Smith, Barbara Burnett Books

Bead on Trouble (Kitzi Camden Mysteries, No. 1)

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $6.99 By: Berkley Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

fun and light read 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

certainly not the most riveting "who done it", but if you are a beader you will enjoy the setting. Perfect for early morning light commuter reading. I enjoyed it, although it promises a bead pattern and that for me was a disappointment when I saw what it was for. I'd certainly say give it a read if you are interested in beading and the beading community.

Beading with a twist 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have yet to read a Barbara Burnett Smith book that I haven't totally enjoyed. The beading element just added to the book as I am a beader too.

Bead on Trouble is a Gem!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book started out slow, but it soon took off and never stopped!! I ended up loving it! It was a great read, good mystery and even better if you are a beader! It had lots of twists and turns, and very interesting characters!!! I finished wanting a second Kitzi mystery to get into immediately. I hope I don't have to wait long for a second in the series!! Keep them coming, PLEASE Barbara!!!!!!!!

Editorial Review:

Meet Kitzi Camden, former stateswoman. When she retired, Kitzi dreamed of doing what she loves best--beading. She certainly didn't plan to try her hand at amateur sleuthing. But lately, trouble seems to find her wherever she goes--even deep into the woods.

When a young beader is killed at a beading retreat, Kitzi is faced with almost as many suspects as there are beads in her bag.

Beads of Doubt (Kitzi Camden Mysteries, No. 2)

Barbara Burnett Smith, Karen MacInerney

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Berkley Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I have read the author's previous book so I was very excited about her second book. What a letdown. My understanding was Ms. Smith wrote the ovarian plot because of her sister's death. The problem is the book concentrates more on the cancer and Kitzi's friend's terminal illness than with the mystery plot. Also, there are paragraphs of medical terminoloy related to ovarian cancer and such simplistic comments by the character Kitzi as "this cancer is horrible and we must find a cure!" Duh! I think the reader realizes that and doesn't need to be dumbed down. In some areas of the book it felt like I was reading a medical terminology textbook. When I read a "cozy" mystery I want to be entertained and not walking away depressed.

Editorial Review:

Beader and former senator Kitzi Camden has the family manse sparkling like a jewel for the upcoming Bead Tea charity event. But the mood abruptly changes when a crafty cousin threatens to kick Kitzi and her mother out on the street. Then her cousin's beady-eyed partner is found dead in a Dumpster nearby. There are plenty of suspects at the Tea-and Kitzi's one of them.

Dust Devils Of The Purple Sage

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $4.99 By: Worldwide Library Amazon Marketplace: 62 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fun Read 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is fun to read. Plenty of suspense and action, but the characters are warm and likeable. Jolie Wyatt should especially appeal to fans of J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady.

Editorial Review:

Working as a newscaster for a local radio station, fledgling mystery writer Jolie Wyatt becomes involved in the case of an escaped convict whom everyone believes is responsible for a college student's death. Reprint. K.

Celebration in Purple Sage

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $21.95 By: St Martins Pr Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $0.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fantastic Read! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Barbara Burnett Smith has again produced a work of art in Celebration in Purple Sage. The characters are real, the settings believable, and anyone who has ever lived in small-town Texas, (or small- town anywhere!) can identify with Jolie Wyatt. Don't start this book if you don't have time to finish it, because you won't want to put it down

Editorial Review:

With both her in-laws in town, one of the organizers of Purple Sage's Centennial celebration is killed, and Jolie Wyatt must solve both her personal family crises and the murder of the organizer.

Mistletoe from Purple Sage

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $22.95 By: St. Martin's Press Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $0.78

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good. 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book was good, but I didn't find it as good as her two previous, Dust Devils and Celebration. To me it seemed slower paced than the other two. Where with the previous ones I couldn't put them down and read them very quickly, this latest one I found I could put it down without a problem. I finished the book in three days, which is unusual for me. This is still an author I would definitely recommend. Her characters are wonderfully real. Her books make you wish you lived in a small town like Purple Sage.

Very Good who done it, a elightful series 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Jolie Wyatt used to work at the Rose Sterling Advertising Agency in Austin, Texas. Everyone at the company knew how badly Jolie craved being a published writer. She has been away from the agency for many years, living with her husband Matt in Purple Sage. However, when she learns that she is finally going to be published, Jolie can't help but want to show off to her old cronies at the agency. The Wyatts decide to spend the holiday season with Matt's sister and her family so Jolie can attend the Sterling annual Christmas party. Her plans are to show up as the conquering heroine comes to an abrupt halt when Jolie finds the body of a murdered Sterling employee in the ladies room.

Jolie is no stranger to murder or homicide investigations (having been involved two others). However, this one is too close and personal, especially since the prime suspect is her ex-lover, a man married to the boss' daughter. With things in a tizzy at the office, Jolie is asked to temporarily return to do some copy writing, forcing her go back to work with the one person she wants to avoid.

Meanwhile, something dangerous is occurring at her sister-in-law's home with a little boy being the center of it. Ironically, this problem converges with the office mess, forcing Jolie to simultaneously deal with a traumatized child and a cold blooded killer.

MISTLETOE FROM PURPLE SAGE is a breezy, witty, and warm cozy starring a character who symbolizes every woman. This makes it easy, especially for women, to identify with her joys and concerns. The who-done-it is well done as it flows with many plausible suspects who have ample motives to have committed the deed. The sub-plot involving the heroine's nephew adds depth and intensity to a compelling tale.

Harriet Klausner

Editorial Review:

Jolie Wyatt, an aspiring mystery writer from Purple Sage, Texas, travels to the big city for Christmas to visit family and attend a party for her former employer. But murder intrudes, and the capable Jolie must put her interest in mystery fiction to practical use once again.

Skeletons in Purple Sage

Barbara Burnett Smith

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Purple Sage, Texas, is experiencing a natural disaster, with floodwaters rushing through the streets and torrential downpours continuing with no end in sight. This calls for a dinner party! The governor's in town to assess the damage, and Jolie Wyatt, mystery novelist and amateur sleuth, is hosting an after-hour reception in his honor. Only problem is, the historic home that's to be the site of the extravaganza is under six feet of water.

Not to worry--Jolie has it under control. She moves the party next door, making the best of the resulting logistical and personal problems, since the new hostess is the younger second wife of the ex of one of Jolie's best friends. Despite the distractions, the governor's visit is running smoothly until a dead body turns up in a rain-drenched ditch.

The investigation takes the whole town by storm, forcing Jolie to step in and find out what really happened on that dark and rainy night in Texas. Skeletons in Purple Sage is a tangled web full of small-town politics and complex personal relationships tinted with the Texas charm that has made Barbara Burnett Smith's cozy Jolie Wyatt mysteries a big hit.

Mauve & Murder (Five Star Mystery Series)

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $21.95 By: Five Star (ME) Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $0.01

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Writers of the Purple Sage

Barbara Burnett Smith

List Price: $20.95 By: St Martins Pr Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fun reading "cozy" 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

In genre increasing its use of gore and violence, "Writers of the Purple Sage" is a welcome diversion. While quite modern and friendly in its manner, "Writers" evolks images of mysteries of days gone by. No blood, guts, gore and profanity here - just a tightly knit mystery that doesn't bring you down.

A well-rounded mystery 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Jolie Wyatt, recently divorced and trying to raise a teenage son, is meeting with her writers' group one night when she learns that Judge Volney Osler has died. What might not have been such a big deal--after all, people do die, and the Judge was old--becomes a very big deal when it turns out that the Judge was murdered. What was a very big deal becomes a huge deal when the murderer's method turns out to be one Jolie herself devised for her as-yet-unpublished mystery novel. Since she had shared her manuscript with only the other members of the group and the officer investigating the crime, the list of suspects is small indeed. When the police officer devotes particular attention to Jolie, the townspeople of Purple Sage have little trouble narrowing the suspect list down to one: Jolie. The fact that Jolie had an argument with the victim shortly before his death does little to help her case.

With a very personal interest in solving the crime to absolve herself, Jolie begins to poke around. Soon she discovers motives for many of her writing group, but still the solution seems elusive--and the danger seems to be getting closer to home. With a son to protect and an ex-husband trying to protect her (and threaten her independence), Jolie finds that her efforts to solve the crime are not entirely consistent with her efforts to maintain her small family.

"Writers of the Purple Sage" is Barbara Burnett Smith's first novel in the Purple Sage series, and it is a most enjoyable read. Smith juggles a traditional cozy mystery in the Christie sense with a domestic tale, and it is the latter that really gives the novel its strength. Jolie Wyatt, as a single mother, is a very sympathetic character who is afraid of losing the life she has provided for her son and who has become an island unto herself. The events surrounding the murder threaten her and her son, and she fights back bravely. While the everyday citizen investing a crime so thoroughly can be problematic (and is indeed a problem in many of the novels of the cozy mystery genre), Smith seems well aware of this problem and has made strides toward explaining Jolie's sleuthing. Jolie investigates in self-defense. I'm not sure that this justification works completely, and there are times when Jolie seems a bit too brazen for either her own good or common sense, but overall the novel works well and is a pleasure to read.

Editorial Review:

When the murder of a popular judge in the small town of Purple Sage, Texas, proves to be an exact copy of one in her new novel, writer Jolie Wyatt investigates, trying to head off suspicion that she is the killer.