Genre: Mystery
Digital Book
ASIN: B007TA5342
186 Pages
April 10, 2013
⭐
Kit Forbes left her job as a high-powered forensic accountant in Seattle to beat the bottle and start fresh in the sleepy Oregon seaside town of Newport. She's contented with a quiet life baking scones in a local cafe -- until the murder of one of the cafe's regulars draws her into a chilling mystery involving the Tarot, false identities and a commune of hippies whose tragedies extend all the way from the sixties into present day. Kit's investigative instincts kick into high gear as she begins to uncover the sinister undertones beneath the surface of Newport's idyllic charms -- leading her to butt heads, and other body parts, with Newport Police Detective Patrick Munro. But when Kit becomes target of death threats from someone calling himself The Hanged Man, Patrick calls off their budding romance to focus on protecting her. Ignoring Patrick's edict to stop playing amateur detective, Kit delves still deeper into the town's secrets in search of the murderer, circling ever closer to the truth -- and to The Hanged Man's noose.
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This review contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so DO NOT read if you plan to read the book!!!!!
Okay -- I'll admit it. I'm a mystery snob. I expect the mysteries I read to be good on their own merit. By that, I mean the plot needs to be good enough without adding unnecessary diversions to sell the book. I'll explain further: Sex. Sex is not necessary in a good mystery. I feel (and only my opinion here, people) that the authors who do this only do so to make sure that their books sell.
This book did start well enough: a man is murdered, and a woman who knew him decides to investigate the murder. A well-used idea, and often done well itself. After that, the plot fell apart. Why did she decide to investigate? According to Kit (the protagonist), she barely knew the murdered man. Well, we all investigate murders of people who are mere acquaintances, don't we? (Insert sarcasm). So, the homicide detective (Patrick), who is investigating the case is a "real hunk." Naturally, she is drawn to him. Naturally, they clash almost immediately. He tells her to leave the case to him, but later on he 'thinks' -- and there is a reason I am using that particular word - that he will let her investigate on her own to see what she will come up with, and then, when things start happening, he gets mad at her for not telling the police. Huh? He decides to let her investigate, figuring she'll share with him, but never tells her to do this.
Here's another thing: the book is narrated by both Kit and Patrick. When it is Kit, she is talking in first person: 'I spoke with Nancy'; when Patrick is talking, it is third: 'he liked the way she looked.' That in itself bothered me. It was as if the author decided if she didn't define it this way then her reader was too stupid to figure out who was narrating (I could be wrong; again, only my opinion). At any rate, it began to grate on me. Please use one or the other form of speaking; not throw them back and forth. Quite annoying.
So, back to the sex: they meet, they clash, and less than a couple of days later they're having hot and heavy sex (with descriptions, for those who want to know). All the while she says she doesn't want him to think that 'she's his for the taking'. Last I knew, jumping in bed that fast pretty much is his for the taking. After they sleep together, Patrick decides that because she's involved in the murder investigation, they can't get involved. (A little late to be thinking that). Plus, since it is the only sex scene in the book (thank you!) I imagine the gratuitous sex is thrown in there for no reason except to keep people interested in the book. How naive of me to think this, though - it was thrown in because the true plot was the relationship between Kit and Patrick, not the murder.
Also, with the exception of the two main characters, there is no depth to anyone else. They are all cardboard; and I really didn't care about any of them. Example: her landlord, Walter, shows up, is described as pretty much hating people; a few pages later he and Kit have words, he has a heart attack, is taken to the hospital, murdered while there -- and I didn't even care. He didn't seem real, and neither did anyone else. Just people she could get information from, and it appeared that it was the only reason they were in the book at all. Even the murderer only appeared for a few pages in the book, and it seemed that he was only thrown in toward the end because the author didn't know who to blame the murders on. Practically the entire book was taken up with the emphasis on the "non-relationship" and misunderstandings between Kit and Patrick -- while they were both trying to find out who the murderer was. When everything was finally revealed, it seemed contrived. The "secret" really didn't need to be a secret at all.
Now I think I'll read a real mystery. Maybe Agatha Christie...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/313259944
More on Elizabeth Stewart's Books: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7257582.Elizabeth_Stewart
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