Fiction, Murder Mystery

4****

Blurb: When Sophie Childress discovers a letter written in 1920 by the witness to a murder, she enlists Noah Pennyman—owner of the house where it took place—to investigate. Who was the victim? What did the killer do with the body—not to mention a carpetbag full of money? Together they expose a complex web of family ties and lies that has persisted through four generations in the historic village of Marmion Grove. When two more corpses are unearthed, Noah and Sophie are faced with too many victims and not enough murderers.

THOUGHTS: I enjoyed parts of this story – the setting is very well done. I felt like I was really there. And there was a satisfying ending. All good things. But… there was a lot of repetition in the story. I got to the point where I skipped entire sections because they were just rehashing what we’d already been told. Secondly, there was a lot of booze. They never seemed to just have a cup of coffee. Everything was alcohol. Third… Noah. The male main character. He seemed nice one moment and weird the next. Almost like he had ADHD or something like that. He was an inconsistent character for me. Finally, there was Harry (all three of them). I had trouble keeping up with which one we were talking about and all of Harry III’s lies. He couldn’t tell the truth if he tried.

So, yes, issues. A lot of them. But… that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good story. This was a murder mystery with roots that went back into the late 1800s, but was mostly about the 1920 murder, compounded with the 1990 ones. I did love that Noah got closure with his father. And that he kept the house. Nicely done.

Recommended with the caveats above.