I was given a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Agnes gets dumped by her college professor boyfriend for a Pilates instructor and loses her apartment and Prius in the bargain. Forced to move in with her dad and his housekeeper (or girlfriend - it's hard to tell), she accepts a job with her Aunt Effie to help fix up the dump that Aunt Effie has decided to turn into a 4-star hotel. However, now that bodies are dropping like flies, and she and Effie are the prime suspects, she doesn't have time for house remodeling since she trying to keep them both out of jail!

I loved this first book in the series - Agnes, Effie, Cousin Chester, and Otis are all amazing, and I can't wait to read more of this series!

I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining.

A very relatable story that had me chuckling a few times. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more from this author.

Who is Agnes Blythe you may ask… We learn all about her right at the beginning as she gives us her life's history. Oh my goodness, Aunt Effie is as crazy as a loon I think. The things she says and does do nothing to inspire any confidence in me. Poor Agnes, being stuck with her and her cousin Chester, helping to fix up the Stagecoach Inn had me just shaking my head. Who is Paul? How does Otis get mixed up in everything? This was an unexpected Mystery. It was a lot of fun to read. Be warned that things get super crazy in this story!

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

After Agnes Blythe puts Roger her professor boyfriend through grad school, he dumps her for a yoga instructor. She stomps out of their apartment, without her purse or packing any of her belongings. She's now stuck living with her dad, sleeping in her childhood princess bedroom, and wearing clothes that she wore in high school ten years ago. Then at the library she insults Kathleen Todd, chair of the local historical society. What now? Maybe she'll help her Great Aunt Effie clean out the condemned inn she inherited. Effie only has one week to bring the wiring up to code. Kathleen Todd had blackmailed the local inspector to set a deadline for demolishing the inn, since she wasn't able to buy the inn before Effie inherited. Kathleen remains a troublemaker after Agnes and Effie find her, strangled by her own scarf where it was caught in the wringer of an old washing machine.

Rumors start flying that Agnes and Effie killed the woman. Agnes is smart enough to realize that the killer started the rumors. With Effie's encouragement, Agnes finds her spirit of adventure, and the duo launches their own investigation. One-by-one the people they suspect are being killed. And Effie and Agnes are on the scene to find each body.

The rumors, bodies, and crimes all pile up in mystery. Agnes and Effie are only responsible for some of those. Bad Housekeeping is a funny mystery with a great cast of characters. I got an ARC from netgalley and crooked lane books.

So relatable and made me chuckle a few times. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more.

I enjoyed Maia Chance's series starter, which features recently jilted Agnes helping her eccentric aunt to turn a crumbling building into a thriving inn. Unfortunately, a murder might ruin all their plans - and put her aunt in jail. Agnes is a great character, who is striving to rebuild her life, only to find herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Her levelheadedness mixes with Effie's outrageous behavior to great effect.

The trouble that Agnes's Great Aunt Effie gets her into is amazing. Breaking up with her fiancé wasn't bad enough, now she's being looked at by the police for a murder.
Goodreads

Bad Housekeeping

by Maia Chance

Bad Housekeeping is a fairly typical cozy mystery that will keep you laughing and shaking your head in dismay as Agnes, recently dumped by her professor boyfriend, and Effie, her quirky great aunt, drive from adventure to misadventure in a “borrowed” Cadillac. This is a fun read, not intended to shake your world or be a realistic portrayal of anything. It is a great diversion as a summer beach read or a session curled up on the couch.

Agnes, freshly returned to her Dad’s home, has literally the clothes on her back. Effie gives her a job helping save the condemned Stagecoach Inn. Agnes stumbles over a body at the inn, precipitating a murder investigation and leading to the uncovering of lots of personal secrets in the little town of Naneda.

The plot clips along at a good pace with some twists and turns as the story develops. The characters are predictable in a comfortable sort of way with a stuffy ex-fiancé and an old high school flame with boy-next-door kind of appeal. The police hover in the background, but all of the successful investigation is done by Agnes. While this book is not destined for number one on the New York Times best seller list, it will provide a good afternoon’s entertainment.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #1 in the new Agnes and Effie Mystery Series

Publication: June 13, 2017—Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

Maybe salvaging a wreck of a building is a metaphor for salvaging the wreckage of our own lives. It’s like we’re telling ourselves, See? It can be done. It’s never too late. I’m not sure if it’s tragic or inspirational.

I tried not to notice Otis’s tanned biceps. Yes, I know, women may have evolved to be attracted to muscles as a way to select mates with better survival odds. But this is the twenty-first century. The wise thing these days is to find a little nerd like Bill Gates if you’re interested in survival odds.

“I cannot believe you’re wearing poor little dead animals,” I said. “It’s vintage, darling. Vintage fur doesn’t count. These little animals have been dead since the Nixon administration.”

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Talk about an odd couple. Agnes is 28, recently dumped by her fiancé and feeling uncertain about her future and her looks. Effie is a senior but gorgeous and full of self confidence. She is Agnes' great aunt and is determined to bring a condemned hotel back to glory before the wreckers tear it down. No one thinks she should especially a nasty bully who ends up dead in the hotel.
Of course, Effie and Agnes are suspects and the rumour mill has them tried and convicted within hours. It is going to take some doing to figure out what is going on and who really murdered the victim. Secrets and drugs and all sorts of nefarious things make life challenging for our intrepid two.
I wasn't sure how much I was going to like them at first but as I got into the book they grew on me. Effie is definitely off the wall but somehow it works. I enjoyed it well enough to give it four purrs and two paws up.

What a funny, quirky new series. I loved all the characters especially Agnes and her great aunt Effie. I have not read books by Maia Chance before, but I have to say I'm an instant fan. It has been a while since I enjoyed a cosy mystery as much as this one.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved it yes it was a well thought mystery and it was actually well thought out but it was hilarious form beginning to end. You couldn't ask for great characters, setting and mystery all rolled into one

Bad Housekeeping is the story of Agnus and her Great Aunt Effie (who always forgets to add the great part when introducing herself). Agnus has been dumped by her boyfriend and Effie has returned to town to claim a condemed inn that was willed to her. Agnus decides to work for Effie but on her first day she comes across the dead body of Kathleen Todd, town historian. Both Agnus and Effie had confrontations with Kathleen in the past 24 hours and become the prime suspects. They then decide to clear their names on their own. I hope this is the start of a new long running series!! A fun read!!

Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance is the first book in the Agnes & Effie Mystery series. Agnes is suddenly dumped by her boyfriend and finds her well planned life up in the air. When her eccentric great aunt arrives in town with plans to makeover the Stagecoach Inn, Agnes reluctantly agrees to help. When the most outspoken opponent of the inn is found dead on the property, Agnes and Effie must solve the mystery to save the inn and themselves. I enjoyed this book from the start. Agnes and Effie are hilarious, and the story is full of action. The characters are a bit unusual, which made them even better. I loved this book and look forward to the next one in the series!

Poor Agnes is dumped by her boyfriend Roger and then unable to find employment decides to work for her great aunt Effie. They are attempting to convert a Victorian home into a bed-and-breakfast but get mixed up in a murder right after Agnes has it out with the victim. One of the things that I liked about this story was the way Agnes grew as a character. Some of her clothing choices were not so good though. Mia Chance's mystery was funny, enjoyable read.

I am a fan of Maia Chance’s Discreet Retrieval Agency mysteries so when I saw that she was releasing the first book in a new series I was excited to read it. And I’m glad I did. Her contemporary tale was every bit as funny and satisfying as her prohibition era books. In Bad Housekeeping, An Aggie and Effie Mystery, 28 year old AgnesBlythe finds herself dumped by her college professor boyfriend. After putting him through graduate school, not only is he welching on his promise to do the same for her but he’s also taken up with a trim, younger pilates instructor. As the final insult Agnes discovers that her ex-boyfriend has been assigned to her as her graduate school advisor. Homeless, carless and jobless Agnes is forced to move back in with her father. She decides to wait a semester before starting grad school but now she needs a job. And her Aunt Effie just happens to need an assistant to help her renovate the condemned inn she’s inherited. Although Agnes and Effie have never been the best of friends, Aggie finds she doesn’t have much choice. And when Historical Society head Kathleen Todd is found murdered at the inn and Aggie and Effie have both recently had public disagreements with the abrasive woman, they are forced to learn to work together to save themselves from jail. Bad Housekeeping is a twisty, unpredictable mystery with plenty of humor. It’s a really fun read and sure to leave you with a smile.

Dumped by her longtime live-in boyfriend, Agnes Blythe is back in Naneda at her father's house. Her great-aunt Effie shows up to complicate matters, and before the reader can blink, Agnes and Effie are wildly chasing possible leads all over town, both starting and dodging rumors about who could have killed one of town's most powerful women.

Language and situations kept this from being a book I would recommend,although I did find myself caring about the characters. I have to admit, I truly did want to know more about Agnes, Roger, Otis, Effie, and even the mayor and the housekeeper.

Other things I found to like in the book:it seemed almost ALL the characters in this town were quirky. There were several laughs at the author's ability to turn a descriptive phrase. Action abounded.

Things I didn't like, besides language and situations, had to do with inability to suspend disbelief. One issue that was "solved" just didn't have enough supporting evidence in the book why that character would have a desire to act in such a manner. I found another somewhat major solution just implausible given the set-up.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. I am freely leaving a review, for whose contents I am solely responsible.

What I Didn't Like:
Agnes drove me crazy for the first 2/3 of the book! The fact that she left the apartment she shared with her boyfriend with NOTHING and didn't really seem worried about getting in back even though she had access to no clothes that fit her, her cell phone charger, or her money and identification just seemed insane. Her ex-boyfriend is beyond a jerk yet she seems to think they're getting back together. She doesn't want a lawyer even though she's a person of interest in a murder. Really the list of bad decisions goes on and on.

The majority of the characters act like they're in high school. There's a whole lot of eye rolling and while I don't remember if the characters actually say "duh" they might as well. Insults like loser and dork abound.

They hide information from the police. I get not sharing that Effie is sleeping in the inn but maybe you should let the detective know after you have a violent run in with a psychopath who proceeds to stalk you and attack you.

There's a LOT going on - so much so that the end felt a bit convoluted. A lot is setup for the series itself but there are also a lot of potential suspects and motives and it gets a little chaotic.

What I Did Like:
Aunt Effie is pretty awesome. She's gorgeous, chic and doesn't care in the slightest what people think.

While a little convoluted the mystery is well done. The ending makes sense and the reveal was a surprise.

Maia Chance's writing style just pulls me in even when I was rolling my eyes over Agnes' antics. She makes this a fun and breezy read even when the characters were driving me crazy.

In the last third Agnes kind of finds her people and the beginnings of a backbone seem to be developing. I'm hopeful for the future.

Overall:
While I didn't love this one I really think there's a lot of potential for a great series. Agnes and Effie really are fun together and Maia Chance is such an entertaining author. While I did rate this as Just Okay this isn't a series I'm giving up on and I think book #2 will get much higher ratings.

Author Maia Chance has an excellent sense of humor, and she's concocted many wonderful one-liners that she's peppered throughout Bad Housekeeping. Unfortunately, I found those one-liners to be the best part of the book, along with what little there was of renovating the old inn. First, there's the problem of the mystery-- I knew the identity of the killer the first time the character was introduced. Since that person was introduced within the first few pages, I was reading for the characters and setting alone.

The setting was good, so that leaves the characters. Effie was an extremely well-paid model in her youth. She's now in her seventies and looks decades younger, which is strange because she smokes like the proverbial chimney, and it's a well-known fact that heavy smoking is far from kind to a person's looks. Effie is also supposed to be colorful and eccentric, but I found her to be self-absorbed and annoying. So... what about the other main character?

The book is told from the point of view of Agnes, and I found her to be monumentally immature for her age. Agnes has scarcely any money, yet when--through an accident aided by her ex-fiance-- all her clothing, her contact lenses, all her identification, and her wallet wind up at Goodwill, she can't be bothered to go through the donations to find any of her stuff. Instead-- since she's living at home with her father-- she's wearing her too-small wardrobe from high school.

Self-absorbed and immature do not a good crime-solving duo make. At least in my book. Bad Housekeeping definitely was not my cup of tea, but your mileage may certainly vary.

BAD HOUSEKEEPING was an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next title in this series to see how author Mia Chance fleshes out and grows her characters. Truly a good start to a new series.
This was a rushed but heart felt review. I did like the book, and the writing of Mia Chance.