This is a humorous mystery where grammar obsession temporarily gets in the way. A nameless narrator is asked to solve the mysterious case of stalking. The story is fast paced with super short chapters that kept the action going. Humor and intrigue are a great combination as characters are introduced and suspense builds. All in all this is a fun and fast, entertaining listen. Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for my audiobook.

I loved the personalities of the characters, and the twists and turns later on in the book. I had a hard time getting into the story at the beginning and at some points in the middle. The plot was interesting, however I felt like there were a quite a few unnecessary chapters, with the narrator going on unrelated rants. Overall, I enjoyed the main plot points and would consider reading the other books in the series!

What's the matter with Mary Jane? By Candas Jane Dorsey is an excellently narrator bizarre novel. The loose mystery is told from the view point of the nameless character, who lives alone has a brilliant pet cat, a copper for a best friend and can drop her whole life when an old school friend comes asking for help. A peculiar premise and plot but totally listenable to as it has a great comic undertones throughout.
The cat was a good addition to the story, as she can converse thoughts this way in a comedic rather than mad way. When her friend priscilla's enterage turn up it all gets a little unbelievable. She confesses her love for this guy, and I assume we have moved along in time, but no this is the first night together, this isn't done in a sail off into the sunset way, but in a move in and here have a new job so I can be with you all the time kind of way, weird.
The conclusion, is complicated and again fantastical, I'm not sure of anyone's motives.
I did enjoy listening to this book as the commentary was enjoyable, if you don't take the plot too seriously, it's worth listening to. 3*
Thanks to ECW Press audio and netgalley for the ARC

3 stars

An odd murder mystery. Not the best story or characters, but I did enjoy the snarky MC who narrated events & her jerk-face cat, Bunnywit. It would be 2/5 stars if not for the enjoyment I derived from the writing style.

[What I liked:]

•This book is hilarious! The MC narrates it & she has a sassy, slightly cynical sense of humor that is one of the highlights of this book.

•Bunnywit was great. I loved Bunnywit. Also, the thing with the lawyer & cat inheritance at the end was pretty great & hilarious.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The romance was insta-love, & it didn’t seem based on much at all. Thus, when tragedy struck, it didn’t have much of an emotional impact.

•Most of the plot made no sense to me, it was just shocking yet random events strung together, overlaid with the narrator’s annoyingly frequent interjections of, “if only I had known”.

•The character development just was not there. The MC is snarky, her friend is mysterious & quirky, her love interest is handsome & stupid rich & brilliant, & the villain is OOT evil. Very two dimensional, almost caricatures of people.

CW: murder

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Awesome audiobook.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to listen to a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

What's the Matter with Mary Jane is an apartment mystery. I would call this a cozy mystery. Overall, the book is fine but I mostly enjoyed the narration. I didn't really love the storyline or plot or characters themselves, but the writing was pretty good and I love the narrator's way of telling the story.

2/5 stars.

A stream-of-consciousness mystery following an amateur sleuth tasked by her long lost but never forgotten acquaintance Priscilla Jane in finding who is stalking her. Along the way, she gets swept up in the lifestyle of the rich and how sinister their minds can be. This was a thoroughly enjoyable audiobook. I am not big into audio (I prefer the physical copies) but the dialogue was almost like a movie in my head. The narrator was captivating and I played the one more chapter game more than I should have. This is a book you can finish very easily. My only qualm is the ending was predictable.

What's the matter with Mary Jane is the second in the Epitome Apartments mystery series.

It follows a woman who has just helped solve a murder for her friend Hep with the help of some friends. She is contacted by an old acquaintance Pris who believes she is being followed by someone.
After some weird situations such as Pris disappearing, a man being killed and someone else being pushed down the stairs there is definitely something suspicious going on.

The book has a lot more mystery than the first one and definitely leaves you wondering what is going on and who is following Pris. We are also introduced to some new characters including Nathan and Chile's and ofcourse some of our old friends from book one make an appearance.

These books definitely are an acquired taste, I don't think they would quite work for everyone. However I really liked this one.
The diversity of characters in this authors books are brilliant and her style of writing is interesting.

The narrator, Neta Jones does a fabulous job in this book. I listened to it at 1.5x.

Overall the book was an enjoyable listen and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in book three.

This was my first audiobook ever! It really helped make traveling seem to go by quicker during this holiday season. I loved the personalities of the characters, and the twists and turns later on in the book. I had a hard time getting into the story at the beginning and at some points in the middle. The plot was interesting, however I felt like there were a quite a few unnecessary chapters, with the narrator going on unrelated rants. Overall, I enjoyed the main plot points and would consider reading the other books in the series!

This book has a lot of promise given that it is a mystery and the heroine seems interesting enough. The problem is that the writing is stilted. I wish it could keep my interest, but it did not, sadly. I do think the author has a good character here. It’s just that the plot does not compel one to keep reading.

A wise-cracking, grammar-obsessed, pansexual amateur sleuth is thrust into the world of the uber-rich when her enigmatic, now-famous childhood friend breezes back into her life begging for help with a dangerous stalker. The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life.

I enjoyed this book. I felt the narrator was really fitting for the book. the story it's self was not your usual thriller/suspense book. Quirky and fun!

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, I did enjoy it. However, I felt lost at times. There were definite slow parts, and times I found it difficult to follow the nameless narrator. The story line was good, but just difficult to follow everywhere the narrator was taking you at times.

I listened to this book from NetGalley. I probably should have read the first one before I listened to this. There are a lot of allusions to events in the previous books. I would also say its mysteryish, and there were times when the plot seemed all over the place. It does have a good ending and sets itself up for sequels.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4384199530

"What's the matter with Mary Jane" is the second outing for the nameless amateur sleuth from what is called the 'Epitome Apartments Mystery' series.
Our heroine lives in the apartment complex she owns (due to family money, but is now relatively broke having bought said apartments) with her cat, and is no-frills and no-nonsense. (A whole plot point is her having to buy a cell phone and get used to using the internet!)
At the start of the story she recounts memories of college and friend Priscilla Jane Gill (Pris) with sharp wit. When Pris ends up on her doorstep years later, asking for her help to figure out if Pris's past stalker is back and a threat to her again, our budding Miss Marple is reluctant (book one in the series has apparently put her off dangerous situations), but gets caught up in an increasingly tighter web of issues involving Pris, her paramour Chiles and Chiles' business partner Nathan.
There's assault, deception, murder and intrigue, with more than a few twists and turns, but our narrator very much sticks to her role - she generally is describing the goings-on rather than being involved herself. The second half of the book is more pacey than the first, as there is a lot of describing events and conversations in the initial part, and at times I wondered how involved in the story our heroine really was. I did like her as a character overall, we need more fresh, modern female leads, but sometimes the no-nonsense-ness came across as a bit acerbic.
I also liked that the book tried to bring attention to social issues in the area the book is set in, as well as creating a narrative world for us.
I listend to the audiobook of this title, and it is narrated brilliantly by Neta Rose - her narration was clear, breezy and relevant in tone.
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this title in return for my honest review)

Cute, quick listen of a book. An amateur sleuth is thrust into the world of the uber-rich when her enigmatic, now-famous childhood friend breezes back into her life begging for help with a dangerous stalker. As the main character dives into her former best friends past, she doesn't know who she can trust.

I think I was a little lost during this book as I didn't read or listen to the first one, but this was a nice, quick read that kept me engaged.