Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sweet and Deadly

Top positive review

One of her first books…

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 29, 2023

I first read this years ago, after my first Sookie Stackhouse book. I like her writing so I checked out her section in the book store. I found a treasure trove of books, and I enjoyed them all. I continue to read Ms. Harris’ writings; right now it’s the Gunnie Rose series and it’s fascinating.

But this is one of her earliest, and while I thought it was really good, it wasn’t quite there yet, hence 4 stars. I really enjoyed this one though.

Top critical review

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K. Gilligan

Left me unsatisfied

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2007

Charlaine Harris is my favorite author, so when I found out they were rereleasing the hard to find "Sweet and Deadly" I ordered it immediately.

Having been spoiled by fantastic characters such as Lily Bard, Aurora Teagarden, and Sookie Stackhouse, it was hard to really like Catherine Linton. Perhaps if this had been any other author, I would have been satisfied, but I expected more from Charlaine Harris. I do keep in mind that this was one of her first books, and her writing has grown in leaps and bounds since this was published. I think my biggest problem was that the ending seemed rushed to me, as if Catherine realized she only had a few more pages left to solve the mystery!

If you're new to Charlaine Harris, I'd skip this one. If you'd like to read some great novels by Charlaine Harris, (and I recommend you do!) try the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. (Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 1, A Bone To Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Book 2, Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 4, Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 5, Fool And His Honey: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 6, Last Scene Alive (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), and Poppy Done To Death: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 8.)

Or if you'd like to try a different series by Charlaine Harris, check out the Lily Bard mysteries.(Shakespeare's Landlord (The First Lily Bard Mystery), "Shakespeare's Champion", Shakespeare's Christmas", "Shakespeare's Trollop", and Shakespeare's Counselor")

Or her new supernatural Southern Vampire Mysteries featuring telepath Sookie Stackhouse (Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk. 1), "Living Dead in Dallas", "Club Dead", "Dead to the World", "Dead as a Doornail", "Definitely Dead", and "All Together Dead")

156 people found this helpful

864 total ratings, 192 with reviews

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From the United States

P. Thompson

One of her first books…

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 29, 2023

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Michael McKinney

Fun Southern murder mystery

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 2022

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I enjoyed this story though I did figure most of the mystery out before the end. This book is a fact read as Harris knows how to tell a story and get you interested in the main character,

One person found this helpful

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Nice First Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2015

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Catherine Linton is back in her home town of Lowfield, Mississippi, after the death of her parents in a car accident. Catherine left her first job after college as a reporter and returned home to try to come to terms with her loss. She is working for the local weekly paper as the society reporter and trying to find her way out of the depression that she fell into when her parents died.

She has never felt that her parents' accident was really an accident but the sheriff who is also a family friend couldn't find any evidence that the car was tampered with. However, when Catherine stumbles upon the body of her doctor father's long-time nurse, her suspicions are aroused again. She begins to investigate and soon learns that her quiet little southern town is filled with buried secrets. Someone is willing to kill to keep their secret hidden and Catherine is in danger.

This book was written in 1981 and is Harris's first book. There is evidence that this story is set in an earlier time. Catherine is quick to light up a cigarette to relieve stress. The sheriff pussy-foots around telling Catherine that her father's office nurse was the local abortionist because that isn't something a man would say to a nice southern young lady. Catherine's attitude toward her family's former housekeeper who is black and her housekeeper's son who is now a sheriff's deputy reflect attitudes that aren't contemporary and were a little uncomfortable for this contemporary reader. The mystery is well done and certainly well written.

Completist fans of Charlaine Harris won't want to miss this story.

Helpful

S Hale

Good mystery

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 4, 2022

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Very descriptive of the people live in the south. You can hear the sounds, of the summer time during twilight, and once it' get dark night. Very different from the city sounds. She really did a job with thus book.

One person found this helpful

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K. Gilligan

Left me unsatisfied

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2007

Verified Purchase

Charlaine Harris is my favorite author, so when I found out they were rereleasing the hard to find "Sweet and Deadly" I ordered it immediately.

Having been spoiled by fantastic characters such as Lily Bard, Aurora Teagarden, and Sookie Stackhouse, it was hard to really like Catherine Linton. Perhaps if this had been any other author, I would have been satisfied, but I expected more from Charlaine Harris. I do keep in mind that this was one of her first books, and her writing has grown in leaps and bounds since this was published. I think my biggest problem was that the ending seemed rushed to me, as if Catherine realized she only had a few more pages left to solve the mystery!

If you're new to Charlaine Harris, I'd skip this one. If you'd like to read some great novels by Charlaine Harris, (and I recommend you do!) try the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. ( Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 1 , A Bone To Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Book 2 , Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery , The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 4 , Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 5 , Fool And His Honey: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 6 , Last Scene Alive (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries) , and Poppy Done To Death: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 8 .)

Or if you'd like to try a different series by Charlaine Harris, check out the Lily Bard mysteries.( Shakespeare's Landlord (The First Lily Bard Mystery) , "Shakespeare's Champion", Shakespeare's Christmas", "Shakespeare's Trollop", and Shakespeare's Counselor")

Or her new supernatural Southern Vampire Mysteries featuring telepath Sookie Stackhouse ( Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk. 1) , "Living Dead in Dallas", "Club Dead", "Dead to the World", "Dead as a Doornail", "Definitely Dead", and "All Together Dead")

156 people found this helpful

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Summer

Great read. Brava, Ms. Harris.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

I love Charlaine Harris’ books and have followed her since the Sookie Stackhouse collection. I opened “Sweet and Deadly” one morning during the Covid 19 quarantine and could not put it down until the end. I am a avid reader but I have never before been able to be so focused or entertained by a story. Brava, Ms. Harris.
The story follows the return of a woman to her childhood home after the death of her parents. She begins work at her local news paper and settles into a quite, private life until she discovers the dead body of her father’s, the town former physician, nurse. Soon another body hits the ground and she, the sheriff and killer are off to find or destroy evidence which will lead to the culprit.
The story is beautifully written and well thought out. I did determine the identity before the climax but it was toward the end of book. The ending was sophisticated and strong until the end.

10 people found this helpful

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Januckey

Not Great

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

I reviewed this book once before and Amazon refused to post it saying it violated their guidelines some how. The book is clearly Charlaine’s first book before finding her voice and the characters are flat and boring. The story itself is ok but not edge of your seat. As a fan of her later works, you can tell she was still finding her voice and for that reason the book is interesting to see her progression as a writer. NOW, what I said in my previous review is that the book’s lead character found humor in calling groups of people racist and derogatory names and that it was perhaps indicative of the author’s upbringing in a state that harbors such sentiment. Amazon felt the need to deny my review because I DARED call that out. I will continue to post a review because my review is not as offensive as the passage in the book. As it stands though, the book can be boring in places and the characters aren’t as richly developed as is her trademark in her later works. All in all, I’d pass on this.

4 people found this helpful

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Krzysztof Fialkowski

Promising debut

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 25, 2011

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Paradoxically, the first book published by Charlaine Harris many years ago was the last one I read. There is one important difference between "Sweet and Deadly" and all the later books by Mrs Harris: it is not narrated by the heroin. Obviously, later the author found it easier to express the emotions of her heroins when writing in the first person. Otherwise, the book is not very different from "The Secret Rage" and the series with Aurora Teagarden or Lily Bard. Catherine Linton is as interesting and engaging as her younger sisters, and the plot is maybe too elaborate, but very readable. I found really impressive the precision, with which the author closes the book on the same seemingly secondary items on which it began: a dead dog and a gun. This was a debut which promised a lot, and the author fulfilled certainly these promises.

One person found this helpful

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emf

Not the usual

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

First, let me start by saying Charlaine Harris is one of my favorite authors. I believe I have read most of her work and love her writing style and her characterization. That being said, Sweet and Deadly wasn't one of my personal choices of her work. It is hard to say why because it was well written and the character build up was there. I guess I just didn't connect with the main character. However, it was worth the read. If this will be your first Charlaine Harris novel, I would recommend a different story.

7 people found this helpful

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Jmaynard

Expensive hardcover edition, decent story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 12, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is Harris' first published novel and it shows. The mystery and character development are weak - lacking the the experience and clever plotting found in her later mystery series. And in those series, readers become invested in the spunky heroines like Sookie and Lily Bard. It's harder to connect with Catherine in this story, especially since this is a stand alone novel. However, even here Harris' potential shows. This is a fast and easy cozy mystery. Serious mystery fans will be unimpressed, but the author's fans will probably enjoy this.

This new hardcover edition from Severn House is very nice, but also seriously overpriced at a retail of $28.95. The font is larger than standard, more like what you find in YA hardcover editions, and it has pictorial boards covered by a dust jacket with the same image. Collectors of Harris' work (like me) will want this hard to find novel, but casual readers would be better off buying the reissued mass market edition - Sweet and Deadly .

11 people found this helpful

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5 star		53%
4 star		26%
3 star		14%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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