I fully expected to like this book. I mean, a small town book club focused on murder mysteries, quirky characters of a range of ages, and some budding romance. What's not to like? Much to my surprise, while I certainly didn't dislike the book, I never fully got into it, either. In other words, I didn't much care whodunit. Don't let that reaction detour you from it, however, as there's every chance you'll fully enjoy it. For me, I have decided that I need to be more careful about requesting books with a hoard of characters to keep track of as I had trouble sorting out who was who and how they were all connected. The main characters, Judy and daughter Sarah, of course, were easy, albeit maybe that Sarah has a dog named Gordon had something to do with that. She's also suffered loss, a recurring theme, and Judy worries about her. Judy created an online site for those who've lost a spouse. Judy, on the other hand, is co-owner/operator of a funeral parlor, not the usual job for even the quirkiest amateur sleuth, I'd say. In any case, aside from Jack, who I kept wishing someone would put a sock in his mouth given his tendency to complicate questioning by his habit of blurting out things better left unsaid, the others sorta drifted in and out of my mind with me having to refresh my memory of who they were. They were all generally likable, even Jack, but would have liked more character development.
The mystery was fine, albeit it sorta faded into the background when potential issues with Sarah's new beau popped up. Too good to be true? Maybe, but back to the murder. Who killed seemingly harmless librarian Wendy? Judy is convinced it was murder although the police are calling it suicide. It was fun to read the text chain the book club members utilized, particularly Judy's frequently almost nonsensical texts. Spell check seems to have had no chance with her. That said, her skills in seeing things others miss or misunderstand are excellent. Even though she wouldn't have considered Wendy among her close friends, her observations of the death scene prove helpful. Despite this, her skills and those of the rest of the book club are, at best, feeble. Obviously, reading about solving a case and actually doing so are two very, very different things.
Bottom line, without revealing much more of the plot, there are several suspects. These range from a mysterious possible romantic interest to others who've had disagreements with her, however minor. Judy is a bit distracted by Sarah's romance, not sure of the prospective son-in-law. There are reasons, as you'll discover as you read. As for the murder, convincing the police that there is evidence that suggest murder, not suicide, might be the first step, though the club members ineptness doesn't help move that along much. I had both the ebook and audio for this, btw, and give kudos to narrator Jilly Bond for her ability to differentiate the multiple characters as well as capture the humor or drama of the moments. Since the plot evolves primarily around the dialogue, even the seemingly mundane, unrelated chatter, having a good narrator was a perk. The audio flowed along nicely and was easy to listen to and, in fact, may have helped me differentiate characters better than the text. Toss in a bit of a twisty ending and while I was never quite fully drawn in, it was still an enjoyable read/listen. Thanks #Bookouture for making this available to me for an early read. Given that ending, I'm leaning toward thinking I'll be ready to give the next book another chance, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment