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A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel
A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel
A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel
Audiobook8 hours

A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel

Written by Sophie Littlefield

Narrated by Kym Dakin

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel!

Stella Hardesty dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench shortly before her fiftieth birthday. A few years later, she's so busy delivering home-style justice on her days off, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she barely has time to run her sewing shop in her rural Missouri hometown. Some men need more convincing than others, but it's usually nothing a little light bondage or old-fashioned whuppin' can't fix. Since Stella works outside of the law, she's free to do whatever it takes to get the job done---as long as she keeps her distance from the handsome devil of a local sheriff, Goat Jones.

When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks Stella for help with her no-good husband, Roy Dean, it looks like an easy case. Until Roy Dean disappears with Chrissy's two-year-old son, Tucker. Stella quickly learns that Roy Dean was involved with some very scary men, as she tries to sort out who's hiding information and who's merely trying to kill her. It's going to take a hell of a fight to get the little boy back home to his mama, but if anyone can do it, it's Stella Hardesty.

Sophie Littlefield's A Bad Day for Sorry won an Anthony Award for Best First Novel and an RT Book Award for Best First Mystery. It was also shortlisted for Edgar, Barry, Crimespree, and Macavity Awards, and it was named to lists of the year's best mystery debuts by the Chicago Sun-Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 12, 2011
ISBN9781427215642
Author

Sophie Littlefield

Sophie Littlefield grew up in rural Missouri. She writes the post-apocalyptic Aftertime series for LUNA Books. She also writes paranormal fiction for young adults. Her first novel, A Bad Day for Sorry, won an Anthony Award for Best First Novel and an RT Award for Best First Mystery. It was also shortlisted for Edgar, Barry, Crimespree and Macavity Awards, and it was named to lists of the year's best mystery debuts by the Chicago Sun-Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Sophie lives in Northern California. Sophie loves to hear from her readers via her email: sophie@sophielittlefield.com

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Reviews for A Bad Day for Sorry

Rating: 3.2777777777777777 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

18 ratings13 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
     Great title--okay book. Southern women in their mid-forties to mid-sixties should find the humor in this. Revenge against low-life men is the theme and while far-fetched in action, what woman scorned or worse hasn't wished for a Stella of her very own to turn to at some time in their marriage.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pains me to admit this, but I am probably the target audience for this book: 'Of an age', a mom, and happy to see bad folks get their just desserts.

    Littlefield's writing reminded me a bit of the chatty style that Janet Evanovich does so well. And we were treated to an unlikely heroine (Stella is what Stephanie Plumb might become if she ever wised up) who gets herself saddled with an equally unlikely sidekick (Chrissy ain't no Lola, but she does have some mighty useful skills). And I did like Mr. Goat.

    Lots of grins in this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you are looking for a great heroine who kicks butt, enjoys a good breakfast (preferably involving large amounts of cholesterol), and is neither young, skinny, nor endowed with dubious superpowers, this is a great book for you. A fun read, with great authentic settings and characters. I laughed out loud, was held in suspense, and enjoyed the denouement. Good summer read. I'll be looking forward to seeing what Stella Hardesty does next: both with the wife- and girlfriend-beaters she polices, and with her appealing Sheriff and potential beau.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I stumbled on this one...somewhere...probably as one of the many free Kindle or Nook downloads I accumulate.Stella Hardesty to me is an aging Stephanie Plum with more baggage. Stella actually survived an abusive marriage...even though her husband did not. She spends the rest of her life running a little sewing shop and helping other abused women pay back those who've made their lives miserable. Stella barely stays above the law but is not in the least bit a hardened assassin of any kind. She is tough enough to do what needs to be done but sensitive enough to feel deeply for others. There are many others in this series and I will probably read another one, but I'm not hanging on the edge of my seat.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wanted to like this mystery/thriller more than I did. The main character, a 50ish woman whose main line of work consists of taking on domestically violent men, was a joy to read about, but the writing just didn't quite hold up. Still, I'm going to read the sequel and see if it grows on me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think at one end of the character reality scale you have Denise Mina's Patty Meeghan, trying to claw her way to advancement in her journalist profession through hard work and persistence, and at the other end perhaps Lisbeth Salander who can do anything, a Superwoman sans cape and flying skills. Stella in "A Bad Day for Sorry" is somewhere between the two, a lot closer to LS than to PM. And that's one problem I had with this book. An interesting plot idea, a woman who takes vengeance on men who abuse their women, though I'm not sure it can sustain a series for very long and still stay fresh. The second problem was the lack of tension until about two thirds through the book, then it became very action oriented with a junkyard scene that unfortunately stretches reality as much as the elastic in Stella's.....well, never mind. I very much liked the descriptions of rural Missouri; I suspect the author nailed it but I'm not really sure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Gritty and ebullient, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY creates a menopausal super hero that I couldn't help but root for. Stella Hardesty definitely carries flavors of Stephanie Plum (complete with cute cop), but Stella faces a much darker, realistic set of consequences. I particularly enjoyed the peak under Stella's cape, where she learns not only about her own business, but also about what others are capable of.

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The title grabbed me but the story did not. Found this book to be poorly written and not interesting. Violence to cure violence? Abusive men submitting to bondage treatment from a 50 year old woman so they stop beating on their wives/girlfriends? Don't waste your time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Some men just don't know when to stop. Stella Hardesty had enough abuse from her husband, Ollie. She finally hit him with a wrench and removed the problem. She pleaded self defense and was freed.Now, women who don't know how to rid themselves from abusive situations come to Stella for help.Stella is a fifty year old women whose mood is darkened with the effects of menopause. She owns an assortment of guns and bondage tools that she puts to use convincing heavy handed men that they better behave.One of her clients, Chrissy tells her that her husband, Roy Dean, has abducted her two year old child, Tucker. Chrissy has been abused in the past by Roy Dean and Stella was forced to give him a lesson in manners.Stella attempts to trace Roy Dean's trail which leads to some unsavory associates. She makes a tatical mistake and ends up in the hospital.The sheriff is Stella's friend and possibly more. Once he leaves her bedside, Chrissy arrives and becomes more forceful. She demands a more active role in finding Tucker and the women agree to work together.Stella is a fresh voice in women's literature. The author has a unique writing style mixing humor, assertiveness and compassion in her overweight, menopausal lead character. Her arrival makes this reader think of Daisy Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard, aged thirty years and put on considerable weight and about to begin her adventures.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Stella took her own abusive husband out of the picture with a wrench just before her 50th birthday. Now, she helps other women escape abusive situations with her own brand of justice. Stella skates on pretty thin legal ice so she tries to steer clear of the local sheriff but he's just so darn attractive! In this first book of the series, Stella helps Chrissy Shaw track down her baby, most likely stolen by an abusive ex who may have gotten himself mixed up with the mob. Sophie Littlefield's story lines may not always be believable but Stella is an admirable, tough character who has endured a lot in life and isn't about to take any more crap. Light, fun reading but not a cozy - contains a fair amount of violence and profanity. The audiobook narrator does a far better job with female than male characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    At age 50, Stella Hardesty is the best shape of her life, thanks to her new part-time job. Most of the week is spent operating the sewing machine sales and repair shop that she owns in a small mid-Missouri town, and in her spare time she enjoys sewing and quilting. But she has less time for sewing lately, since she has begun helping other women like herself. Three years ago, her long-abusive husband was found dead in their home from a blow to the head with a wrench. Since the sheriff chose not to pay too much attention to all the evidence, the death was determined to be accidental, and Stella was never charged with a crime. Now she is free and Stella is using her time and energy to help other women caught in the same situation that she was. Her reputation has spread, and she has clients in all the surrounding counties, plus Kansas City, St Louis, and even some in neighboring states. She also has a reputation among the men in the area, too, and there is a rumor that there are bodies buried all over the county. Stella denies the rumor, but not too loudly. She has developed the skills needed to confront the abusive husbands and boyfriends of her clients and "persuade" them to change their ways. She keeps a locked gunbox bolted to the floor of her jeep, carries her "hand tools" in a Tupperware container, and puts a pair of sewing shears in her ankle holster. She works outside the law, and is careful not to draw too much attention to herself, but she is more concerned with helping the women who are depending on her than she is with keeping herself out of jail. The trouble is, there is a new sheriff in town whose attention Stella wouldn't mind. And maybe he feels the same way.I thought this book was delightful, if a little uneven. Stella Hardesty is more Grandma Mazur than sweet little old lady. But she is smart, and only uses as much force as she needs to. The humorous touches - like carrying handcuffs and homemade lock picks in Tupperware - aren't overdone. And people who tangle with bad guys alone in dark places wind up in the hospital - just like they would in real life. I think Littlefield is off to a good start here.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This debut crime novel introduces Stella Hardesty, a menopausal survivor of domestic violence, who supplements her income from the sewing machine repair shop she owns with a side business, avenging women who have been abused. When one of her clients shows up crying on her doorstep and tells Stella that her son has been kidnapped by her no good ex-husband, Stella sets out to find the child. A lot of action, a lot of violence, and a lot of heart follow. Stella is a unique, kick ass character, and I can't wait to read more about her. This book is a great piece of Southern-fried, women-empowered, gritty noir. Four stars.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    In the end, I couldn't get over being extremely uncomfortable with the author's portrayal of Stella Hardesty, the main character. After killing her abusive husband, Stella has a "side business" serving out vigilante justice to other wife abusers. She has burned them, cut off limbs, and otherwise tortured them, but seems to have absolutely no qualms about it. At the same time she's helping out the neighborhood kid, has a soft spot for down-at-the-heels clients, and calls everyone "darlin." This could have been an interesting character study, but the author has chosen not to pursue it - at all. It's as if Stella's side business is supposed to be part of the humorous, down-home atmosphere of the novel rather than a glaring psychological conflict (and a pretty accurate mirroring of the abusive husbands' crimes).Plus, what's with Stella never going to the cops? Eventually, she just comes off as stupid, like one of those people in a horror movie who just has to open the door even though we all know the killer is behind it.