The Walled Flower (Victoria Square Mystery)

I liked it! There are several reviews re-capping the book, so I will comment on why I liked it, rather than what happened. The author really developed the charachters in this book, and she did it well. Probably one of the main reasons I like books in a series because I already know the charachters, and when an author further develops them, it adds to the overall enjoyment of the entire series. 5 stars

I also liked that the book didn't "slow." With so much going on, it makes for a lively, fast paced, fast moving story. This is another thing that I like - when an author is able to add events, people, etc, it keeps the reader moving and makes the book much more interesting. Bartlett does not ramble on and on about the same event through the entire middle of the book - I thought she did a great job keeping the main charachter juggling a million events - much more real life, and keeps it interesting! 5 stars

Loved the plot, and how the town, businesses, people and buildings were included, along with "old history." New charachters were added, old ones included, and the author does this beautifully - seamlessly. She keeps you guessing right to the end. I can't wait for the next installment in this series! 5 stars

Katie Bonner's dream has always been to own the western New York Webster mansion and convert it into a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, her late husband chose instead to invest all of their money into the ever-struggling Artisan Alley, where vendors sell their craft-related goods out of booths in a converted warehouse. So when the new owners of the mansion offer Kate a chance to swing a sledgehammer at a wall they're tearing down, she is more than happy to let loose with a little repressed frustration and resentment. However, she definitely didn't expect that her demo would reveal a rotting corpse who may be the niece of one of Artisan Alley's vendors and who disappeared over twenty years earlier.

Rose Nash begs Katie's help in finding out who sealed the young girl in the wall (since Katie was so successful in solving a murder before in a Crafty Killing), and Katie is unable to refuse despite the fact that she has more than enough to keep her busy. Between keeping Artisan Alley in the black, finding a new apartment to rent, figuring out why there has been a sudden upswing in shoplifting, and somehow getting corralled into being a matron of honor for a last-minute wedding, Katie barely has time to question the friends who were once close to the victim and now have every reason to continue killing to keep their secrets.

The author of several mystery series under the name L.J. Bartlett and Lorna Barrett, Bartlett continues to show her skills at crafting complex plots and very likeable, realistic characters. Katie has a delightful voice, neither too cynical nor too cute but entirely relatable. Katie is more of a businesswoman than a crafter, and she must negotiate between the disputes of feuding vendors while trying to attract new customers. Katie also finds that her pizza parlor owning boyfriend barely has time to meet her for a shared pizza as he expands his business and renovates an apartment he refuses to rent out Katie, preferring that she instead move in with him. Katie never gives up, though, and she soon discovers that young Heather Winston was anything but a good girl. This is a surprisingly serious cozy mystery with a strong protagonist and an even stronger plot.

Katie Bonner puts her envy behind her and welcomes Janice and Toby Ryan to the group of merchants in Victoria Square. The Ryans are renovating an old mansion into a Bed and Breakfast, which was Katie had longed to do before her late husband used the money they had saved for the purchase of the home to invest in Artisan's Alley, a craft marketplace.

However, the new owners of the mansion are in for a shock when the renovation process uncovers a skeleton hidden in one of the walls. When the skeleton is identified as belonging to the niece of Katie's friend Rose, Katie gives into Rose's plea to look into the murder. Katie is already overloaded with work, but she can't turn her friend down and soon is embroiled in the age-old murder mystery that seems to be hitting someone a little too close to home.

Katie is a character with too much on her plate. She is still struggling to learn to manage Artisan's Alley and deal with issues between some of the crafters, and now is not only a reluctant matron of honor for an acquaintance, but also a reluctant detective. I think most of us can relate to Katie. She wants to help others, so she takes on more and more and then complains when she starts feeling overwhelmed. However, reading about it can get a little old, and I wish she would learn to "Just Say No." However, once Katie commits to something, she gives it her all, whether it's keeping the craft mall running smoothly, planning a last minute bridal shower, or questioning suspects to get to the truth about Heather's murder.

Katie's relationship with pizza chef Andy Rust is a major part of the book, and normally I love a little romance mixed in with my mysteries. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about Andy. I don't know if this is the way the author has intended to portray Andy, but to me he comes across somewhat pushy and arrogant taking advantage of Katie's difficulty finding a new apartment to convince her to move in with him. At other times, he just seems clueless and I wonder how much he really cares about Katie. For every nice thing he does, he turns around and does something completely thoughtless. He is a hard-worker, but to the point of being a workaholic and never seems to be around for Katie's adventures in detecting. Maybe I have misread Andy, but I'm not sure he's the right match for Katie.

I think this series has promise. The mystery of Heather's disappearance and murder is interesting and Katie is a thorough investigator. I enjoy reading about the day-to-day operation of the craft mall. There are a variety of represented and different types of characters, which adds to the appeal of the book. I'm a little surprised that while the book takes place at a craft mall, there are no detailed projects included. However, there are a couple of recipes that tie back to the story at the end of the book. There is room for improvement in the characters, but I care about them enough to be curious what lies ahead for Katie, her relationship with Andy, the craft mall, as well as Katie's dream of owning a bed and breakfast. Fans of Laura Childs or Margaret Grace will enjoy the setting, Katie's determination, and the assorted crafters that make up the cast of characters in this series.

This review was originally written for The Season EZine. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Katie, the main character, has a bad personality, puts up with very bad treatment from her boyfriend, and allows the author to show how judgy she is. This book is unpleasant. The plot/murder is fine, and if that's all you are looking for, the rest may not bother you.

I enjoyed this because the heroine is always the winner. She has a large support group who are always willing to help out. Of course, there is the antagonist who makes life difficult. I really enjoyed it.

Loved how this book developed and can't wait until book 3 is out. It will make you hungry for some pizza though!

Let me start by saying that Lorraine Bartlett is one of my fave cozy writers. I enjoy her characters because they are believable as is the relationships between most of the characters.
Another reason why I enjoy this particular series is because I'm an artsy crafts type of a person. The Artisan's Alley that is run by the main character, Katie Bonner, is one that I can visualize myself walking through...not to mention purchasing many of the goods sold in it.

Now for the story. Katie Bonner and her,now deceased husband, Chad , had wanted to purchase the Webster Mansion and turn it into a bed & breakfast. Unfortunately, Chad took that money and put it towards Artisans Alley. That's where Katie's heartbreak began. I could feel her heartbreak as she yearned to find a way to purchase that property although she barely had enough to get out of the debt Artisans alley had put her in.
The problems I had with Katie was in her not standing up to Polly. Polly was an over the top bully who rented space in Artisans Alley. Her antics were so unacceptable but even more unacceptable to me as the reader was that Katie, who was the owner and manager of Artisans Alley, never actually stood up to Polly until the very end of the story. That did not balance out for me since it was part of her responsibility as the owner/manager of Artisans Alley to keep the atmosphere as pleasant as possible...not to mention the obvious child abuse towards Hannah/Polly's grand-daughter.
The 2nd problem I had was Katie being dumped on by Gilda who wanted the "works" for her up and coming wedding...but to be provided by Katie. Right then and there Katie could have limited herself as to what she could and could not do. But...Katie kept her mouth shut and took on everything gilda dealt out to her. I felt that Katie should have opened her mouth and just stated that to Gilda and let Gilda be responsible for herself. In my opinion, this whimpy decision on Katie's part did nothing to develop the type of character an owner/manager of Artisans Alley would actually measure up to be.
I did enjoy the comradery developed by Katie in coming to Rose's rescue regarding the murder of her niece, Heather Winston. This entire story has it's focus on the discovery of Heather's skeleton walled up in the Webster mansion and how it came to
be there. This was the most intriguing part of the story and the author did a tremendous job at developing it as the clues kept coming. The searching for answers as Katie unveiled the past in the victim's life kept me reading and enjoying every minute of it.
(If I had my was in the next book in the Victorian Square series I would find a way for Katie to make her dreams come true and become the owner of the Webster mansion...but I'm only the reader not the author).
I appreciate this author/Lorraine Bartlett and read all of her series'. I would recommend this book to any cozy read and this author.
Ellen

This is the second book in Lorraine Bartlett's Victorian Square Mystery series, and it is a series that just keeps getting better and better! I really feel for the main protagonist Katie, a widow with so much on her plate, struggling to keep Artisans Alley afloat while aching to own the Webster mansion. In this book she's also desperate to find a new place to live, questioning her boyfriend's reasoning behind not letting her live above his pizza restaurant, dealing with the pressure of being a matron of honor and organizing a bridal shower, PLUS solve a murder or two!!! And I must commend Katie on her patience...Polly and Gilda would've been shown the door immediately if I were her!

The secondary characters in the series also shined in this book, especially sweet Rose. I love her friendship with Katie despite their age difference and hope to see more of her in future books. Katie's romance with Andy is a joy to read as well, and I find it cute how sick she is of pizza. (Never had that problem myself.) It will be fun to see Andy's cinnamon roll business take off. Heather was an extremely strong character even though we "met" her 22 years after her death.

This is definitely a page-turner with many twists and turns, and I enjoyed the revelations as to why the victims were killed. I can't wait to spend time with these characters again.

I very much enjoyed this book. I like "lightweight" mysteries and this served me well. This is a book that I would recommend to people who don't want to read about a bunch of "gorey" details! I look forward to reading another from this series!

I enjoy the clean content of these books. The story and general idea of the book was good. The story was a bit slow moving, though.I felt there was too much explaining about personal involvement.