book so full of surprises you won't want to put it down.
What could be better than leaf-peeping season in Naneda, New York?
According to Agnes Blythe and her Aunt Effie, it doesn't get much better than this. Repairing and renovating the Stagecoach Inn is high priority, but when a tour bus breaks down, the inn becomes home for a few stranded tourists.

I enjoyed this book so much, I had to purchase the first in the series, Bad Housekeeping.
The characters in this book were so lively and entertaining, I did not want to put it down.
I was thrilled that the "gaggle" of tourists were involved in the story, they really added some remarkable moments.

This is a series I am putting on my top 10 list of go to books. I love having few books that I will read over and over again, because I enjoy them that much.

Cozy mystery lovers will enjoy this superb mystery.

I voluntarily read an ARC of Bad Neighbors which was offered by NetGalley and the publisher

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