Really enjoyed this book. Great plot and engaging, believe characters. I was drawn right into the story. Would definitely recommend.

This was a light, fun read and perfect for those who love cozy mysteries with strong female leads.

I enjoyed reading about Bootsie and Binnie and their adventures. Revenge is a universal theme, and Ms. Fitzpatrick takes revenge to an entertaining new level as she weaves a tale that's mysterious and fun at the same time.  The beginning is slow, so you may have trouble getting into it, but by the time the second body falls, you will be rushing to finish the whole thing!

I love cozy mysteries, but this one was not nearly as clean as I expect from a cozy. There was a good deal of swearing, talk of and engaging in extramarital sex, and drinking in excess as a way to handle emotions. While the plot idea was clever and fun at the beginning, it grew old quickly and was unbelievable that they would continue to joke about killing people when others they had joked about had actually been killed just as they planned. This book was also in need of a good editor and the main character's best friend and sidekick's name kept changing from Binnie to Babs especially toward the end of the book. The narrator was extremely unreliable but more like she was lying to and deliberately keeping things from the reader than actually misreading situations which I didn't particularly care for if that's even a style. All in all, I'd say this book just wasn't for me although a good editor would have helped a lot.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

This is a nice new approach for the murder mystery. Babs and Bootsy are drinking at a bar when they start joking about killing the people making their life so miserable. Now the top three on their list are dead and the police think this is an open and shut case. With the mob, magicians, psychics and the police all in on the action the girls need to figure out the killer before they become the next two victims. I thought this would have more humor but it is more murder mystery than cozy. It's a little convoluted. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It actually made me laugh out loud on occasion which doesn’t go down well on the bus. The characters were so relatable too.

Thank you NetGallery for this book. What a fun and fast read. It was a little slow in the beginning but after learning a little more about the characters and how they communicate it became quite enjoyable. If you are looking for a quick read with an enjoyable mystery sprinkled with some unexpected twists and turns then this book is for you.

What a cast of characters in Sweet Cream Ladies, Ltd. by Flo Fitzpatrick. I recommend this book for its fun witty word play and puns, and the fact that the two main characters have to figure out who took their idea of becoming hitwomen a reality, and framed them in the process! It's clever and unlike anything I have read before.

What a fun summer read! I loved the characters and the idea of this story. It felt a little slow in parts, but overall a quick fun read.

Synopsis:
Bootsie and Binnie are two average middle-aged actresses with ex-husbands and professional rivals that they love to complain about.  While getting drunk at a bar in Manhattan, they jokingly plan to create a hitwoman company--Sweet Cream Ladies, Limited--and off their enemies in creatively violent ways.  But if it was all a joke, then how come these people are dying off--in the exact same ways that the ladies humorously plotted?

Language
For this review, I put language first, because the way this book is written is what will make it or break it for a reader. Either you love it because of this writing style, or you hate it.

This novel has an intriguing premise that is well-executed. That said, the dialogue is very heavily laden with pop-culture references that are a little before my time. As a classic movie buff (I love films from the 40s, 50s, 60s), I understood and greatly appreciated those references, but a lot of the other ones flew over my head.  Still, I appreciate the amount of time Flo Fitzpatrick took into carefully crafting a witty repartee between Bootsie and Binnie.

There is also a lot of puns and wordplay that make the text slower to read.  Sometimes it is a little overdone, and it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.  Like I said in the beginning of this section, if you love this kind of writing, then this book is for you!

I really did appreciate certain parts of the prose.  There are a lot of repeating gags, which cracked me up every time. For instance, every time a detective or someone other than the two main characters mention “Sweet Cream Ladies”, Bootsie or Binnie would interject to say “Limited!”, no matter the scenario. Even when their lives are on the line, and they’re trying to figure out how to get out of the pickle they’ve gotten themselves into, they take the time to correct people on the name of their hitwoman company.  Ridiculous, which is a good word to use to describe this book. (Ridiculously HILARIOUS, but that would be two words).

Plot
As mentioned in the “Language” section, the plot moved a little slower than you would expect from this type of novel because of the surplus of puns and references.  That said, there are intriguing twists and turns in the storyline, including a surprising twist that I didn’t see coming, which led to a thrilling conclusion to the novel.

Characters
There is an adorable romance that brews between Bootsie and the detective on their case.  As with most of the novel, the focus is on their verbal interactions, and we don’t get much introspection about their romance that isn’t encumbered by wordplay.

Unfortunately because of the heavy emphasis on a unique and remarkable language style, I found that the character development was lacking. That is to say: there was none. Because the emphasis of this book is so clearly on its humorous language, I won’t go into depth about how two-dimensional Bootsie and Binnie appear to be in the story.

I recommend this book to those looking for a fun book about two women creating their own hitwoman company, and those who appreciate witty puns and wordplay in their beach reads.
*This review will be posted to https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/ on June 21, 2019*

Sweet Cream Ladies, Ltd is a fun read. It’s almost a slapstick comedy, complete with colorful characters and implausible situations. If Lucy and Ethyl were actresses living in NYC and, over margaritas, plotted the demise of their ex-spouses, then you would have the genesis of this book. When the targets of their plots begin to meet their end in the same way, the ladies know they are in trouble. The result is a madcap, zany romp as they try to figure out who the real murderer is.

I enjoyed this book, even though there were some places that were somewhat redundant and the story moved a little slower than I would have liked. But all in all, it was very entertaining and I’d recommend it as a great book to take on vacation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

In Sweet Cream Ladies, Ltd., two over-the-hill (in their late thirties!) and self-acknowledged overweight actresses decide life isn’t fair. Unfortunately, their self-help plan may get them arrested.

In New York City, Binnie and Bootsie are underemployed actresses, who need to find better paying jobs. They jokingly, drunkenly, and loudly state that they are starting a hit woman company called Sweet Cream Ladies, Ltd. in a crowded bar. They proceed to name who and how they will murder their first four victims to demonstrate their talents. Two are their cheap ex-husbands. One is the lady who swindled money from Bootsie. The fourth is the actress who got the role that Bootsie wanted by using a casting couch that she appeared to drag from job to job.

The (sorta) good news is that cards are appearing on the bar’s corkboard requesting the company’s services. The bad news is that the police pull the ladies in for questioning when Bootsie’s husband is killed in the exact way they described. The really good news is that the Detective in charge of the case is hot and seems to be flirting with Bootsie.

Sweet Cream Ladies, Ltd. is a humorous cozy mystery. Hopefully, it is the first in a series. Binnie and Bootsie are hilarious and frequently end up in some slapstick situations. Their characters and the friendship between them seem genuine. Comparisons with Stephanie Plum and Lula are true. I can see this series growing a similar bond between the two leads plus it’s laugh-out-loud funny too. This book is recommended to readers that like some humor with their cozy mysteries and/or are interested in the world of acting. 4 stars!

Thanks to Encircle Publications, Ltd. and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Hasn't everyone come up with a list of people they wouldn't mind dying? Okay, I technically haven't but I could see good reasons for doing so. Babs "Binnie" Harrison and Bootsie Kittredge, both professional actresses, come up with such a list one drunken night. And also joke that other people have similar lists and that the two of them should go into business "helping" others check names off their own lists. But then Babs gets drunk again and starts telling people about their list, the five names including a demanding actress they've both gone up against for roles, both of their ex-husbands, a psychic who helped Binnie's marriage crack up. Then, the people on their list start ding, in just the manner they had proscribed. Of course, they're the first ones suspected and interviewed by the hunky Detective Laramie. But they may need more than just his help to stay out of jail.
It took me a bit to get into the writing style but I eventually caught up. The ending was a bit over the top as well but it was overall a fun read.

Three and a half stars
This book came out May 15th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

If you want a book where the dialogue is close to perfection, look no further. It may seem like babble in the beginning, but you will get drawn into every conversation and feel like you're watching it in real life.
It's a big book, but there are mysteries, humor and several good twists, so be entertained!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-copy of this title.

The main takeaway is, I guess, that I thought this book would be more fun.

It is a bit of fun, but it is also very chaotic. I was reading the very first scene and I wasn't sure how many people there were talking (only two, it turns out). Then there is the fact that the two protagonists' names are Bootsie and Binnie - very confusing. And then there follows a whole parade of chaotic events, colourful characters, barely plausible situations. It's a very picaresque book, I'd say (having done my MA in literature), and I'm not terribly fond of picaresque books.

Overall, I think it's a decent book, but by no means a great one. One major problem - aside from the overwhelming chaos - is that even the two protagonists, despite their vivacity, are not terribly nice or compelling characters.

Binnie and Bootsie are actresses looking for jobs in ads, off-Broadway plays, and wherever they can find them. Bootsie is recently divorced and struggling. During a margarita-filled get-together, Binnie and Bootsie plan ways to get rid of Bootsie’s ex permanently. As one outrageous murder plot after another surfaces some of them suddenly start to come true. Who is murdering their annoying acquaintances?

Fun, fun characters. Great read.

Very odd book. I liked the premise- two frustrated and mistreated women plotting out the murders of their nemeses- then it actually starts happening exactly as the described ( out loud, in a public place with many witnesses! ) Are the Sweet Cream Ladies, Limited to blame? Or are they being framed. The main problem was the story dragged quite a bit. A lot could have been trimmed. Still a fun murderous read, however. Probably would be a great beach read.

Interesting story but not sure I would continue reading this series. I had a hard time getting into the characters as they were not easily relatable.

Over a mimosa-fueled brunch, actors and divorcees Bootsie and Binnie joke about becoming hitmen. They decide to call their business venture Sweet Cream Ladies, Limited. Later they share not only their business plan, but their selected targets and methods for demise, with a group of inebriated fellow actors in a crowded bar.

A short time later, they are brought in for questioning when the first victim dies just as they outlined. On the bright side, Bootsie meets the charming and sexy detective, Sebastian Laramie. And she gets to see him again, as more of their enemies meet unfortunate ends.

Bootsie and Binnie are fun to be around—madcap characters who are always ready for a drink or snack, and take the reader along as they explore New York City. The virtually indistinguishable names are confusing, though, and they talk an awful lot. The dialogue could be cut in half with no impact on the story.

Sweet Cream Ladies, Limited is a throwback to the cozy mysteries that proliferated in the 1990s. If the plot is slightly implausible and the dialogue exhausting, it’s nonetheless an enjoyable read for lovers of mysteries and New York. I am both.

What a fun read! Almost the feel of a slap stick comedy. 2 actress friends make up a company to become contract killers. 2 less likely successful people ever! Yet someone takes the list the gals made and the way to kill them. So a copy cat is out there. Enter a detective that is investigating and interested in one of the actresses. I liked the fun story.