Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Death Will Attend / Morgan C. Talbot


Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Mystery/Women Sleuth

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Like Margarita, the protagonist in her books, Morgan C. Talbot is a fan of puzzles and enjoys geocaching as a hobby as well as many other outdoor activities. She lives with her family in Eastern Washington. This is her second book in a series of murder mysteries. First to Find, is the initial book.

Description:

“Love is a many murdered thing.

Three months after catching a killer, Margarita escapes to a historic hotel with Drew and Bindi for a Valentine’s weekend of geocaching. But during the love-themed costume ball, the CEO of a satellite navigation company keels over—and then his body vanishes.

As the weekend progresses, Margarita discovers threatening messages in the logbooks of local geocaches. Her attempts to unmask the blackmailer are thwarted by the last person she would have expected.

With a stubborn sheriff on the case, Margarita and Bindi must take matters into their own hands. But whether they’re chasing one killer or two, they have a problem: all their suspects seem to have solid alibis.

Between misunderstandings, outright lies, old secrets, and more than one corpse, it’s not Love in the air anymore. It’s Death.”

Appraisal:

When I read and reviewed First to Find, the initial book in this series, I was so focused on the hobby of geocaching and how the author had integrated it into the story, that I missed that it, like this volume, is a good fit for the subgenre commonly called a “cozy mystery.” While there are several qualities this type of mystery has, the key is less emphasis on the murder (little blood and gore, no explicit violence), and a focus on puzzle solving, putting together all the clues to find the guilty party.

The protagonist, Margarita, loves puzzles (there is even a word puzzle at the end that she formulates throughout the book, if you’re into that kind of thing) and is the perfect character for a cozy mystery. Her roomie and sidekick, Bindi, adds character and flair with her Australian slang, not to mention sleuthing help due to her sensitivity to smell, and a touch of irreverence (she doesn’t always filter what comes out of her mouth). The best cozies are fun reads, with more humor and brain food than the adrenalin rush of gore and violence. And that’s what you get with Death Will Attend, a fun read and a puzzle to solve along with Margarita and friends.

FYI:

Although the second book in the series, this book can stand on its own. The first book introduces the reader to a few recurring characters, primarily the protagonist, Margarita, and her Australian roommate, Bindi, as well as introducing the basics of their hobby of geocaching. However, I don’t believe reading the first book in the series is critical to understanding this installment.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars


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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you very much for your great review, Al. I appreciate your time. I think you're the first reviewer to mention the puzzles I put at the back of the book, too!

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