Author: Ana T. Drew
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9798865578865
Independently Published
248 Pages
$9.99; $4.99 Amazon
October 16, 2023
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It's January 4, 1961, and Marseilles housemaid Annie Malian is in love. It's also the day her fiancé Rene takes his life under peculiar circumstances.
Many decades later, an old Christmas postcard addressed to Annie arrives, and all her doubts come flooding back.
At 84, there's no time to waste!
Annie enlists the help of Rose Tassy, an eccentric retired teacher and amateur sleuth.
Thus begins an unforgettable journey from Provence to a quaint village in Picardie and then on to the sparkling Riviera, with a detour through wintry Paris.
Amid yuletide festivities, Annie and Rose naviage perilous terrain. Their list of suspects quickly grows. Was it Rene's older brother? Maybe the ex-gangster turned chicken farmer? The powerful Monegasque tycoon? Stumped, Rose begins to question her detective mettle when a new death compounds the plot...
This Christmas, will Annie receive the overdue truth as a gift?
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Annie is determined to prove her long-dead love did not die by his own hand. She seeks the help of Rose Tassy, another elder who is working toward getting her PI license. But when Rose hesitates to take her case, Annie makes her an offer, and they set out to find out who killed Rene and why.
They travel through France seeking answers, including visiting a tycoon, Rene's family, and a retired gangster. Are they going to be able to find the truth? And what will Annie do if he did actually kill himself...
I wanted to read this story because I love mysteries, and also Christmas. I must tell you that while it does take place at Christmas, there is very little in the story that actually alludes to it, and what is done seems rushed.
I didn't really care for either of the main characters; Annie is a prude and judgmental toward everyone; Rose is twice as self-centered as Annie and narcissistic. Both of them together were very hard to read about. But the two elderly women manage to make it through to the end, with a resolution in hand.
But the resolution felt odd, and none of the characters were fully developed; everyone save Rose and Annie were just bits and pieces of the plot. When the killer is finally discovered, we really have learned very little about them. Such is the way of this book; the writing seemed disjointed. I hate to give mediocre reviews, but the book did not flow. There were too many characters and most of them didn't really need to be included. In fact, if there were less, this might have been a very good book.
Unfortunately, I cannot offer a better review. However, I do have a different book by this author, and I will read that one to see if anything improves.
I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Ana T. Drew's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/ana-t-drew/
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