Murdered, My Sweet
Joan Lowery Nixon
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    for readers. Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to San Antonio to see their cou…
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July 4, 2020

This is my first Joan Lowery Nixon book. I somehow missed reading her as a teen, though I read a lot of Lois Duncan, Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. A decent 90s teen mystery driven by a funny mother-daughter combo thrust into the middle of the murder of a chocolate company heir.

July 21, 2017

Jennifer Jakes is an unusual teenage sleuth, unusual in the sense that she solves mysteries behind the scenes, manipulating her mother’s role as a well-known mystery writer turned detective in real life. Jenny loves her Mom and does not grudge her the acclaim she gets as a great detective. As an author, Madeline Jakes is great, but as a ‘hands on’ detective, she hasn’t a clue. Jenny, on the other hand, has grown up on her late father’s collection of detective novels, and tales of hands on police investigation and procedure from her uncle Police Detective Bill. Madeline Jake’s reputation as a detective owes its fame to the TV watching public who revel in ‘detective writer turned real life sleuth’ TV serials. She herself, is supremely unaware of her brainy daughter’s help at every step, and tends to imagine that she picks up clues on her own. Her supreme gift is the art of giving an enigmatic smile, which quite often results in the guilty parties imagining that she has guessed their secrets, and blurting out the truth. But adding up all the clues to reach the solution is left to Jennifer. Only a few astute people guess the truth, behind Madeline’s undoubted success.

Set in picturesque San Antonio, in the midst of the spring fiesta, an invitation to the reading of Madeline’s billionaire cousin Arnold Harmony’s will on his eighty-eighth birthday at a comfortable Paseo del Rio (Riverwalk) hotel, the family gathering together with executives from Harmony Chocolates, Arnold’s Company, turns into a tense, suspicion riddled murder mystery, with Jenny and her new found boyfriend, Carlos, journalism student turned bellboy for the vacation, having many near escapes from death, while pursuing the suspects. A fun read.

September 28, 2011

This book is a great read to anyone who likes murder mysterys!Thier are about eight characters we focus on.I think it's fun to try and guess who did it! Jenny is the main character along with here mother. Her mother writes mystery novels and a bunch of people think she actually helps solve real crimes! At her cousins reading of tthe will someone is murdered.

They travel to San Antonio to go to the reading of the will. Jenny wishes she was home until they find out about the murder. She longs to be at San Antonio's flower festival.Also in a hotel room with no video cameras is a convient place for the killer.

With one trip to San Antonio Jenny will get a big surprise, something she didn't expect.So when Mr. Harmony's son is murdered she will have to help her mother figure it out.But after they're starting to figure it out the murderer's after them too! Jenny is very determined after almost getting hit by a potted plant to figure it out!

September 21, 2023

I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize it - but Nixon has two types of plots -- the first being her more ubiquitous thriller plots, where the protagonists are often whinier but there's a lot of tension and suspense; and the second being her more traditional mystery plots - where the writing is tighter, and the characters are more likable, but usually are lacking the tension and suspense. This is, really, one of the later.

Standard tropes are there -- Texas setting, zany parent, love interest cohort, and someone convoluted plot. But the whole thing is lacking any kind of solid intrigue. And the mystery itself is just kind of... weird. You can tell she wants to go for an Agatha Christie type twisty plot but I don't know if it works all that well.

So, the story is that Jenny and her mystery writer mom (who is just seems to have not much going on in her head) are helping a detective (and detective jr - the love interest) help solve the mystery of a distant relative - a chocolate company heir. It's got some strange Willy Wonka vibes going here.

I think the thing holding this one back is that it's a decent premise but doesn't really go anywhere? The son of the alive company owner is murder, so okay, interesting premise, but there aren't really that many suspects, and not a whole lot of detective work either -- as everything seems to come to Jenny instead of her looking into it.

The love interest, Carlos, is fine but he's a blatant rip off of the guy in Christian Lattamore (only with a better ending). It's funny that these love feel obligatory most of the time -- as if some editor is telling her she has to have a romance in there, because Nixon is often caring more about the mystery than any kind of character building.

One of the funnier elements of this one, though, is that we're finally squarely in the mid/late-90s. There's a lot of talk about computers, and all the things computers can do. Computer hacking is an element of the novel, though it's clear that Nixon doesn't quite know what she's talking about.

Overall, while being relatively a tight read, the book feels a little labored. I wonder if at this point, Nixon who was 70 at the time - and nearing the end of her life - was kind of going through the motion with these. Or maybe it is a ghost writer - I haven't ruled that theory out. Anyway, it's fine, but dull in the way her mystery novels tend to be. At least there's nothing egregiously offensive here.

November 7, 2020

Jenny Jakes and her mother Madeline Jakes, a mystery writer, head to San Antonio for a family reunion that quickly turns into the scene of a murder investigation. In all honesty, I wasn't sure how much I would like this book but I ended up loving it. I love how the book keeps you on the edge of your seat and you start to try to solve the case yourself. There were many times I caught myself putting clues together but I never suspected who it actually was. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who loves to be guessing and on the edge of their seat.

June 9, 2021

I really enjoyed the humor and cute little romance, very nice book

January 4, 2019

My kids love this author so when I was looking for an easy holiday read I decided to give this is try because I was past this reading level when it came out (published in 1997) but it looks like one I would've liked at a young age as well.

I ended up giving it a neutral 3 stars because I can see why the kids like her and that's who she's writing for but this wasn't a juvenile read that also entertains an adult audience. I ended up rolling my eyes at how everything came together; it was lots of "right place at the right time" and people crumbling into confession monologues after being asked 1 question.

It does make me want to break out my Christopher Pike books to see a) if they hold up at all and b) if the kids would like him as much as I did.

Quote from the Book

"It's not easy being related to a woman who's famous for murdering people."

Find all my reviews at: https://readingatrandom.blogspot.com

April 26, 2013

Joan Lowery Nixon is a fantastic writer but this is not one of her best. It is a mystery, but the excitement is minimal, and the main character odd. Besides, the detective in this book is supposed to be smart but honestly? He can't think for himself and is always having a teenaged girl tell him how to handle the investigation and what to do next, besides inviting her mother to be his side-kick on a murder investigation.

The story: Jenny's mom, Madeline, is a famous mystery writer who somehow got the reputation for solving real crimes, even though she is rather hopeless at it when a real one comes along. They travel to San Antonio for the reading of the changed will of a still alive elderly cousin, who is rich and famous for his chocolate company. No, the cousin isn't murdered but two other murders occur. Sam Donovan, the investigating officer, immediately asks Madeline for help in solving the crime. Jennie keeps feeding her mother what to tell him to do next. It's rather bizarre but what really annoyed me was that Madeline, who comes across as a real air-head, kept flipping into the role of the main character in her mystery series. It annoyed Jenny too.

May 25, 2018

I'll admit it. I really love this YA mystery sub genre. Joan Lowery Nixon has a lot of books that fit in this niche perfectly, and Murdered, My Sweet is a brilliant example.

Jenny and her mother go to visit a cousin for some big event. Jenny's mom is a mystery writer, so when someone inevitably gets killed at the event, she excitedly tries to push herself into the investigation. She's written loads of mystery books, so she must know how to get into the head of a killer, right? Well, no. Not at all. Jenny comments that her mother only writes such good mysteries because she makes up how the killer does everything and knows exactly how to write the detectives into figuring out the truth. This makes it difficult for Jenny, who doesn't want to embarrass her mother, as her mother starts trying to worm further into the investigation.

This is a YA book, and a bit of an older one at that, so it's not going to be the cream of the crop. It's still very enjoyable. It feels like a pulp novel for preteens, or just a solid afternoon read for when you don't have time to engulf yourself in a much longer book.

August 25, 2012

Title: Murder, My Sweet

Author: Joan Lowery Nixon

Series: N/A

Rating: ★★★★

Summary: Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to San Antonio to see their cousin, Arnold Harmony, who's made his fortune in the chocolate business. Harmony, an eccentric millionaire, wants his will read publicly before he dies; since everyone wants a piece of the pie, this announcement causes quite a stir. When Harmony's son is murdered just before the reading, Jenny's mother decides to spring into action as a real-life detective. But Jenny's mother doesn't have a clue about solving a real crime, so it's up to Jenny to use her wits, not only to save her mother's reputation, but also to keep herself from being killed.

Review: This one is so good! And I pride myself in saying I knew who it was the whole time!

Things I Loved: The title fits the plot and murder perfectly. Like, almost too perfectly. ;)

Things I Hated: N/A

July 16, 2012

This was more of a children's murder book. It was a nice, quick read but the storyline along with the characters and their character development were more for the younger children.

Spoilers>>>

I also found it kind of annoying that the mom kept reverting back to the way her characters in her books reacted...it started to get old when it kept happening again and again. Then her daughter plays a huge part in solving the murder but then the mother gets all the credit and she willing accepts it. It would have been nice to see the daughter get acknowledged for the work that she put into it. The mom did not grow at all during the story and she keeps on living in her fantasy world and leaves her daughter to take care of the grown up things.

January 5, 2011

THIS IS THE BEST AUTHOR EVER!!!!!!!! I REALLY LOVE HER AND YOU SHOULD GET ADDICTED TO HER. I REALLY DO. Just read the book. You will get caught up with the plot and the caracters that you won't even realize until the end of the book is there, in front of your face. Just read it. This book is still fresh even after the second time I read it. No, now it's still fresh. It's the third time. Just read it!

January 6, 2015

I really liked this book but it was a little slow. This book is about a girl named Jenny and her mom who is a mystery writer. Jenny's uncle owns a chocolate company and is having a birthday party were is is read his will.When they get to the hotel where that party is just before the reading someone came in and said the the uncle's son Potter has been murdered. So after that, the book is just about finding out who did it.

January 9, 2010

I am not a big fan of mystery anyways, but what really bugged me about this book was the romance. The main character (can't remember her name) meets the elevator boy and is kissing him almost the next second. Their relationship is built on a foundation of practically nothing. It annoyed me a lot.

May 22, 2013

This book was good but it wasn't great. There was a lot of good detail and cliffhangers to keep you interested and reading but in other areas it fell flat. The end was predictable and not that interesting. Plus I didn't really like any characters aside from Jenny and Arnold, who had some good lines throughout the book.

February 8, 2015

This was good, but not great. The mystery by the sane author that I read yesterday was impossible to put down, but this book was not as fast paced or riveting. I don't know if the book will make as much sense if the reader had never heard of Murder She Wrote. Having grown up watching it with my mom, I got the story and saw the author's intention.

March 1, 2010

I gave this book 4 stars because it was a good book but not the absolute best. It is about someone in the family reading his will before he dies and changing it. His son died and was supposed to wake him up. Her mother wrote about detective-fiction books herself and tried to help solve the murder.

March 8, 2008

This was a really exciting and great book! Also *SPOILER!!!* It was funny how the murderer ended up being Alexa, cuz my name is alexa too!! lol!

April 12, 2008

this book was pretty good it was very suspenceful and pretty kooleo to find out who murdered the 2 of them!

September 20, 2008

This book is amazing! This is a great murder story. It has suspense, some romance and a great ending!

Currently reading

September 25, 2010

I think the book is starting off kind of slow. It's getting the characters established and taking a while for the momentum to build up

February 19, 2011

It is about a Choclete owner and he is murdered. tats all i now... o this middle school girl has to find who, what, when, where, and why. Its really good. I just finished, i loved this book