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Carol Guthrie Heilman

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Agnes Hopper Shakes Up Sweetbriar (The Adventures of Agnes Hopper Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Carol Guthrie Heilman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 923 ratings

Book 1 of 2: The Adventures of Agnes Hopper Series

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Nominated as a Pat Conroy Southern Beach Music Mystery

Summer's steamy haze coats North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, but feisty Agnes Marie Hopper discovers the heat isn't the only thing causing her blood to boil. After a kitchen fire destroys her home, Agnes moves in with her daughter, Betty Jo. Three months later they come to an understanding: neither can tolerate living with the other. So on a sultry August morning, Betty Jo drives Agnes and her few belongings to Sweetbrier Manor, a local retirement home and former house of ill repute.

With no intention of staying, Agnes devises a scheme to sneak out of the Manor and find another place to live. Before she can make her exit, though, she runs into her best friend from high school, along with some other quirky characters. With a nose for trouble, Agnes learns some of the residents are being robbed, over-medicated, and denied basic cable and Internet access. Armed with nothing more than seventy-one years of common sense and a knack for pushing people's buttons, Agnes sets out to expose the unscrupulous administrator, protect her new friends, and restore Sweetbriar Manor's reputation as a "rewarding and enriching lifestyle." But the real moment of truth comes when Agnes is forced to choose between her feisty self-reliance and the self-sacrifice that comes with caring for others.

Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations or strong language. May also contain content of an inspirational nature. Amazon customers who purchase the print version have the option to purchase the Kindle eBook at no charge.

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About the Author

Carol Heilman, a coal-miner s daughter, married a farmer s son, her high school sweetheart, over fifty years ago. She and her husband live in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Their children and grandchildren live near the east and west coasts where they often visit. Carol enjoys traveling, reading, writing, hiking, and cooking for friends. She is a recipient of two Carrie McCray Awards for writing excellence. To find out more about Carol, visit: carolheilman.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00SA92I2G
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (January 22, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 22, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1952 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 202 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #884,243 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,140 in Women's Detective Fiction
- #8,044 in Amateur Sleuth Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #20,918 in Women Sleuths (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 923 ratings

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Carol Guthrie Heilman

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Carol Heilman, a coal miner's daughter, married her high school sweetheart, a farmer's son. She began writing family stories, especially about her dad's Appalachian humor, for newspapers and magazines. One day her mother said, "We don't have any secrets any more! "Carol's novel, Agnes Hopper Shakes Up Sweetbriar, was inspired by her mother's spunky spirit and her dad's humor. She is the recipient of two Carrie McCray awards for writing excellence. Carol lives in the low country of SC with her husband of fifty-plus years. They love to play cards, go antiquing, hike, and visit grandsons on the east and west coasts.

Carol's second and third books in the Agnes Hopper Adventure Series, Agnes Hopper Bets On Murder, and Agnes Hopper Tackles Mayhem at the Manor, are now available on Amazon.

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4.3 out of 5

923 global ratings

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Christy M.

You'll love Agnes

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2017

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Agnes Hopper is such a fun character! I had downloaded this book the first time I saw it because I loved the cover and the synopsis sounded cute. I love cozy mystery books, and it was free at the time. Then, along with the other hundreds of Kindle books I have, I forgot about it! I saw it on a Facebook page I follow and clicked to check it out on Amazon. Low and behold, Amazon told me that I already had this book! I promptly searched for it and started reading.

This book is heartwarming and funny with a bunch of quirky characters who will work their way into your heart. You get drawn into the story right away because Agnes’s personality just leaps off of the page, and you know you want to know her. She’s got a pet pig, for goodness sakes! She’s not too happy about moving to Sweetbriar Manor, but it’s a good thing she does. She uncovers some unscrupulous activity and gets right down to taking care of it.

I really love the characters in this book! The story moves quickly and the dialog will keep you entertained. Cozy mystery books are some of my favorites. This is one that is done very well. I’m hoping the author writes more in the series, but I haven’t seen anything about coming books. Even if this is the only one, you’re not left hanging, so it can be read as a stand-alone.

9 people found this helpful

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Kristi Cramer

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a clean quasi-mystery involving slightly daffy senior citizens.

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2016

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This book came to my attention through the Beach Reads Bonanza 2016 (a Facebook event) and I bought it because it sounded cute. Amazon gave me the option to add the audio version for a couple extra dollars, so I did.

At times silly and heartbreaking, Agnes' story was also often poignant and heartwarming. Agnes herself is a perfect storm of happenstance and tomfoolery. I was transported to Sweetbriar Manor and listened to her adventures with bemused enjoyment.

My only quibble with the story is that I wasn't sure how it should be categorized. I'd thought it was a cozy mystery, but I thought Agnes did very little in the way of actual sleuthing. She mostly bumbled into questions and answers, and powered her way into and out of trouble through sheer obstinacy. She was more of the catalyst for others to come forward and see their way to sharing their own pieces of the puzzle, and therefore solving the mystery. I was a little confused by the ending, and whether or not the perpetrators got their just rewards or not.

The characters were all well drawn, and made for a delightful cast of characters with stories that ranged from tragic to delusional. They stayed true to character throughout.

The performance was delightful - although Agnes' voice could get to be a little whiny at times. I did have my own ideas of what the characters should look like based on the voices, and then a bit of narrative would remind me of how wrong I was. That was a little jarring, but hard to help, as everyone comes with their own preconceptions when it comes to a character's voice.

All in all, I'd recommend this to anyone who thinks a clean cozy mystery involving slightly daffy senior citizens would fit the bill for the day. Be prepared with your hanky if you are prone to tears at the misfortunes of others.

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018

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Very well written, a tad on the drama side of the genres. I was expecting something a bit more humorous or whimsical based on the cover. While there were moments of levity, for me the book was very sad. Agnes's daughter packs her up and takes her to an assisted living center. While mother and daughter constantly sniped at one another, and it was just as much Agnes's fault as her daughter's fault, the situation felt terribly sad to me. Then at Sweetbriar there are several what in my mind seems like throw away older people whose relatives simply do not care enough about them to visit or make sure they are ok. And we find out the residents of Sweetbriar are definitely not ok. Agnes struggles with wanting to help versus wanting her independence by trying to get her own rental. The ending was awesome. It was a fast read as the story truly was well told and I found I could not put the book down until I found out how it ended.

3 people found this helpful

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Karsiyaka

Depressing and Ageist

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2015

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Initially this book with a beautiful cover and an interesting story line looked and sounded promising but unfortunately, it was depressing and disappointing. I loved the author’s style of writing, which flows smoothly, but the content of the book left a lot to be desired for. The book sounds like written by a very young person since it supports the terrible stereotypes about older people. The characters in the book are helpless, hopeless, crippled by fear, demented and weak. Even the main character who is supposed to be shaking things up goes through the book aimlessly with no plan of action, breaking rules for no rhyme or reason. These senior citizens don’t have cell phones or don’t use computers because they are not capable of using them, as well as being mentally and emotionally challenged. This way of thinking encourages negative stereotypes about senior citizens and has nothing to do with reality. Older people I have known all my life have been competent, wise, physically active, and independent as well as tech savvy like teenagers, not to mention marathon running senior citizens in my part of the country . Seventy five year old Jane Fonda is as active as ever and says these are the best years of her life. At the age of almost eighty, the prolific writer M. C. Beaton who shares her time between Cotswolds’ and Paris, still continues writing and living a full life. What is amazing is Agnes Hopper at the mere age of 71 has no idea about finances, renting a house, making use of her financial assets to create the life style she needs, buying a new home or making a phone call using a cell phone. This talented author would make better use of her talent writing about something other than senior citizens which she seems to know very little of. Writing style deserves four stars and the content gets two.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

J'attend la suite impatiemment

Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2018

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Un bel exemple de solidarité, un peu d'intrigues et de suspense et voilà un bon livre pour se divertir et relaxer

Kate

Agnes Is Delightful!

Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2017

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What a fun book! I really enjoy books that are set in senior's homes/care centres: likely because I had the wonderful opportunity to work in one before I got married. My memories from that time are very fond and precious ones.
Not only did this book bring up those happy memories, the characters were FUN! Agnes was a hoot and a half: I especially liked how she kept up a conversation with her dear, departed Charlie. Smiley was a dear, and Pearl, William, Francesca, Lollipop, and Alice rounded out the crew quite nicely. I could see each of these characters in my mind's eye as I was reading along, and I grew to really enjoy them.
This was a 'cozy mystery', and while there were some intriguing bits, I felt like the mystery itself wasn't so mysterious. I think this worked better as a story about the value of family and community rather than a mystery, but s a story about family and community, it worked spectacularly well!

gillian harpur

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2016

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Funny in times

sheranO

Agnes hopper shakes up sweetbriar

Reviewed in Canada on September 27, 2017

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Lovely book of one woman's journey after losing her life partner and her acceptance and embracement of her new life and new friendships.

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Agnes Hopper Shakes Up Sweetbriar (The Adventures of Agnes Hopper Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

Nominated as a Pat Conroy Southern Beach Music Mystery

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Carol Guthrie Heilman

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