![A woman in a strapless blue dress stands against a pink background. In her hands she holds a wine bottle and anpiece of jewelry. Text says \"Full Bodied, A Francine Witt Mystery. Steve Exeter.\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/FullBodied.jpg?resize=188%2C300&ssl=1\")
A Francine Witt Mystery\nBy Steve Exeter
\n\u00a9 July 23, 2024
\nASIN: B0D95PFFXS
\nKindle Verson, file size 9923 KB\n
<\/p>A Francine Witt Mystery
\nBy Steve Exeter
\n\u00a9 July 23, 2024
\nASIN: B0D95PFFXS
\nKindle Verson, file size 9923 KB\n
Francine Witt has always wanted to be a serious journalist. Instead, she\u2019s blogging about budget wines, and writing about a couple of guys who have gotten away with stealing several bottles of truly top-notch wine without getting caught. She\u2019s doing okay, paying the bills, but this isn\u2019t what she really wanted for her life, and she\u2019s not getting any younger. But all that changes when a Nefertiti exhibit comes to town, and an archeologist collapses before the assembled exhibit guests\u2014dead by poisoning. In the events that follow, Fran discovers pieces of a long-hidden mystery. Is this the key to her big break? She\u2019ll never know unless she puts the puzzle together.<\/p>\n
Full Bodied<\/em> is a delightful story. While definitely a murder mystery, and at times quite fast-paced, the stakes for protagonist Francine are on the low side (most of the time), so it\u2019s nearly a stress-free read. But that doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s no excitement! I had a hard time putting it down and finished the book in less than two days.<\/p>\n Fran\u2019s character does evolve over the course of the story, in sometimes surprising ways. At one point, her character did something I *never* expected\u2014and I literally said out loud, \u201cOh, you did not just do that!\u201d It was impossible to stay aloof to what was happening to her. As it turns out, that unexpected action is key to everything that happened afterward, and the resolution to the story makes it understandable why she got away with doing it at all. But I don\u2019t want to give away any spoilers! The ending wraps everything up nicely, though there is the potential for future stories about this journalist and her adventures. I\u2019ll look forward to those!<\/p>\n I only had two critiques about the book.<\/p>\n First, it could have used a touch more proofreading, but nothing in its pages was enough to make me put it down.<\/p>\n Second, Francine is portrayed as a strong, independent woman, which I love. But there were a number of instances in the book (too many in my opinion) where author Steve Exeter went a little over the top \u201cexplaining\u201d things that women understand all too well, as we live with them every day. They felt a bit overdone and drew more attention to themselves than was necessary. But after a bit of thought, I wondered if the author wasn\u2019t emphasizing these things because of the ever-present theme of Nefertiti (from the museum exhibit), and the story\u2019s undercurrent that this Queen was considered to be one of the world\u2019s first feminists, serving as an equal ruler alongside Akhenaten in ancient Egypt. So perhaps feminism and the strength of women overall was the intended message of this mystery. Perhaps it could have been presented a bit more smoothly, but it didn\u2019t kill the fun of reading this book.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think the author himself describes Full Bodied<\/em> as a cozy mystery, but I would, or at least it\u2019s cozy-adjacent. It\u2019s a light, fun read with reasonable stakes, the perfect kind of book to couple with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a warm fire. Definitely recommended.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Francine Witt Mystery By Steve Exeter \u00a9 July 23, 2024 ASIN: B0D95PFFXS Kindle Verson, file size 9923 KB Francine Witt has always wanted to be a serious journalist. 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