When mystery author Charlee goes to Portland for a writer's conference, she gets involved in a whole lot more than she signed up for: a kidnapping, a dog agility competition, an admirer with a very famous name, and she gets roped into running the conference that seems cursed. This is a well-paced story with no shortage of suspects and suspicious events. I missed a couple of the characters from the first book, but this one has a nice variety of interesting characters to meet. I was pretty shocked by the reveal of the culprit(s), and you may be, too. Though it took me a couple chapters to really get drawn into the story, the second Mystery Writer's Mystery didn't disappoint! The only real problem I had with this book is that all words with "ff", "fi", "fl" were missing those letters, making it a little difficult for me to figure out some of the words. Like "coee" was coffee, "dicult" was difficult, etc.

This can easily be read as a standalone, but if you read this book first and enjoy it, you'll want to read Fiction Can Be Murder.

I received an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

This is the 2nd book in the Mystery Writer's Mystery series and is a fun low-key cozy mystery. There isn't any gore or too much suspense. Charlee is a published mystery author and is invited to be a presenter at a Writer's Conference. The hotel was double booked with writers and dog breeders which makes it fun. The convention coordinator is a friend of Charlee's and her daughter has been kidnapped. But has she been kidnapped or has she run away? The culprit is a surprise until the end. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

Foul Play on Words sounded right up my alley. A mystery-writer protagonist attending a book conference--what more could I want? The main character, Charlee, takes charge of the convention to help out the organizer, a friend whose daughter has been kidnapped. Along the way, Charlee tries to investigate the crime, but she goes about it in a sort of scatterbrained way that doesn't make much sense. By the time it turned out that a dog agility convention was booked at the same hotel as the conference and that dogs would periodically start navigating obstacles in random places, it had become clear that this particular cozy was going to be an overdose of coziness for me. Charlee interacts with a bunch of the requisite zany supporting characters, including a guy named Brad Pitt and a police officer named named Gene Kelly (!). It's all in good fun, but the silliness was a bit much for me, and the steps of Charlee's investigation seemed too random.
My review copy was flawed in that it was missing a bunch of letter combinations throughout: "ff," "fl," and "fi" were all absent in a way that was enormously distracting. It took me forever to nish the book because of the constant temptation to ing it o the balcony or into the replace. Publisher, please x it before more readers suer.

This book was not what I expected. It just did not hold my attention. I may have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous book.

Charlee Russo agrees to present at a writers conference her friend Viv is hosting. But when she arrives to find that Viv’s daughter has been kidnapped, Charlee agrees to help run the conference before finally agreeing to help Viv figure out who has her daughter and why.

With the hotel conference space double booked with a dog agility show, the firing of the chef who was supposed to cater the event, and zero instructions, the whole even seems to be going to the dogs. Charlee has to wonder if she might not have been wise to just have turned around and hopped back on the plane home. But friends help friends and she wants to help Viv and her daughter.

While Charlee keeps trying to get Viv to call the police, she cannot get her to move on this as the kidnappers clearly said not to call the police. When the kidnapers ask for ransom, they threaten to kill one conference attendee every hour that passes beyond the deadline. Charlee eventually calls the police herself and is threatened with a visit from the police when they tell her she has no evidence or proof of a kidnapping. But eventually Charlee has it figured out and she sets the trap for the kidnapper and finds the tables turned on her. Will the conference attendees notice she is missing and send help before it’s too late? This is one mystery that you’ll see you had all of the clues laid out, but just hadn’t made the connection earlier.

I read the first book and wavered on the series, but wanted to see how the second book panned out and I am glad I idd. The writing is humorous and Charlee is just as hapless as the rest of us, making her relatable and the writing enjoyable. Looking forward to the next entry in the series.

Foul Play on Words by Becky Clark was an entertaining mystery with a strong plot that is supported by strong characters. This was a funny mystery, filled with great one liners. There where spots where I did not always follow Charlee's logic or reasoning. If you love delightful mysteries try giving this one a whirl.

Charlee Russo is coerced into helping her friend Viv with a writers conference. When she arrives, Viv announces that her daughter has been kidnapped and beside assisting with the conference, Charlee has to find Viv's daughter. A crazy set of circumstances ensues. I am glad I was not attending this conference, although the book was very funny.

A review is scheduled to be posted on www.MapYourMystery.com on January 2, 2019

I'm not sure why this book too me as long as it did to finish. The story was good and the mystery wasn't what I was thinking at first. I was a little confused by Charlee's reasoning. I look forward to the next book in this series!

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

I didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. The plot started strong but I felt a bit let down in most places. I wondered if, because this is book two, I needed to read the first book to feel I knew the characters.

One of the most enjoyable books I have had the pleasure to read! Engaging characters, a plot that reels you in from the first page, and a gripping mystery. With all these ingredients, this is absolutely a book you will want to read again and again.

Charlee has agreed to speak at a writers' conference her friend Viv has organised. Unfortunately when she arrives, she discovers that Viv's daughter has been kidnapped and the conference is beset by disasters from all sides.

This started full of humour and potential. Unfortunately the characters fell a little bit flat and felt a bit like caricatures in places (especially Brad Pitt and his womanising ways). It could have done with a little more development of the plot and relationships between characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced review copy

Foul Play on Words by Becky Clark started with some funny one-liners, but then it began to try too hard to continue to be funny, and it came off as a bit juvenile. The dialogue lacked believability and depth. Charlee, the main character, comes across as brash in her dealings with people she encounters at the hotel and writer’s conference.

Unfortunately, most of the characters were one dimensional, the plot and mystery outcome rather comical (and not in a good way). The only redeeming qualities were the dogs and the dog show in the storyline.