Two Widows Mystery Series by Ruth Ross

 

As I posted about here, I recently received a Kindle Paperwhite as a birthday gift, my first ereader.

To say I am loving having a Kindle, would be an understatement, and for so many reasons.

 

One of the best things about having an ereader has been browsing the Kindle Store over at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca on an almost daily basis and finding new authors/books that I hadn't been aware of previously. One click of the mouse and voila!!!  I've got a new ebook on my Kindle, ready to enjoy. Now that's my kind of convenience and book shopping experience! ;<)

 

One of these authors is Ruth Ross, who writes the mystery series: The Two Widows.
Ruth Ross lives in Washington State (we're neighbours!) and shares her life and home in real life with her mom,  as does the main character in her books.

  

In the Two Widows Series, Millie Mahoney and her mom, Margaret share a lot more than just the day-to-day usual activities of the typical middle-aged daughter and older mom duo.

 

The series begins with: Two Widows and the Thrift Store Murders which was a fun, entertaining read from start to finish.

Along with frequent trips to the local thrift stores to check out the weekly "must have" bargains, Millie and Margaret soon find themselves right in the middle of murder and all kinds of mayhem.  I was so glad there was another book to follow in this series, after I had read the Thrift Store Murders in just a couple of days.

 

Second in the series is: Two Widows and the Misdirected Message. This has been my favorite Two Widows story, to date. Ruth Ross does a great job of expanding on her main character's personalities, quirks, likes and dislikes in this one.

 

I also found out a lot more about the identity theft than I previously knew. A cast of believable, but  often unsavory (yes, there are plenty of  'bad guys' in the mix) characters, suspense, even some romance, for Margaret that is! And how I love Margaret throughout this series. My kind of mom. Feisty, supportive, full of fun and ready for sharing all kinds of adventures with Millie, along with Margaret's new beau, Frank.

 

Last in the series (so far) is Two Widows and the Rest Home Menace. Again, Ruth Ross does a fine job of creating believable characters who move the story along and keep the reader wanting to turn that next page. 

The only thing I didn't like about this particular story was that the family pets seem to be a bit forgotten along the way, as Millie and Margaret find themselves knee-deep in yet another mystery to be solved. Take Aurora for more walks and yes, even Chance the Cat gets lonely, I'm sure!  

 

 

Except for Sue Grafton's alphabet book series, I've never been much of a mystery reader. But the Two Widows Mystery Series written by Ruth Ross are stories in the mystery genre that I  thoroughly enjoyed.

Ruth Ross has also done something quite unique with these stories, featuring a 50 + main character and her mom, who are doing anything but slowing down and taking it easy. Tossing out some stereotypes about what it means to be an older woman and in a big way.

  

I'm looking forward to the next installment in the Two Widows Mystery Series. If the first three are any indication, I know I'm in for a good read.

 The Two Widows Mystery Series is available in Kindle and print editions at Amazon. You already know which format I now prefer! ;<)

You can also find out more about this series and author: Ruth Ross at her website.

 

 

Overall rating for this book series: Very Good. 4 out of 5. 

Kindle Paperwhite

As the saying goes: never say never!

 

I was firmly entrenched in the "I will never own an ereader" category for a long time but not any more! I am now the proud owner of a Kindle Paperwhite, which I received as an early birthday present. :<)

 

So far, I am enjoying the Kindle Paperwhite but there were a few tense moments when it first arrived here. Well maybe not tense, but a bit frustrating!

 

I'm careful to follow the instructions with any kind of electronic gadgets,  how to set up etc..when I get a new "toy" . Yes, I actually do read the instructions!

 

Well, when it came to printed instructions with the Kindle Paperwhite, there wasn't any included with the package. I didn't know if I should charge it up first, turn it on first, did I need to be connected to WiFi for charging, set-up... as a non-techie person, I had a few questions and was left wondering how best to proceed.

 

I then checked online at Amazon and it was still rather sketchy when it came to step-by step set-up  on how to get started. And so much info. to browse through, that wasn't pertinent to what I was trying to find either. I finally just plugged it into my computer, allowed it to charge and then went ahead with the set-up, following the prompts on the Kindle itself.

 

Yes, I know that we are all trying to cut down on paper these days but a simple: Quick Set-Up Card or Page, included with the package itself, would have been most appreciated. And do they really need to send instructions in Canada and the U.S. in a gazillion different languages? I don't think so. That's sometimes the excuse for not including instructions with an item now. .

 

After getting things up and running, WiFi passwords and all (I usually don't use it, feel more secure with having my Notebook hard-wired to Internet) it was fun to try out some of the features that come with the Kindle Paperwhite.

 

I appreciated that the screen is really close to reading from an actual white paper book page, not like some of the earlier ereader models I checked out that had a greyish cast to them.

 

The page forward is so quick and easy too, without that unpleasant "scroll"  that again was what I disliked when I looked at ereaders a couple of years ago.

 

The pages load fast, no lag time. I'm a very fast reader and again, this was one of the things I didn't like about earlier ereader models I had tried out. Seemed way too slow to be pleasant to read with them. Not the case with Kindle Paperwhite.

 

The estimated reading time feature based on the speed you read, is so cool too.

 

I have noted already that the battery doesn't stay charged up as long as I had expected, when you are using the Kindle Paperwhite for hours at a time. I'm guessing this one will probably allow me about 10 hours of actual use, based on what I've noted already. Sometimes I read for hours at a time, so I guess I'll have to get use to charging this unit up on a fairly regular basis.

 

Overall, I'm happy to finally have an ereader and I'm glad that it's the Kindle Paperwhite.

 

I did a lot of research comparing the various options available with different brands/models before I decided on the Kindle Paperwhite. As is the case with any gadget, I picked out the features I thought I'd enjoy most and so far, it's exceeded my expectations. Still learning how to use all the features and feel a bit clumsy typing on the onscreen keyboard, but hopefully will improve on this in time. At least I know the keyboard, LOL and don't have to "hunt and peck" as some people do.

 

If you have an ereader, do share which brand/model you chose and why.

 

If you don't have one, are you planning to purchase one soon?

 

March 19th update:

 

 Here's the link to my Kindle (knit) Cover  that I mentioned below in a comment, in case you want to knit one too. :<)

 

Overall rating for this product: Very Good. 4 out of 5.