Taylor Kelsey Mysteries by A.J. Diaz - Starting August 7, 2015

[Megan]

This is a collection of the first 5 books from the Taylor Kelsey Mystery Series. Taylor Kelsey is a 16 year old detective.

[Melanie]

Book one reading

-- Chapter 5 --

(view spoiler)[Jeff is acting like a totally dumb cop! Not even letting the waitress/witness finish stating her full name and just putting down her first name and "Brown Hair"??? That's crazy.

Taylor right away shows her smarts and I have a feeling she'll remind me of Nancy from the Nancy Drew books. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Finished book one. (view spoiler)[I thought it was a cute and fun story. It reminded me of Nancy Drew - what about you?? (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

What (view spoiler)[did you think about how her friend rescued her? It was definitely brave of her. I also thought it was silly how that guy used a golf cart. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Oh, and I started the next one, but it'll be a while before k can finish. Have to read my scavenger hunt book first :)

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "Book one reading

-- Chapter 5 --

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[

I completely agree! I can't believe he's made it to lieutenant with the way he behaves.

Yes she does show her smarts and she does remind me a little of her too, but she almost seems too smart...know what I mean? (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Megan wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Book one reading

-- Chapter 5 --

[spoilers removed]"





Yes! (view spoiler)[she seems a little too smart to me, too. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Finished chapter 11 (view spoiler)[

Not really loving the story so far. It's okay, but so much of it seems silly.

It was so dumb of them to shout at the people stealing the elephant, without first calling the police. And from where did Jason come? I know he said he saw everything happen, and he's supposed to be really dumb, but how come he didn't call the police before he tackled the guy? And he leaves the gun in the forest, because his mom doesn't let him have guns? This book just seems so ridiculous so far, unless he's just acting dumb and he's one of the ones in on the theft but that's seems unlikely. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Yeah, there were (view spoiler)[a lot of silly/stupid things, but I kind of gave the story the benefit of the doubt and didn't think too much about the silliness. ;) (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Finished chapter 20 (view spoiler)[

I can't believe she did it again! For someone who thinks she's so smart, why did Taylor just say to Jack Cadell "You're the murderer. You killed Brad Ringer. I know how you did it, and I know why. And I know the connection between the robberies and the murder."? Did she think they were going to stay there and wait for the police? She's just lucky that they didn't use the gun they had with them and make them go with them somewhere.

Also, what was with Susan and Chad calling the ceiling in the men's bathroom the roof? Or did I misread that? Because when they kept saying roof and had to reread the scene and make sure they were still in the bathroom, which they were, and then it didn't make sense to me why they called it that.

And honestly, Taylor seems like a whiny baby. Oh, her parents love and care for her and because she didn't tell them about being kidnapped and almost killed, they ground her and tell her to stop investigating, so that makes her dad "the worst dad ever"? I get that she was having fun trying to solve the crimes, but for someone who's supposed to be so mature she sure doesn't act like it.

It going to take a lot to make me love this story. If I don't think to much about it and just read, it's okay, but it's nothing great even then. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Finished book 1 (view spoiler)[

It was a little cute, but for the most part it was kind of dull and so silly. The only part that reminded me of Nancy Drew was the fact that both main character were young women solving mysteries. I thought Taylor was extremely immature. I know she is only sixteen, but when the story goes on and on about how mature and smart she is and I never saw either, except when she solved the mystery, I just don't get it. And speaking of solving the mystery, that was the most far-fetched plan ever. Who creates a hidden chamber, where they hide live circus animals, under what sounds like a popular golf course? And the intricate way they had to open it, to turn every hole's cup to a certain position...what if while they were "playing golf" one of the people behind them accidentally changed the position? Would they then have played another round just to get into it? And no one ever saw them open the chamber up, when it sounds like they open it whenever they want (even in the middle of the day)? So silly! And how did Taylor know it was a hidden chamber? Was that her smarts coming into play finally?

I thought it was sweet that her friends (Abby, Chad (on that silly golf cart), and Susan) all went to rescue her, but why did none of them call the police, or someone else, first? The only except could be Abby, because maybe she thought her Dad would call, but come on Susan! You were kidnapped, then almost runoff the road at gunpoint, and still you just run off into danger? (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Started the second book and finished chapter 10 (view spoiler)[

Some parts are a little better in this story versus the previous one, but Taylor is still really annoying. I'm so sick of hearing how beautiful she is! I get it, she's the most beautiful girl in the whole town (which we learned in the first book is not small, but well over 200,000 people), and everyone notices how beautiful she is too and make sure to tell her. On top of that she's really mature and super smart, she can solve crimes by just watching the news! To me her observations are a little silly, who doesn't notice almost all the things she does? The cops all seem a little dumb in this book, even though I like Jeff he's definitely the silliest one.

Susan's funny to me in this book, so I'm actually liking her.

And it's SO obvious what the big mystery of 1955 is going to be. The people who robbed the bank put the loot in the statue, that's why the arm was off, and for some reason couldn't get back to retrieve it later. Someone else either figured it out, or was a relative of the robbers (since you'd think the original robbers are too old now, if they're even still living), and smashed the statue to get it. I could be wrong, but I'm sure that's going to be it. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Finished chapter 16 (view spoiler)[

Because Scott has drafts in Times New Roman font Taylor thinks he's culprit? Unless I'm mistaken that's one of the most common fonts, so to me that proves nothing. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Finished the second book (view spoiler)[

Again, all the cases are connected! This is so silly and predictable. (hide spoiler)]