Murder by Death

Task 1:  Find some redeeming quality in the book you liked least this year and post about it.

I was going to do this task based on Murder in the Museum, but the only redeeming quality I could come up with was the cover and title.  That's all I got - the book sucked.

Since this didn't seem in keeping with the spirit of the task, I decided instead to go with The Road to Cardinal Valley by Earlene Fowler, a book I liked only slightly more than Murder in the Museum.  

All the things I didn't like you can read here, if you're interested, but in spite of it all, I did enjoy the setting of the small ranching town of Cardinal Valley and its multi-ethnic population of characters.  When not involved in the plot, they are all (mostly) likeable, wise, affable characters.  I liked that the teen with the best reason to be horribly cobbled by her own backstory ended up being the strongest, most independent, and competent character of the bunch.