Book Review - Murder in the Corn Maze

Murder in the Corn Maze (2019) AMZN

from Kensington Cozies, 290 Pages (Granny Reid Mystery Book 2)

by G. A. McKevett (Author)

You may know author G. A. McKevett from their book series SAVANNAH REID MYSTERIES. This particular book is book 2 of the GRANNY REID MYSTERIES series, that tells about the popular grandmother figure from Savannah’s books.

In the small town of McGill, Georgia, Stella Reid and her seven grandchildren are enjoying a Halloween corn maze when Savannah stumbles upon a human skull. The skull is later identified as that of Rebecca Dingle, a woman who went missing decades earlier. Stella and Savannah team up to solve the cold case, and their investigation leads them to uncover long-buried secrets about Stella's family and the town's history.

Along the way, Stella and Savannah learn about the importance of friendship, family, and forgiveness. They also discover that even the most seemingly innocent places can harbor dark secrets.

Murder in the Corn Maze is a heartwarming and suspenseful mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end. It is a perfect book for fans of cozy mysteries and Southern Gothic fiction.

Here are the main themes of the book:

• The importance of friendship, family, and forgiveness.

• The dangers of secrets and the power of truth.

• The importance of never giving up on a mystery, no matter how old it is.

Case Study#3 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Red Rocks

I have written 2 blog posts featuring a total of 20 mazes that I abandoned for one reason or another. You can read them here:

Why I abandoned these 10 mazes - Mistakes in Maze making

10 More Abandoned Mazes - Mistakes in Maze Making

I took the time to evaluate the mazes and see why they did not work and try to determine - could they be salvaged ? Today I present my 3rd case study for improving one of those mazes, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. If you want to read the previous 3 case studies:

Case Study#1 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Tiki Totem Maze

Case Study#2 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Danzante Conchero Chichimeca Maze

Back to this maze. Here is what I wrote about the maze in the previous post on why it was abandoned:

“Abandoned Maze #5 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze

Never completed. I never made the maze…just the picture which I struggled with in terms of coloration - every photo of RR has different lighting so the colors are difficult. And most of all, the maze was going to be placed in the rocks but that is a bad structure to make a maze in. Mistake made: Poor subject matter for a maze”

And let’s look at that maze, also known as the ‘before’. Notice there is no maze yet.

Now here are the changes I made to (hopefully) improve the maze:

1. Color - I changed some colors to be less cartoonish. Tree trunks brown from a mustard color (even if you can’t see them). Buildings that were mustard toned to browns. Seating area from a pink tone to more of a brownish tone.

2. Layering Fixed - This is somewhat minor, but there was a layering problem under the trees where the seating ends. In this area there are small concrete or stone shelves between the seating and the rockface. I fixed this issue to expose them as intended.

3. Seating changed - I changed the searing area to include more accurate seats vs. walking area.

4. Start and Finish change - The arrows are a distraction from the picture. It says this is a maze clearly but I changed this to an internal START and GOAL that is less distracting.

5. Maze addition - I went with freehand drawn internal walls within the exposed rockface. I did not want straight lines in the rockface.

6. Zoom Change - Now that the maze was on the rockface and that was the focus I zoomed in to feature that, losing some of the previous details in the stage area. I had thought it was important to show the entire stage but now I disagree with old me.

7. Letter and branding changes - Changed the sizing of the name of the maze and it’s location (floating int he sky before was terrible) and added my branding to the top right corner.

I also did some minor clean up of details in the maze.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Better. I considered changing every tree but decided against it. I think the zoom in and the color changes made a big difference.

And now the “After”. The new maze:

I think this is an improvement. What do you think ?

Maze of the Week #88 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze

Maze of the Week #88 is my first maze of an outdoor amphitheater, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. This is another maze that I abandoned at one time, then went back and revised. It is also my 5th maze from Colorado (the other 4 links are below).

Photos: You can find many different wonderful photos of the amphitheatre, and depending on the time of day and the sun/clouds the colors of the red rocks change color tones. This photo is from flickr, DragonWoman

Red Rocks Amphitheater, flickr, DragonWoman

YouTube: Just a wonderful setting to see anything as shown in this video !

The Maze: Originally this maze was abandoned and made my list of mistakes in maze making. You can read about those mazes here:

Why I abandoned these 10 mazes - Mistakes in Maze making

Then I went back and made it into another case study, which you can read about here. Here is the final maze, in color and using a hand drawn construction.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Download is available on the homepage. Check out my YouTube channel where you can watch this maze be made and solved !!!

If you like mazes of Colorado things you might like these:

Colorado Welcome Sign Maze

Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde Maze

Blue Mustang Sculpture Maze (blucifer)

US Air Force Cadet Chapel Maze

Coming these next few weeks: Mazes with case studies !

Tiki Totem Maze

El Danzante Conchero Chichimeca Maze (last week)

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze (this one)

A maze of a sign

A maze of ruins

Case Study#2 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Danzante Conchero Chichimeca

I have written 2 blog posts featuring a total of 20 mazes that I abandoned for one reason or another. You can read them here:

Why I abandoned these 10 mazes - Mistakes in Maze making

10 More Abandoned Mazes - Mistakes in Maze Making

I took the time to evaluate the mazes and see why they did not work and try to determine - could they be salvaged ? Today I present my 2nd case study for improving one of those mazes, El Danzante Conchero Chichimeca. If you want to read the previous case study:

Case Study#1 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Tiki Totem Maze

Back to this maze. Here is what I wrote about the maze in the previous post on why it was abandoned:

“Abandoned Maze #6 - Dancing Man Statue Maze

I had high hopes (sing it!) for this when I started it. As you can see I made the figure and I was starting to add muscle definition (in red) when I came to the conclusion - there is no place for a maze - or if there is it will make the maze very large in order to be able to see/solve it. I want this to work because the figure took so long to make and I included so many details. Mistake made: Poor subject matter for a maze. ”

And let’s look at that maze, also known as the ‘before’, which I will note, because of the shape of the statue never got mazed !

And here are the changes I made to (hopefully) improve the maze:

1. Color - I added color to the monument. (It is of a statue in the center of a fountain). The feathers surrounding the head are colored for celebrations although it fades over time but I added blue/white gradient to get that right. I changed the muscular definition from red to grey.

2. Fountain added - The statue had a strong foundation (literally) but I wanted to add the fountain it was in to give it more context and add the wonderful coloring of the tiles.

3. Maze addition - This is where I was stuck before. If I make a maze through the body I hit many roadblocks along the way from all the wonderful dress of the dancer. So, I decided to use the fountain grid for the maze and see if I liked it. I did. Not ideal, but it solved the problem. I did need to add ‘layers’ to the concrete base of the statue that are not really there I felt a long gap in the maze didn’t feel tight.

4. Letter and brand - Add the name of the maze and add my branding to the top right corner.

I also did some minor clean up of details in the maze.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I wanted to add the maze to the body but never figured out a good way to do it. I think the work around using the fountain is ok. I considered but did not do the background buildings/sky. I felt the pose of the statue looking upward should be the focus.

And now the “After”. The new maze:

I think this is an improvement. What do you think ? Should I have added the background buildings ? Should I lighten the statue color ? Maze download is available on the homepage !