A Knife to Remember (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #5)

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable Cozy Mystery.......2007-10-10

Jane Jeffry, Shelley Nowack, and the rest of their neighbors are thrilled that a Hollywood movie is being filmed in the field behind their houses. Initially they enjoy meeting actors such as Lynette Harwell and George Abington as well as director Roberto Cavagnari. They also enjoy the glimpses into what goes on behind the scenes of a major movie. But Jane and Shelley soon find out the truth behind the glamour - Lynette is totally spoiled, thinking only of herself and not noticing or caring who she hurts as long as she gets her own way. So when property master Jake Elder is murdered, Lynette barely seems to notice. But Jane does - her boyfriend Detective Mel VanDyne is in charge of the murder investigation and unless he solves the case quickly, he won't be able to go away for the weekend with Jane. So Jane, with Shelley's help, begins to question the actors and others on the set, not only to solve the murder but also to find out who trashed her kitchen. And when there is a second murder, and Jane is now a suspect, she has even more incentive to find the killer.

"A Knife to Remember" by Jill Churchill is a nicely done cozy mystery. The movie setting is a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from the other Jane Jeffry mysteries. The behind the scenes look into the movies was very interesting. The various actors and their personalities add a lot to the book, especially the spoiled Lynnette and the people working behind the scenes in the movie, notably nurse Maisie Valkenberg, Lynette's devoted helper Olive Longabach, and Jake's assistant Butch Kowalski. Jane is a fully developed character at this point in the series, ready to move into a deeper relationship with Mel yet still capable of being hurt when she finds out about yet another of her late husband's indiscretions. Her worries over how to tell her children she is going away for the weekend with Mel is well written and very believable. One of the things I like best about this series is how well Churchill captures the aspects of family life especially Jane's struggles as a single parent and in dealing with her children, especially Katie, who is struggling with her hormones. There's a delightful scene in the book where Katie and Jane put their differences aside and work together to make clothespin dolls. Scenes like that are what makes this series so enjoyable. The mystery itself is well plotted, with plenty of suspects and I love the way Churchill gives Jane a legitimate reason for investigating the murder. As often happens in this series, the scene where the killer is revealed reads like something out of an Agatha Christie mystery. Finally, the very end of the book is sure to make readers smile.

"A Knife to Remember" is a great cozy mystery.

Hollywood Hearsay, Fading Stars, Front Row Seats in Backyard Suburbs.......2006-10-09

A KNIFE TO REMEMBER provided a string of pleasant twists in the ending scenes, of which I had absolutely no clue, yet clues were clear and present. My first thought was, "HOW could I have missed all those hints." The answer followed quickly even as the question formed. I hadn't missed the hints. They were blatantly bombed into the plot. But! They were leading me through a formalized labyrinth, long established by this genre and others like it.

I had been set up by a mystery master who is so subtle she's nearly translucent.

As the final scenes skipped down traveled paths of anticipated heroine heroics, the ruts became ravines, and I fell in. Somewhat dreading the same ole heel skidding, I was forced to join the heroine's steps into danger's footprints. Exactly where was I? (If Jane's feet were in the footprints?) I don't know, maybe I was floating on a darkening cloud over Jane's head. Mystery denouements are supposed to put readers on the edge of their seats (or feet) aren't they? This conclusion did one better. Mel was involved.

That said, allow me to skip to a place before the beginning of this novel, to the situation of my procurement of this book. That true story touches the essence of appeal of this series, and links the uniqueness of KNIFE into the set.

For my copy of this special offering (# 5) in this series, during a pilgrimage trip with my husband this September, from Colorado to Portland, OR, I found a used-paperback, first-printing, at Powell's City of Books. Powells is housed within a whole-city-block, old-warehouse-building, and that magical bookstore helped me continue putting one foot in front of the other when I lived in Portland, at a difficult time in my early adult years, as I was edging too close to "bag lady." Now Powell's has six stores in the Portland area, its own web site, and is a vendor here on Amazon.

One of my reasons for mentioning that particular first printing is that its cover art felt like a gift, exposing the transition of this series (as was the case also with Sue Grafton's Alphabet mysteries and many others) from back-list mystery to a hot enough seller to begin designing the book cover around the author's name, instead of using gorgeous "oil painting" cover art, which used to be a hallmark of mystery novels. The current cover design for the Jane Jeffry series is gorgeous, too, with the stylized "C" in Churchill and the miniature-logo type graphics around cute cats.

But, I wish you could see the explicit kitchen scene painted in "Still Life" grandeur on my copy of A KNIFE TO REMEMBER:

The devilish-eyed, thick-furred, calico cat with tiger stripes is the focus. He is appealingly perched on a planked, wood-topped table, paused beside a basket of crisp chartreuse apples, with their plump roundness radiating a yellow glow off the pale green. Edged in front of the cat is a tipped-over canister, white with a black-checker-board design circling the top and bottom. A good portion of the kitchen is depicted in yummy detail and oil-painting-lush color. The other 3 canisters are distributed on an undisturbed counter behind the cat, surrounded by 1940's style, beige-painted cabinets, and what appears to be an antique-styled stove, a coal or wood burning imitation, modernized into a gas range sporting a copper tea kettle atop a burner, and a fry pan hanging on the white-ceramic-tiled wall of the stove's alcove. A large vase of a graceful, yet homespun flower arrangement is perched cozily beside the cat's hind end as his lifted paw trails flour dust. Of course the spilled flour has designed itself into a stretched skull's head.

This realistically-stylized oil painting is framed with a thin, hot peach border, and posed on the paperback's cover like a window, large enough for a viewer to easily drool over each artistic detail, with the whole picture taking up maybe two-thirds of the face of the book. The rest of the cover is a pleasant, perky purple, edged at the top and bottom in a thin checkerboard done in yellowish-green tones.

This is a scene worthy of a movie studio, from the days when sets were designed with an all-out detail doing one better than reality.

Maybe it costs a lot to have an artist render an oil painting based on the theme of a novel, for use on a book cover. If so, then why do books written by best selling authors so often get taken out of the hands of such artists and put into a simple, though jazzy, design using mostly the letters of the author's name? Yeah, okay, some of the hot selling authors's books are graced with postage stamp, theme-related-graphics squeezed inside the dot of an "I" in a letter of their names.

When you get to be 58 years old you'll know what happens to the eyes ability to see miniaturized details.

I'm sorry, but I miss the high art of an oil painting of a scene, mood, or theme of a novel. One of the appeals of Carolyn Hart's Annie and Max series is that Annie's bookstore has a contest for artists who paint pictures of scenes in mysteries, and the winner of the contest successfully matches each painted scene with the mystery it depicts.

Something about those older oil painting book covers said to me, "Linda, you can live inside the covers of this book; this story, for a while, can become your home. Come into my house and feel welcome."

Am I crazy or what? No need to answer that.

And how does the above diatribe relate to this particular mystery in which Jane has a movie crew set up in her back yard? Actually, the connecting thread is stronger than I might have thought, as my mind wandered off the point, again.

The main appeal of Jane's world for me, and for many fans, it seems, is that most of the plots take place around Jane and Shelley's neighborhood. Opening up any of the books in this series is like stepping into a familiar and comfortable second home, with friends who are fun and feisty to be around, yet who make no demands upon the reader other than to translate the printed words into his mind.

As far as the particular mystery in this one, compared to the others I've read in this series (see my Listmania and reviews), I would say that KNIFE seems to slide along with absolutely no reading resistance. As the fifth book in the series, this storyline seems to come off the press of an author who has become one with her characters, setting, and style. The relationships of Jane, Shelley, and Mel have been percolating long enough through the first 4 books to have slipped into an established rhythm which allows their sleuthing to move ahead like room-temperature butter spread over white Wonder Bread.

Not only that, the plot's evolution around the making of a few scenes from a movie was delightfully done, providing interesting, realistic-feeling tidbits about that industry, giving enough detail without boring a mystery reader into a documentary he wasn't psyched up for.

Of course a documentary is good when it's in a documentary.

Jane's ways of dealing with her kids, pets, Mel, and Thelma, working them into this backyard movie studio deal, are typical Jane. She dances through her days, adjusting an arrangement here, tweaking a problem there, discovering and releasing a devastating secret about her deceased husband, strengthening her relationship with her kids, increasing Mel's respect for her various skills and assets, all in a few week's work maneuvering around a movie set.

Well done, Ms. Churchill. In A KNIFE TO REMEMBER, you've provided effortless entertainment with thought munchies available if a reader pauses to ponder after the lights fade and the director calls, "CUT"!

Linda Shelnutt

Puns don't carry a story.......2001-07-24

I bought this book on the strength of a hilarious and elegant quote. I was encouraged by the pun in the title, and hoped for an entertaining read. Disappointment - the plot was thin, the writing mostly pedestrian. Churchill's occasional flashes of wit don't make up for the general silliness.

Jane and Shelley.......2000-03-31

Jane Jeffrey does it again! Jane, Shelly and Mel once again kept me awake as I had to finish this book. Hollywood takes over the neighborhood and once again Jane is right in the middle of it all. Jane's storylines are great because they truly offer a good mystery but minus all the gore and violence. At the end of each book I truly miss my friends, Jane and Shelly until the next book comes out.

Great.......1999-06-10

this book was great. it was funny and very mysteriuos in times. i love it a lot. the whole series is great.

A Knife to Remember (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #5)

Average customer rating:

A Knife to Remember (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #5)
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GLJJ14

Grime & Punishment/The Class Menagerie/A Knife to Remember/Fear of Frying/The Merchant of Menace/The House of Seven Mabels/Bell, Book & Scandal (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13 & 14)

Average customer rating:

Grime & Punishment/The Class Menagerie/A Knife to Remember/Fear of Frying/The Merchant of Menace/The House of Seven Mabels/Bell, Book & Scandal (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13 & 14)
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Product Description

7 Titles By Jill Churchill Jane Jeffry Series : Grime and Punishment The Class Menagerie A Knife to Remember Fear of Frying The Merchant of Menace The House of Seven Mabels Bell, Book, and Scandal. seven mmpb books.

Average customer rating:

A Knife to Remember
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NV4H0K

Average customer rating:

A Knife to Remember
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000TD1GNS

A Knife to Remember (Jane Jeffry Mysteries (Paperback))

Average customer rating:

A Knife to Remember (Jane Jeffry Mysteries (Paperback))
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TNQ1K6

A Knife to Remember [Large Print] (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)

Average customer rating:

A Knife to Remember [Large Print] (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)
Jill Churchill
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1419330276

Book Description

Four worlds, four authors, four artists, one mythical beast. Experience in words and pictures the many faces of the dragons from the worlds of Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Magic: The Gathering, and Eberron. Featuring new novellas by R.A. Salvatore and Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman!

Customer Reviews:

Dragons: Worlds Afire.......2006-11-05

I've been a fan of the Forgotten Realms since the beginning and the main reason I purchased this book was for the short story by R.A. Salvatore. I wanted to add this story to my collection of Realms novels and stories.

The book itself is very nice; the artwork inside is elaborate, the one story I did read was very well put together with respect to the style and feel of the whole book and made for an entertaining and quick read.

If one enjoys the other worlds, and I know I'll get around to reading the other stories soon, this is very good book to have. It features long standing authors of the worlds: R.A. Salvatore for the Realms, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman for Dragonlance, Keith Baker, founder of Eberron, and Scott Mcgough of Magic: The Gathering. The overall design of the book, from cover to cover, is wonderful and should be included in any collection of shared world fiction.

I certainly appreciate the purchase.

Dragons Worlds Afire.......2006-08-31

This is a beautiful book with compelling stories. I was particularly taken by the last story in the book "Unnatural Predators by Scott McGough." The story draws the reader into a world of mystery and magic. The author injects sharp humor and sharper dialoge. A wonderful book to read and display.

Four stories, Four worlds, All solid editions........2006-06-18

Dragons: World Afire is a collaboration from Wizards of the Coast that has four novellas in it featuring stories from the four popular worlds of shared world fantasy books. These are; The Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Eberron, and Magic: The Gathering. All four novella feature stories involving dragons and the havoc they can cause. Wizards of the coast brought in some of the biggest names in each of the worlds to pen the stories. As well as some of the top fantasy artists as well to provide wonderful drawings of a dragon to start each story.

The stories are as follows:

#1- If They Ever Happen Upon My Lair by R.A. Salvatore (Forgotten Realms). This story is actually a prequel to Salvatore's latest book, Promise of the Witch-King. In this novel Salvatore explains one of the biggest questions that readers were left with after reading PotWK. Also, there is a scene in this novella that may be the single best description of a dragon I have ever read. It is a prime example of show don't tell and came across very well. The story itself is about average. While there is nothing overly special about it, it is still worth reading simply to answer one of the questions from PotWK. Fans of the Forgotten Realms and Salvatore will certainly understand this story.

#2 - Here Be Dragons {A Kender Tale} by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance). I will freely admit reading the Dragonlance Chronicles is what started me on my fantast obsession. This novella is classic Weis and Hickman. This tale centers on Tasslehoff Burrfoot and the situations he can quickly find himself in. There are several moments in this novel that will cause a chuckle and fans of the Chronicles will surely appreciate this tale. Of the four stories in the book I would rate this one as the best, but there may be some personal bias there as well.

#3- Principle of Fire by Keith Baker (Eberron). This is a tale of deceit and has a couple plot twists within the few pages of the novella. It also adds a good amount of detail to the dragons of Eberron and what they are thinking and why they have done some of the things they do. This novella also adds some questions to the readers mind, enough so that in future Eberron books the reader may pay closer attention to things. If you are a fan of Eberron books, this is a must read for you. Mr. Baker does a decent job of furthering the world of Eberron and adding more material for the reader.

#4 - Unnatural Predator by Scott McGoug (Magic: The Gathering). I need to also admit here, that I have never read a Magic: The Gathering novel before so I didn't really know what to expect from it. This novella seemed a bit on the long side to me. There appeared to be a couple instances where it could have been shortened and still relayed the information relevant to the story. The story itself is a decent story with a couple plot twists, but nothing really special. Of course this may be a very necessary story to Magic: The Gathering fans, but I can't comment on that having never read a novel in that world before. I did enjoy reading it however.

My overall comments of the book as a whole. This seems to be an attempt by Wizards of the Coast to encourage readers of one world to cross over and read other worlds as well. What better thing to encourage that than stories about dragons. If not for Amazon.com I would have been highly disappointed in the price of the book. It retails for $29.95, but with the Amazon.com sale I was able to get it for $19.77. This needs to be mentioned because I don't feel there was $29 worth of stories in this book. Four stories totaling 142 pages does not warrant a $29 price tag, which is more than hardcover editions of the latest books by Salvatore, and Weis & Hickman. This book is certainly a good looking book, well put together, with wonderful drawings and illustrations, but not for that amount of money.

The assortment of stories is this books strength. There is humor, history, intrigue, plot twists and countless other things. The five authors enlisted for this project were the right ones in my opinion and I enjoyed the vast majority of this book.

Overall I would recommend this book to many people, but if you have to pay full price for it, I would hold off and look elsewhere.

Average customer rating:

Dragons: Worlds Afire
R.A. Salvatore , Margaret Weis , Tracy Hickman , Keith Baker , and Scott Mcgough
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0786949767
Release Date: 2008-07-01

Book Description

Considered a classic in its field, this comprehensive guide will help survivors of sexual abuse improve their relationships and discover the joys of sexual intimacy. Wendy Maltz takes survivors step-by-step through the recovery process using groundbreaking exercises and techniques. Based on the author's clinical work, interviews, and workshops, this guide is filled with first-person accounts of women and men at every stage of sexual healing.

This compassionate resource helps survivors to:

Identify the sexual effects of sexual abuse
Eliminate negative sexual behavior and resolve specific problems
Gain control over upsetting automatic reactions to touch and sex
Develop a healthy sexual self-concept

Customer Reviews:

It Speaks to Me........2007-08-16

This book was not easy to read.
However. Over and over again it phrased things in the perfect way. I can only read it a few pages at a time. I'm only halfway through, and I'm still inching along. When I'm ready to see, ready to learn, ready to be moved, I read this book.

It's wonderful accompanyment to "Courage to Heal" it takes a much more straightforward approach, and is more heartbreaking to read.

What I like about it is that there is a LOT of work that a single person can do in there. It's not dependent on being in a romantic relationship.

Exc ellent Practical Guide.......2007-08-13

This book is a very practical easy to read step by step process to help recover from abuse. My partner is currently reading it and I have read "Allies in Healing" which is a great supplement for this book if you're in a relationship trying to cope with this type of recovery. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to acknowledge the problem and improve their relationship.

Knowing your not alone.......2007-01-19

This book helps any survivor realize that they are not alone in this healing journey. There are plenty of actual accounts of survivors and their stories. Along with lists that help connect the dots with our current behaviors and the past. Eye opening and soul serching this book is a life saver.

Great resource.......2006-03-23

I felt that this book effectively serves two purposes. First, it is an outstanding resource for survivors of sexual abuse and their partners to feel that they are not alone in their struggles and experiences. Second, as a clinician, this book gave me great insight to the experience of a sexual abuse survivor and gave me direction to use with clients who are survivors. After I finished reading it I loaned it to a client right away. Her response to reading it was as positive as mine.

Very Good and hard to find material.......2002-07-28

It's hard to find actual exercises for you and your partner like in this book. They work even if you figured out a few on your own, it's nice to know why they work so well. It's also good to hear the male side, I wasn't really sure how many men had been abused before, now I know. It's too bad more of us don't talk about it in the open we talk about everything else!

I did not like the exercise about remembering your sexual identity before the abuse started, for some of us that was when we were just out of diapers. I can't even remember much before age nine let alone what sexual identity I had if any. It's better to work with what you are now. I would have liked more stories with the man and the woman, I guess I can find more in other books but this book is very unusual and a "must read".

Average customer rating:
THE SEXUAL HEALING JOURNEY a Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
WENDY MALTZ
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J52FXQ

Average customer rating:
The Sexual Healing Journey, A Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Wendy Maltz
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GR1VN2

Average customer rating:
The Sexual Healing Journey: A Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Wendy Maltz
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQ9Q6

Book Description

A Cafecito Story is a story of love, coffee, birds and hope. It is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds.
Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best. The challenge of producing coffee is a remarkable test of our ability to live more sustainably, caring for the land, growers, and consumers in an enlightened and just way. Written with Julia Alvarez's deft touch, this is a story that stimulates while it comforts, waking the mind and warming the soul like the first cup of morning coffee. Indeed, this story is best read with a strong cup of organic, shade-grown, fresh-brewed coffee.

Customer Reviews:

One of Those Amazing Little Book Finds Discovered Unexpectedly Between Two Behemoth Titles on the Shelf.......2007-05-20

While perusing an independent bookstore in Pasadena, CA, I discovered *A Cafecito Story* in between two giant tomes of little interest; but somehow, this slime volume caught my eye and then my interest as I read the back cover and flipped through the book to see the wonderful woodcuts by Belkis Ramírez.

This is the simple story of Joe, the son of a farmer in Nebraska. Disaffected by the direction of farming as the corporations buy up family farms - including his families when his father is forced to sell a large part of the land to pay the bills - and the ruin this brings to the local economies, Joe decides farming is not for him. He moves to the city, marries a city girl, becomes a teacher, divorces the city girl, and at 40 finds himself near burnout and realizing that he can't even enjoy a cup of coffee. So, he decides to take a vacation.

His travels and budget land him at a resort in the Dominican Republic; but, soon he is bored with sitting by the pool and the sterility of resort protected behind walls and guards from the population of the land. At the recommendation of one of the resort's employees, Joe visits the mountains and the coffee farm of the employee's relative. Here is where Joe's life changes forever.

This semi-autobiographical novella by Julia Alvarez (writer-in-residence at Middlebury College and who was born in the Domincan Republic) is a metaphor for the discovery that the author and her husband made while visiting the place of her birth. It is also the story of how people can change the way things are done for the better and in the course of it all begin to change the world. If you are familiar with the concept of Fair Trade in the world of coffee and chocolate and the like, you will really enjoy this look at some of the movement's roots - if you aren't familiar, this book will open your eyes.

A Cafecito Story.......2007-01-10

Delightful, charming story, based on a true, organic, working coffee farm in the Dominican Republic. Illustrations are delightful and enhance the story and the imagination!

A Cafecito Story by Julia Alvarez.......2007-01-10

Beautifully written & illustrated! A little disappointment: I bought this as a gift and there was a small knife slit in the paper cover. I taped it over & hoped my daughter won't notice. Please, be more careful in handling. Thank you. Kathryn Russell

Coffee and love .......2005-12-08

This short work, is the story of coffee, "a social beverage that bridges nations and unites people in trade, in words, in birds, and in love . . . through the eyes of Joe, a man with farming in his blood but an increasing sense of dislacement from the natural world."

Joe is the son of Nebraska farmers. He loves to farm, the small farms go under, and he winds up teaching, though he still yearns for a connection with nature. Then, he takes a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Escaping the gated resort where he is staying, he goes into the mountains and discovers coffee and the coffee growers. They, too, are threatened by agribusiness, companies that spray the coffee with veneno (poison).

Joe buys a parcel of land, and, with another grower, forms a cooperative. Others join them. But they do more than grow coffee the "old-fashioned" way. They promote literacy, and sustainability.

There is also a love story here, not, they are careful to say, the story of Alvarez and her husband, but I think there is something of them in Joe and "the woman behind the counter".

There is an afterword by Bill Eichner about their coffee farm, as well as a list of resources.

The woodcuts by Dominican artist Belkis Ramírez are wonderful. I especially like the one of "the woman behind the counter", as she sits with the steam from the coffee rising, and her hair, flowing out and upwards, has visions of a coffee farm in its curls.

Praise for Alvarez.......2005-06-01

I picked this book up purley by chance. It was on a featured book table at my local library. I don't normaly real a lot of fiction but something made me check it out. I brought it home and started reading it the next morning while having my morning coffee. Theres something in the author's writing style that just makes you want to read more and more. I will most deffinently be purchasing this book and cherishing it forever. Thank you Julia Alvarez!

El Cuento Del Cafecito / A Cafecito Story (Best Seller)

Average customer rating:

El Cuento Del Cafecito / A Cafecito Story (Best Seller)
Julia Alvarez
Manufacturer: Random House Mondadori
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books