R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 4/10/2019 + 1452 more book reviews

DCI Louisa Smith is in charge of her first major crime case and is spearheading investigation into two deaths discovered in Morden Village. Both victims are linked to many of the same people. While one is clearly a murder the other appears to be a suicide.

The author has inserted dispatch logs, emails and charts to mark the progress of the investigation which I particularly enjoyed reading. I found myself looking forward to each item as it appeared and purusing the information with interest. The author's intent is to demonstrate how these items impact actions of those involved in the case. One understands why when one realizes that the author worked as a police analyst prior to taking up writing.

While there are many characters to keep in place but I didn't find it difficult to do so. Each has his/her own role and the novel explores the extremes of their emotions. DCI Smith is worried about success as it is her first time in this role. Others are unsure about following the lead of a newcommer. Some indicate the genden of the lead is a consideration. Those interviewed are afraid of giving away too much of themselves.

Considerable writing is devoted to the romantic and sexual activitiess of participants. Sometimes I wondered if the author wanted to be writing a romantic novel and couldn't really decide before returning to the investigation. I found that aspect distracting and it contributed to my rating of the read. Now I wonder if the author wanted to be certain that readers continue with this series as it is the first in a series she is developing as well as her first series. In addition, I did figure out the killers early on as the plot was easy to follow.

Why did I choose to read this novel? I do like to try new authors and early comments caught my interest.

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