Pride v. Prejudice

Claire Malloy #20

by Joan Hess

Claire Malloy, for as long as she can remember, has been the local bookseller and owner of the Book Depot and the widowed mother of teenage Caron, who frequently speaks in ALL CAPS. But her life has changed dramatically in recent years. Claire has married her longtime beau, Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen. Still the owner of the Book Depot, Claire has passed the day-to-day running of it on to her very efficient employees. With Caron inching ever closer to college, there's but one thing that remains steadfastly unchanged—Claire's astonishing ability to attract, find, or even just randomly stumble across trouble.

Summoned for jury duty, the prosecutor on a murder case, harboring a grudge against her husband, decides to humiliate Claire and dismiss her. Having done so in spectacular enough fashion to make the local news, Claire decides that revenge will be the next dish she serves. She hunts down the defendant in the case, a woman accused of murdering her husband, and offers to help prove her innocence. And not just because Claire wants to humiliate the prosecutor. There are only two problems. One—the defendant is looking guiltier by the minute. And two—the worst day imaginable has finally come: Claire's dreaded new mother-in-law is coming to visit and life in prison is starting to look good.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Mystery Thriller, Cozy, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2015

About the author

Joan Hess was the author of both the Claire Malloy and the Maggody mystery series. Hess was a winner of the American Mystery Award, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Joan Hess also wrote a mystery series under the pseudonym of Joan Hadley.

Series contributed to:
. Crosswinds
. The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
. Malice Domestic
. Deadly Allies
. Sisters in Crime

Reviews

[Nancy Haddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a Joan Hess fan for years, and had to get this newest from the library because I couldn't wait. If you haven't read the Claire Malloy mysteries, get with it! Pride v. Prejudice is another winner in the series. (Loved the mentions of/ references to Maggody, too. I miss that series!)

[SueEllen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed the Claire Malloy series by Joan Hess, but not her Maggody series. The characters and situations of the Maggody series were just a little too far-fetched and crazy for me. Unfortunately, I found Pride v. Prejudice seems to be leading the Claire Malloy series in the same direction. The story does have a fresh idea for beginning the murder mystery and held my attention for the first few chapters. But then things started to go wacky and I found myself just wanting it to be over.

[Diane (Books and Tequila Blog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride v. Prejudice is book 20 in the Claire Malloy series but can be read as a standalone. It has been a while since I had read a Joan Hess book, but I was looking for a fun change of pace and this book definitely fit the bill!
P v. P was humorous and very entertaining. I loved reading and trying to keep up with Claire Malloy as she gets enmeshed in a bit of murder and mayhem while stressing out about the upcoming visit from her mother-in-law!

"I could hear Peter's voice telling me to back away and call for help. His lovely brown eyes were squinting with intensity and his jaw was tight. What would his mother say if she was told that I'd been kidnapped by surly hirsute brutes in camouflage jackets? Her nostrils might flair with distain at the vulgar nature of the criminals and the brashness of their hostage. If I'd underestimated my opponents, would she lower herself to attend my funeral? Could I trust Caron to handle the role of hostess after the internment? Will the mourners be appalled by chips and pizza?
It was time to find out, I told myself as I walked toward the house."

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting enough to keep me reading ... but not altogether a mystery that I enjoyed. The main character is kind of ... unbelievable. She is SO panicked at the thought of her mother-in-law coming; yet she almost without thought walks into what can be very dangerous situations. She is rather arrogant and just not my cup of tea.

[Kaitlyn Dunnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always found Claire's prickly personality appealing and in this case she has plenty to be prickly about. She's just trying be a good citizen and serve on a jury when she comes in for a personal attack by a D.A. with political ambitions and a grudge against her husband, detective Peter Rosen. That she decides to help prove the accused innocent out of a desire for revenge seems perfectly reasonable to me. As a fan of Hess's Arly Hanks series, I also got a kick out of several tie ins to those books. I would love it if Arly and Claire could meet in a future book. Watch out bad guys!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 21 in the Claire Malloy series. Claire is the owner of a book store, married to the police chef and her daughter is getting close to graduation. there isn't much about her daughter in this book which was disappointing. Claire is humiliated by the prosecutor when she shows up for jury duty so she decides to solve the case and humiliate the prosecutor. She has a hard time proving the ladys innocent when she finds out a 40 year secret. Trying to solve this and prepare to meet her new mother-in-law keeps it lively.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clair Malloy is certainly not a hands-on bookseller as least as far as this book is concerned. She makes one to two stops at the bookstore, but for no truly discernable reason other than to hit the bathroom perhaps.
The overall concept of the plot sounds fine--murder of a weird, paranoid man whom no one seems to like, even his wife of 40 years. somehow the FBI gets involved and there are more murders in the area. Mostly the characters are strange, odd and unpredictable. Claire herself tries too hard to be "cute" with snappy sayings that irritate rather than drive the story.

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first --and likely last -- foray into the Claire Malloy series.
Not even halfway through this book and have already run across typos/spelling errors. And, the murder suspect Sarah is referred to as Sara at one point. Hello copy editors?
Dialogue not witty; plot devices predictable (Claire just keeps showing up on various doorsteps, hoping the occupant(s) will talk to her.

There are numerous cozy mystery series where mystery/crime-solver (eventually) weds a (recurring) law enforcement official central to the investigations. How predictable.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining, engaging cozy mystery. It's a good story with likeable, interesting characters. And the story moved along at a nice pace. But. The ending was a little garbled. I had to go back and re-read it to understand who did the murder. And then re-read a small part to confirm. The murderer was logical and the author did wrap it up, but not very clearly. The ending chapter was kind of a mess. I'm not sure I will read another in the series.

[Peter Swanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started really well, both amusing and intriguing, but lost its way when the protagonist spent the whole book driving around the county interviewing an increasingly confusing collection of suspects and witnesses to the pivotal crime. I'm disappointed.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice and complicated, lots of possible suspects, plenty of goofy Southern settings and characters.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review for Pride V Prejudice: A Claire Malloy Mystery by Joan Hess will be linked back here in the near future. Stay tuned!!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one slowly and had trouble keeping some of the characters straight, but as usual the author's voice is delightful and the ending was fun

[Tobinsfavorite · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this enough to consider going back and reading earlier books in the series. I don't know if I will, but I might.

Reader did not agree with me, mostly due to presenting the smug, officious policeman, whom I already wanted to punch in the face, with a voice that made me want even more to punch him in the face. Too much wanting to punch characters in the face detracts from self-righteous feelings of not being the character everyone wants to punch in the face.

I think the author lost me when the protagonist managed to spend some time sitting in a field unexpectedly topless, having used her bra to tie her shirt to her bare feet (?? I cannot imagine the rough ground that would make me do this.) and not realize she was still topless when the smug, officious policeman showed up. Are there not mosquitoes in this area? Or other insects? Perhaps she is habitually topless outdoors and so forgot? I guess I just don't know many women who would forget they were not wearing a bra when approached by a man they do not like and whom they know does not like them.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting twist, and a return to a former favorite author. The last Claire Malloy that I read did not appeal, so I have skipped several books, and only returned when this appeared at my library.

There was much less of the irritating mother-daughter you-owe-me rhetoric which made me drop the series, and I could see that the character has mellowed, even though she still has a tendency to butt in.

In this case, that trait is welcome and even needed as Claire begins searching for answers as to why the police took the easy road to a resolution. However, there were several times when you had to wonder where her brain was, including all the times she had to grab her purse to go anywhere. Why?

Anyway, I enjoyed this story with the off-the-wall reasoning and the paranoia of the characters. The overall characters were not someone I would like to know, but were well built (except Caron, who though she is nearly an adult still acts like a young child). A very good and entertaining read, although highly improbable scenario.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a big mystery fan but I really enjoyed Pride v. Prejudice although at the end I will admit it was getting hard to follow all the story lines. It's a fun read, the main character is a very smart, cool bookseller whose biggest concern is a sudden visit from her new mother-in-law and getting even with a weasley prosecuting attorney who made her look like a fool by grandstanding to the media when he threw her out of a potential jury pool. In order to get even with the prosecutor she decides to see if she can prove the defendant innocent and the story line launches from there. Definitely a fun read.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entry in the Claire Malloy series, this one deals with a woman who is accused of murdering her husband and about to go on trial for his murder. The evidence is overwhelmingly against her, but Claire is sure there is more to the story. As she tries to ferret out the truth, she runs across many people who are trying to stop her, including the real murderer. While she is on the trail, another murder occurs, and Claire and her cohort who is trying to help have to go undercover themselves to avoid being picked up by the FBI. After a slow start, this story picks up and the reader is turning pages quickly by the end.

[Chi Dubinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire Malloy runs the Book Depot in Farberville, Arkansas, and is the wife of Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen and the mother of teenage Caron, who will be leaving for college soon. Claire gets called to jury duty, where the prosecutor, who has a grudge against Rosen, humiliates her and dismisses her from the jury pool. Claire seeks her revenge by hunting down the defendant, a woman accused of murdering her husband, and offers to help prove her innocence. The author’s death brings an end to this entertaining and funny series.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd enjoyed some books by Joan Hess years ago so grabbed this one on CD from the library to while away the hours on a Thanksgiving trip from Oregon to Idaho and Wyoming. My husband and I listened to the whole book but were both disappointed. Maybe Joan Hess is just phoning it in now. Maybe it is better if you read rather than listen to it so you can skim though some repetitive language. One depiction of a child particularly annoyed us. Many of the characters were unbelievable. That prevented us from being drawn into the author's fictional world.

[Illyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all of the books in this series, kind of crazy plot, surprising twists, and a fairly unpredictable ending; this one was really unusual with a tie back to the flower-child era protests and backlash from one of those instances. A good friend recommended this series to me years ago and I've read them all - the stories are all different but with the same characters weaving through. Fun read that always holds my interest.

[Canuck Mom of Three · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second Claire Malloy book and once again, it was a very enjoyable read. The protagonist's intelligently self-deprecatory attitude and sharp wit are just so delicious, and the plotting is excellent with many twists and turns. I also like that Joan Hess dedicated this book to Michael Morton, a wrongly accused man who spent 25 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Some of the details from that case made their way into this book, clearly Hess wrote it in tribute.

[Lsilberman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had more suspects than you can shake a stick at. :) The villain turned out to be someone I never would have suspected.

That said, it was a little too convenient that the chief character was married to a police officer and had an employee who ran her bookstore pretty much by himself, enabling the owner to spend several days searching for a murder suspect and doing far too many dangerous things.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not even sure who did it, and I read the whole book. It all seemed very convoluted, and the ending didn’t make sense. The characters were bizarre, and not in a fun, engaging way. Maybe I would feel differently if I had read the first book and not the last, but as it is I will not be revisiting this series.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe I have read all of this series to date. Claire is now married. Her daughter still speaks in ALL CAPS and gets into mischief with her bestie. Claire decides to seek revenge against a prosecuter who embarrasses her in court by proving the defendant innocent, and this time, she even has the blessing of her husband, the deputy police chief.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually did not finish this book, only completed close to half of it. First time I read a book from this author and did not know it was a series until I looked into it after I started. I was trying to finish but I feel I already knew who the killer was going to be and it just seemed the characters were generic. Figured I would cut my losses and put the book down.

[Leezie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say this, Joan Hess knows how to do this and she knows how to keep it up to date. That being said, I still can't figure out how it is that so many people are deviously murdered in Arkansas and Claire is always there to figure it out. I also find her interpersonal issues to be tiring but as always I greatly enjoyed the antics of Caron and Inez, who frankly should be the main sleuths now.

[Meka Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book for the way the author writes her sentences. There's something about her writing that has an engaging flow. The premise of this mystery grabbed my interest, but it wasn't as light and easy as I prefer my cozy mysteries to be. Tons of characters and details, and yet the story dragged on. I stayed for the prose and the audio book narrator's voice more than the story itself.

[Jennifer D. Munro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to read when sick in bed (my mom loves this author and left this book behind on her latest trip). I've never read this author/series, and it was fine to jump in cold on #20 and still follow and enjoy.

[Lyn Soulia-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire always seems to get involved with local mysteries. This time she finds herself mixed up in a few mysteries. Never saw the second one coming. A good book and a funny little sleuth. A bit of a laugh out loud mystery.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately the last book in the series. This may have had the most tangled plot of any of them and the personal aspects of Claire's life were fun to read about it. I wish there were more books coming.