Invisible (Ivy Malone Mysteries, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Aug 12, 2018 Chaitra rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, humor, first-of-a-series, cozy-mystery, christianity, amateur-sleuth, seniors

It’s a hoot when Ivy isn’t trying to give random somebodies grief about how they practice faith. It’s a funny mystery, and Ivy is suitably self-aware. She’s not a super woman and she knows that about herself. There’s a rather convoluted plot that ends up in an odd place, but I also mostly liked how it got there.

I don’t relate to organized religion, but I’ve liked faith based books before. But Lorena McCourtney is not Shusaku Endo or Marilynne Robinson and the Christian messages in the book felt ...more

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Sep 16, 2014 Anita Reads rated it liked it

Shelves: crime, mystery, chick-lit, cozy-mystery, kindle, read-2015

The reason for my rating is as follows:

The beginning of the story was a little slow for me, it took me about the first 50-60 pages before I thought it started picking up. I really enjoyed the mystery of it though, very well thought out, and I particularly enjoyed the friendship between Ivy and detective Dix. Their conversations mostly always put a smile on the face.
I had kind of guessed who the killer was, but hadn't guessed the sub-plot. Which kept the story interesting until the end. ...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Gina rated it really liked it

Shelves: part-of-a-series, chick-lit, book-club, humor, christian, freebie, suspense, kindle, mystery, books-i-own-read

Goodreads Description- She's not your average crime fighter Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it's only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation. Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any s Goodreads Description- She's not your average crime fighter Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it's only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation. Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

This book was laugh out loud funny! It reminded me of my own grandmother and her friend and the entire time I was reading this book, I was thinking of them creating their own capers. Ivy Malone is a Christian LOL (little old lady) and she lives by her best friend Thea. After visiting Thea's aunt's gravesite and finding it vandalized, Ivy gets upset and wants to know who is behind the upturning of the gravestones. Thea also has a mysterious young rentee, Kendra Alexander, who is shy and likes to keep her life private. Ivy soon finds that her life is turned upside down and realizes that no one pays any attention to LOLs....hence the title Invisible. Ivy uses her "invisibility" to her advantange to start snooping around into the events going on around her and often finds herself in some incredibly strange situations that really are funny.

The story is written in first person, the voice of Ivy, which allowed the readers to hear her inner thoughts which definitely added to the humorous parts of the plot. By the end of the story, I felt like I really knew Ivy and could imagine her being my own grandmother, although a bit more outrageous than my own. Ivy's friend from the police department, Matt "Dix" Dixon, is the only other character that is really well developed. There are several other minor players, but I would like to have known more about the "bad guys". But you do have to realize that most 80 something ladies would never be able to physically do what Ivy does in the book, so it requires some suspension of disbelief. For a Kindle freebie, I was definitely impressed with the book and I will be looking for the next in the series to see what kind of trouble Ivy gets into next! 4 stars and definitely worth a read....especially for free! ...more

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May 08, 2012 ChrisGA rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this story of a feisty LOL or little old lady and her singlehanded campaign to right wrongs and find justice for her dead friend. Ivy is feeling invisible, as if no one even notices she is there when dealing with the general public. She resents implications she is crazy or paranoid by neighbors and the police, but bravely risks her life, body, and peace of mind to do what she thinks is best whether it is jumping down into ditches, stalking bad guys or staking out a cemetery.

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Dec 11, 2012 Kme_17 rated it really liked it

Shelves: housewives-fall-winter-blues-readin, 2014

I really enjoyed this book. It was an inspirtion mystery book with the one solving the mystery is a self described LOL (a little old lady.) It was great fun. Ivy was very funny and kind. I am looking forward to reading the others in the series.

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