Sweet and Deadly

Good start to the novel - kind of bad conclusion.
I got the book because I went through a Charlaine Harris phase where I bought everything by her - I fell in love with Sookie and decided to give every other story a chance. Some I loved, others fell kind of short regarding my expectations for them.
This was one of the latter.
The premise is promising, and although the novel has a fast pace that makes it enjoyable, characters are somewhat one-dimensional, and the resolution to the conflict...It's too uninteresting. I didn't think it was plausible, the reason behind the murders, and I saw that other reviewers had the same (or similar) issues.
If you get this book and want to enjoy it, REMEMBER that it was published in 1981, so keep that in mind when you finish reading it. Otherwise you'll be disappointed.
I think there are other suspense books from Harris that are worth reading over this (the Shakespeare series, A Secret Rage).
It's okay. Just okay.

This book is one of Charlaine Harris' earlier books. It was written in the early 1980's. So it was like traveling back in time not all that long ago, but before cell phones and when people smoked at their desks at work.

Catherine Linton has moved back into her parent's home after their death and has taken a job with the local weekly newspaper. She's a quiet person who tries to keep to herself. One morning, she goes out to one of her properties outside of town to practice shooting. She discovers the body of her father's former employee in the shack on the property. This cements her suspicions that the car accident that killed her parents might not have been truly an accident.

She also discovers that in a small town, secrets are hard to hide and someone is willing to kill to keep theirs.

This is a difficult review to write. "Sweet and Deadly" is a re-release of a 20 year old Charlaine Harris'novel, I believe her debut. The book shows all of the promise of Harris' future works, but lacks some of the punch. "Sweet and Deadly" is also plagued with many of the problems of a debut novel.

The story's pretty simple--23 year old Catherine Scott Linton returns to her hometown of Lowfield, Miss after what was initially described as 'accidental death' of her parents--her father, being the town doctor for many years. Several months later, she comes across the beaten body of her father's old nurse. Catherine quickly learns that the nurse had some 'secrets' which could expose people of the town.

If you're looking for the action of The Southern Vampire Series with Sookie Stackhouse, you're going to be disappointed. "Sweet and Deadly" is an old-fashioned Southern Gothic mystery that is more slow-paced. The author has not yet developed the barbed 'hooks' that keep you turning pages of her future works.

Harris' writing is also not as clear and strong as it is now--there are points that you're not entirely sure what she's trying to say--but stick with it, the book's any interesting read and a good example of this genre and the times it was based upon.

Sweet and Deadly is the first novel by popular American author, Charlaine Harris. After the unsolved murder of her parents some six months previous, journalist Catherine Linton is working at the Lowfield Gazette and otherwise keeping a low profile, living in her parents home. Her father’s medical practice has been taken over by a young doctor and her life seems somewhat on hold. Then she stumbles across the brutally beaten body of Leona Gaites, her father’s long-time employee, and Catherine is convinced the murder is linked to that of her parents. But it soon emerges that Leona was not all she seemed, and quite a few people in Lowfield might have a good reason to want her dead. With a decidedly Southern feel, this little murder mystery is a taste of early Harris that presages her later work. The characters are interesting, there are clues and red herrings, the plot has enough twists to keep the reader intrigued, the dialogue is credible and, all in all, this is a very enjoyable read.

Catherine returns to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississippi after a car crash kills her parents. Six months later she is still there, working at the town newspaper and living in her old home alone.

Unsatisfied with the results of the investigation of her parents' crash, Catherine is unable to move on. When her father's nurse is beaten to death and left in a shack on Catherine's farm land, she is sure there is a connection. Her father was the town's only physician and the nurse was using information she obtained while working in his office to blackmail Lowfield citizens. Suddenly, everyone in the town Catherine grew up in is a suspect, even the sheriff.

If you are a fan of Harris's popular paranormal mystery series, don't miss this opportunity to read one of her earlier novels. This is a reprint of an early stand-alone mystery first published in 1981. Catherine is a complicated southern heroine with courage and intelligence. Sweet and Deadly is excellent, with a surprising ending.

I just love Charlaine Harris's mysteries and this one did not disappoint in the least. It was very far into the book before she had let enough clues drop for speculation as to 'who done it' and by the time she got to why it was done you got the surprise feeling along with the wow 'the clues all added up from the beginning' realization. Too many mystery writers leave either too many clues so it is too easy to figure out or they just go along with apparent clues that go no where and then suddenly give the big reveal and explanation so that you feel like you just read a story unrelated to the ending. Charlaine Harris keeps it interesting and well woven from beginning to end.

This is a paperback reprint of the 1981 Sweet and Deadly, and was not part of a series. Charlaine Harris is the author of the Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, and Harper Connelly mystery series, and the new Sookie Stackhouse vampire series.

Sweet and Deadly begins with young Catherine Linton shooting cans out near a decaying shack on her family cotton fields that had been rented out for several generations because her father was the town doctor. There she discovers something else decaying--a body in the shack--reeking and attracting flies in the Mississippi heat.

Catherine has returned home to Lowfield after her parent's death in a suspicious car wreck. The body turns out to be her father's old nurse, Leona Gaites. Leona, it appears, had taken a career twist after Catherine's father's death--and began giving cheap abortions and blackmailing the residents of Lowfield.

Catherine is emotionally shaken by all these tragedies but finds an inner strength. Working as a reporter for the Lowfield Gazette, with reporter Tom Mascalco and editor and owner Randall Gerrard, she is forcing herself to appear normal and calm.

There are more deaths to come, unfortunately. Everyone seems really worried about Catherine living alone or else they seem nervous around her, as if they suspect she is the murderer. Randall suddenly is at her side, offering support and affection, and her feelings for him take Catherine by surprise.

Well written, with twists and turns, this book will keep you guessing. The setting is bucolic and contrasts nicely with the menacing undercurrent of a murderer desperate to keep a secret.

Armchair Interviews says: This prolific author never disappoints.

Catherine Scott Linton has moved back to Lowfield, Mississippi. Her parents died in a car accident on their way to visit her at her first job. She's now working for the local paper and building walls to keep everyone out of her life -- passing time feeling guilty. Then one morning she finds a body. In the horror and chaos, Catherine didn't recognize the dead woman, who turns out to be her father's nurse of thirty years. Now, she's convinced that her parents' accident was no accident at all -- but why would someone kill the town doctor, his wife, and his nurse. Catherine is determined get to the bottom of this mystery.

The story unfolds slowly as we met the characters that Catherine does interact with. Slowly, we come to know that Catherine is not a shrinking violet but a modern woman a bit embarrassed by her unthinking prejudices. But, she is a daughter that loved her parents and misses them with a depth that I think many of us can understand. All her reactions seem subdued and a bit off-kilter but that's because we've been brainwashed by movies and TV. When you stop and think of it -- how would you react to finding a body in an abandoned house in mid-summer Mississippi -- one that had been bludgeoned to death. Catherine is every woman who has had to deal with circumstances outside her generally expected experiences. Harris brings us a character, who is strong and believable in her depression, anger, and the uncertainty whether what is wanted is justice or vengeance.

The conclusion is a shock for the character as well as the reader. Murder is a crime that often seems necessary to the perpetrator but an outsider looking at it sees other avenues that could have achieved the same result.

For fans of Harris' Southern Vampire and Grave... series, this stand alone is far less humor, but the same deft touch with characterization, setting, and plot. You can smell the hot dusty air and feel the tension build with every chapter.

Catherine Linton set out early in the morning to go and shoot some cans for target practice. After deciding that the last can deserved to live (having missed it several times), Catherine spotted the hand. It was reaching out towards her from the doorway of an old, rickety shack of a house that hadn't been lived in for years. Catherine took one look at the woman's misshapen head and knew that there was nothing she could do for her. When Sheriff Galton came out to take a look, he thought it was pretty weird that Catherine didn't mention that the body belonged to Leona, her father's nurse for several years. Catherine tried to persuade the Sheriff that she just didn't look at the face, but she knew that she was still a suspect.
Catherine wasn't too happy that Leona had died, but she and Leona had never really liked each other so she wouldn't exactly miss her. She did miss her parents. She missed them a lot. They had been killed in a freak car accident 6 months previous and the whole town was still reeling from the shock of losing the beloved small-town doctor who had served the community so valiantly for so long. Ever since Catherine moved back to her hometown, she had felt isolated and alone from the people there. Now that she was suddenly involved in something again, Catherine started to live once more. She saw Randall, her editor at the Lowfield Gazette, for what felt like the first time and she had to say that she liked what she saw. To Catherine's surprise, Randall is not the only stranger who reaches out with offers of assistance - even the black community seemed to reach out to help her. Now, if only Catherine could put the clues together, she could solve the mystery of who killed her parents and Leona - and stop him before he killed again...
I enjoyed the book. I thought that the mystery was well developed and had a nice pacing to it. All of the characters were sketched out quickly, but it was easy for the reader to remember who was who. The setting was marvelous - you really could feel the heat coming off of the pavement in a small, still segregated town in the South. Harris' descriptions of the town and the people had to be my favorite part. However, my one complaint with the book is that I felt like a spectator looking in instead of identifying with any of the characters. I didn't have any emotional attachment to any of the characters and I really missed that because I immediately identified with Harris' characters in her Shakespeare, Southern Vampire and Teagarden series, but not here. If the book wasn't so hard to find and so dang expensive I would say that you should read it, but I have to say (since it is hard to find and it is extremely expensive) that you should read it if you find it, but don't kill yourself looking for it...

This book was a fantastic rainy day read, but a few warnings for readers who don't do their research before picking up a book by a known author. This book is not part of any series. It's a reprint of a stand alone novel originally published in 1981. It's a simple murder mystery and contains no supernatural aspects. It depicts a very small town in the south, and has more than a few politically incorrect moments in regard to race.

If you're not a horribly slow reader, you'll find this book a very quick read. If your pace is quite slow, you may find the story to drag a bit. The format of this book is nothing like that of the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you're willing to look at it for what it is, and avoid comparing it to the more popular series this author is done, you're much more likely to enjoy it. If you're new to Harris, recognize it's very different from her more current works before moving on to them for the same reason.

As a great fan of Harris's Southern Vampire Series with Sookie Stackhouse, I was interested in reading her other work. I just read Shakespeare's Landlord and really disliked it, so I was leery when I picked up this book, one of Harris's earliest.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised. I found Catherine Linton to be a likable character and the story to be engaging. Catherine has returned to inhabit her parents' house in a small Mississippi town after their suspicious deaths in a car accident. Not long after her arrival (her parents have been dead for six months), she is out practicing her shooting on land she rents to a planter when she makes a nasty discovery - a woman who has been beaten to death and dumped in a rundown shack. Catherine is soon wrapped up in the drama, as another dead body is discovered on her property. Are the murders linked? Catherine works to find out, as well as tie up the mystery of her parents' deaths.

Other reviewers have mentioned that this is an early book and is not as well-written. I would agree, but I was much more interested in the characters and the story than I was when reading Shakespeare's Landlord (I honestly will not be reading any more of that series). The story was not as fun, kitschy, humorous, or involving as the Southern Vampire books, but it was enjoyable, and I was fairly satisfied with the ending. It was a surprise - I didn't guess it - but it didn't seem extremely feasible, either.

This stand-alone book, featuring protagonist Catherine Linton, was a very interesting read. I didn't have any trouble being drawn into the story, and I liked being able to see the very roots of Harris's later writing successes in this slim little novel.

Like her later work, it moves along at a good pace. Catherine is like many of the later Harris characters -- a bit of a loner, an individual, someone imperfect, with her own petty faults and failings, yet on the whole, likeable. I could see Sookie, Aurora and Harper in Catherine, and wished there was more to her than just this one book. (If there's another book about Catherine, I've missed it.)

The ending is surprising and suspenseful like all of Charlaine's novels. Considering that this book was first published almost thirty years ago (1981), it featured a different time -- typewriters instead of word processing programs, no internet, no cell phones. It's a bit of a throwback to read now, but it was still a good book and I enjoyed it very much in my chair by the side of the pool.

I know this was Charlaine Harris' first published book, and you can see flashes of the kind of storyteller she will become, but it is dated and slightly predictable. And I didn't care about the characters. Because it's Charlaine Harris I kept reading. It was pleasant and okay but forgettable.

I loved this book and felt sad that Harris is so successful with her other series that this book will remain a single. I love her writing and if you love her way with words, this won't disappoint. Well, let me say I'm not a Sookie fan and her Harper Connelly is getting a bit to perverted for me. So, if you want that kind of madness, this may bore you. But if you loves her Teagarden series and her Shakespeare series, you'll like this. The characters are solid and the story is complex enough to be interesting. I fear that Sookie and Harper will win out and those of us who just like some good writing without a lot of blood and sexual perversion will be left aside. Charlaine if you're reading, please get another promo head shot.

If you're thinking, "Hey, I like her other books, let me try this one!", don't. It was a very early book for her, and while it's an easy read, it doesn't really go anywhere and feels incomplete. Technically it's a "murder mystery", but not one of those ones where you could figure out, if you only put the clues together, the perpetrator. Nope, it's the other kind, where three pages from the end of the book (literally) we learn something new about one character... right before that character tries to kill our protagonist. And then the book ends.

Her other books, especially anything with Sookie Stackhouse in it (I'm not as impressed by the Harper Connelly books), are great fun. This isn't.

This is a stand alone traditional mystery by Charlaine Harris, not part of any of her more current series. No paranormal stuff here.

Keep in mind that it was published in 1981, and it feels like it is set in the 1970s in regard to issues of race, gender, law and even fashion. (The 23-year-old protagonist wore shirtwaist dresses to college classes!)

As a former small town newspaper employee, I enjoyed the description of the newsroom where Catherine works. This is a solid debut novel.

Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris in her original novel, recently republished. Catherine Linton has returned to her tiny hometown in rural Mississippi to wait for the murderer of her parents to strike again. She is going to find the killer and bring that person to justice. She figures that she is on the right track when she finds the body of one of her father's employees who has also been murdered...but what if the killer finds her first? And what motivates the murderer? A bit dated (the newspaper where Catherine works still uses typewriters) but still a very engrossing story!

I believe that this is a stand alone mystery novel rather than part of a series.

I guess as a debut novel this isn't bad but it's by no means a good book. The main character has no hooks to endear herself to the reader. There's no real story to her, she's just barely above one dimensional. The rest of the cast is trotted out on a one by one "Wait, is THIS the killer?!" basis. The story starts nowhere and really goes nowhere. There's a killing, there's another, there's two in the past. Gasp! Are they all related?! With the exception of a couple short stories and her second novel (waiting on the nightstand as I type) I've read and enjoyed everything Ms Harris has written except this. If you're a completest, go for it, you might as well read everything. Otherwise, give this one a pass, it's not that good.

This is a solid, traditional murder mystery without any of the paranormal stuff that is in Harris' contemporary books (I LOVE the Grave series with Harper Connelly).

While it was published in 1981, the novel has the feel of something set in the 1970s, in regard to issues of race, gender, law and even fashion. (The 23-year-old protagonist wore shirtwaist dresses to college classes!) So it helps to get your head straight about when this story was taking place. A very good debut novel!

I've read many of Harris' books and her style is always the same. I don't mind the random information about what she had for dinner and planning her grocery trips but in sweet and deadly she forgot to add a good plot. Not a great mystery novel at all. Unfortunately, I feel like I could have wrote sometime on par with this.

I wish I could say I loved "Sweet and Deadly." I really enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I expected this book to be a page turner like the Sookie Stackhouse series. "Sweet and Deadly" is a standalone novel written by Charlaine Harris during the early 1980s. It's not a bad read, but it certainly lacks the edge of your seat, page turning, suspense of her more recent novels. I found Catherine to be an under developed main character, dull, and unlikable. My favorite character was Tom. He could have been developed better, but his sassy attitude and go getter personality kept me intrigued.

Another review said "boring, boring, boring". I have to second that. The characters were flat and I just didn't care what happened to any of these people. This was apparently an early book of this author's, written some 20 years ago or so. I just have to say I really enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse books but this one, was a big NOT. Also, like another reviewer commented, I didn't like the reference to black people as "darkies". Just a turn-off for me.

It has been six months since her parents died in a car crash and Catherine Linton has returned to Lowfield, Mississippi in the hopes that familiar surroundings will help her healing process along. She is angry because her parents were murdered when their car breaks were deliberately loosened and she wants vengeance for their deaths. She also knows in her heart that the culprit is someone from Lowfield responsible because her parents never locked their car or garage.

One day while target shooting at the run down tenant house on her land, she sees the bloody body of a woman who is later identified as Leona Galles, who was her father's nurse more than three decades ago. The sheriff discovers evidence that she was a blackmailer but treats her homicide as a separate incident that isn't connected to the deaths of Catherine's parents. When a reporter dies while investigating the homicides, Catherine believes the same person killed all four people and in a dangerous moment sets out to prove it.

Long before Charlene Harris wrote the Sookie Stackhouse tales, she wrote this mystery and it shows the talent that in future years will make her a superstar. Readers get a picture of living in a small town in the Deep South in the 1950s when everyone knows their neighbors and murder is an aberration. Even a quarter a century ago, Ms. Harris was a genius at creating characters who are easy to understand and of course the identity of the villain comes as quite a shock. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining southern gothic mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I have read MANY of her books and enjoyed them very much. Even knowing that this was her first book and giving huge latitude for that, the book was so bad that about a third of the way in I decided that I was not going to finish it. I have NEVER not finished a book. I cared enough to skip to the end to see if the end was surprising and it was, but only in how stupid it was. Then I flipped through the rest of the book to see if there were any good parts that I missed, like maybe development with the relationship with Randall, but no. Not even that. I won't take this as a mark on Charlaine Harris as an author overall, but there is a reason this book is out of print. Don't waste your time.

This book wasn't that great. It was a slow-paced, murder mystery set in a small town. The reader doesn't really get a chance to identify with any character.. and it seemed as though the book was 90% description, and only 10% dialogue/action. It took me a few days to get through this book because it just wasn't that interesting.
I love Charlaine Harris... and I'm glad I read this book. But if you want a much better read, try the Sookie Stackhouse series (which you probably have already), the Harper Connelly series (EXCELLENT series), or the Lily Bard series (also very good).
This was just Ok.

This is a Charlaine Harris stand-alone mystery (not about vampires). Takes place in Mississippi with Catherine Linton as the main character. Her parents were killed in an auto accident 6 months prior and she has returned to her family home. She works as a society reporter for the local weekly newspaper. She discovers another death and realizes that the two killings are related. More death and intrigue follow.

I always finish a book I start so this one was no different but I was happy when I was on the last page. And disappointed. Not much action. It feels like it was stretched. The description of African American characters makes me cringe. Not the best ever by C.Harris by far. I so miss Lilly Bard & Aurora Teagarden. This book made me give up on C.Harris' books. (not interested in vampires stories) :(

It took time to meet the characters, then they stayed around for only a short time. I really didn't know for sure who was killing until the end. Kept you interested in figuring out possible motives.

After reading all but one of the Sookie Stackhouse books, followed by Harper Connelly, I decided to try out more of the Charlaine Harris books at my library. I discovered this was her first and was excited to read it. I am so glad that her writing has improved. This one drags on and on. I did not like Charlotte Linton or any of the other characters. I did not need to know what happened every second she was at the newspaper. I finally stopped reading halfway through. It got to where I didn't care who the murderer was or if Charlotte was still a suspect.

Everyone has to have a first book and while the reviews seemed to like it I did not. I guess I'm spoiled with her current books.

I thought it was a great book considering it was one of her first books and is written in third person. This book is over 20 years old and newspapers do everything electronically now-a-days. The book was also originally only 154 pages long. Catherine is not in first person like her others, but you still get a sense of who Catherine is. I found it to be a real page turner.
Then Charlaine Harris goes on to write all her other books in first person and WOW.

I don't know if the character was supposed to be closed minded, or if it was something that seemed natural to write of, but I can't imagine that Harris herself was racist, so maybe it was just the character. But I was offended of uses of words like "darkies", even if it was to highlight someone else's ignorance/racism. I am giving Harris the benefit of the doubt here, and this was not written so long ago that it would be a part of accepted literature to be blatantly racist, so I'll let it go. The story was kind of boring, and not many things were explained. The heroine was flat and kind of annoying (and racist?). The plot did turn a somewhat interesting corner, but just for the ending. The interesting thing for me is to see where she was already playing around with the idea for other characters/traits found in future series/novels. I don't recommend this book at all, but a curious hardcore Harris fan could not be talked out of reading it. If you're younger, don't read this racist crap, even if it is a character flaw in the fictional characters, it is not good to expose an immature mind to such ignorance.

I agree with the other reviewers in that this is not Charlaine Harris' best work. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is her start. The characters weren't well developed and the ending was rushed. The way that Catherine figured out "who done it" was sudden and didn't have enough background, not to mention that the way the revelation was made was odd. Even so, the book was an okay read. The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris is EXCELLENT, closely followed by the Harper Connelly series. I agree with the reviewer that said don't start here if you've never read a Charlaine Harris book before. Start with Sookie and then Harper.

I have read every Charlaine Harris book published including her Sookie Stackhouse books. I think she is a very entertaining author and I love everything she writes. This book is very different than all the other series she has written but still a very good mystery by a wonderful writer. I pass on all her books to all my friends and everyone who reads her loves her writing.

Ms. Harris starts to hit her stride with her "formula" Our main character puts the clues together and this books moves forward with each chapter - no wasted time!
If you like a good mystery with a heroine who doesn't know it all, but must put the clues together - you'll enjoy this one.

Surprise, surprise! I did not even recognize her name (as she is not included among the highly advertised and promoted mystery writers) but I bought it to increase my exposure to the Southern genre (I am a long-time John Grisham fan) and wanted to begin with her earlier work before reading the more recent ones (Grave Sight and Grave Surprise). I was wonderfully pleased with the writing.

Up until now the only books by Charlaine Harris I have read were the "Dead in Dixie" series, and it was interesting to read this early mystery work by her. The characters are well-rounded and the mystery itself is intriguing (and you'll never see the ending coming!). Others have given you the basic plot, so I'll just add my recommendation that you get hold of this little gem now that it has been re-released!

What most people don't realize, is that this was Charlaine Harris' first book. Keep that in mind when reading it, I know I did!! It's a big disappointment when comparing it to the Sookie Stackhouse series or even Aurora Teagarden (my favorite). The book was easy to solve and a quick read, but a fun read. The part that I enjoyed the most though was seeing how far Charlaine has developed in her writing.

Wow I wish I had ordered the sample not the book. This was like reading a rough draft obvouisly this is some of the first works Ms. Harris had published disapointing read. I can see how she has evolved as a story teller from this book. I really enjoy her other works.

Okay, I never thought I'd get hooked on one author. Charlaine Harris must spend twenty hours a day writing, and not one of them is wasted judging by all of her work that I've read to date. Sweet and Deadly is a "stand alone" novel I picked up at the local bookstore just to see if it was as good as her series are. It is!

Sweet and Deadly was a wicked story reminiscent of the old South and its sometimes deadly charm. I loved the beginning of the story, it drew me into the fields of crops, dusty roads and the ever present heat.