Reprise Review: Bitter Nothings by Vicki Tyley

Genre: Mystery

Description:

“Half her family have been murdered in their beds. Her father is the prime suspect. And things are about to get a whole lot worse...

Graphic designer Dervla Johns wakes one morning to the news that her father, Warren, is missing and her stepmother and step-siblings were found dead in their beds. While the police hunt for Warren, Dervla searches for answers. Could her father really be a killer? Refusing to be warned off by police threats, or intimidated by the reporter who appears to be following her, she delves into her family's past.

But as she uncovers one shocking secret after another, Dervla's world is rocked further by another murder - and she finds herself desperately trying to untangle a web of illicit love and betrayal. Soon, Dervla must face her greatest fear... or suffer the same deadly fate as her stepmother.”

Author:

A native of New Zealand, Vicki Tyley currently lives with her husband in rural Australia and is the author of several bestselling mysteries for your Kindle, including Thin Blood, picked by Amazon as a “Customer Favorite” in 2010.

For more, visit Tyley’s website.

Appraisal:

I’ve read all of Vicki Tyley’s books and they all have some qualities that keep me coming back starting with well-constructed plots with multiple “suspects” to choose from. I’ve yet to figure out whodunit until just before the climax, often getting completely blindsided. (I then think back to the clues and realize they were all there, if I’d only seen them.) The tension tends to be high, like a thriller, with the protagonist often in danger (or at least feeling they are). The protagonist is always someone I like and find myself pulling for them to solve the mystery. The Australian settings and characters add a little spice, setting them apart and giving me a change of pace from the norm.

Bitter Nothings has all of these qualities which leaves me feeling that I don’t have anything new to say (other than “buy this book, you’ll like it”). So, buy this book, you’ll like it.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Although the author is Australian, it appears that she used US spelling conventions in this book.

Added for Reprise Review: Bitter Nothings was a winner in the Mystery category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 19, 2013

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words