Never Sleep With a Suspect on Gabriola Island: An Islands Investigations International Mystery by Sandy Frances Duncan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was all set to like this one, really like it. Good plot, neat idea having two people working together to solve a crime, set in BC — and it’s Canadian! It began okay. And then…
Well, the obvious padding I could put up with. Books can get like that sometimes, and I usually figure it’s up to the editor to point out the obvious. The fact I wasn’t all that engaged is something I’m used to — books that grab and hold me don’t come often, and it isn’t only because of the writing style, a lot of it is because of my brain injury (though I’m starting to wonder about that as my concentration continues to improve). No, what got to me was the stupidity of the main characters, of one “detective” in particular, the one who is supposed to have been an excellent investigative reporter. There was one incident in particular that if it had been written in a separate order — and it could have been quite easily — would have cast that character in a different, smarter light. But the way the co-authors wrote it he came across as an incredibly unobservant, dumb former reporter. No wonder he doesn’t work in the field anymore (aside from the reason given), was my thought. His “co-detective,” the insurance investigator, came across as too credulous for the kind of work she does. These sharks are just that: sharks. And highly suspicious ones too. Not to be suspicious yet, moreso, be highly credulous when it came to one of the suspects stretched the bounds a bit.
I gotta say I’m getting tired of picking up new-to-me books, looking forward to sinking myself into a new mystery series, and then finding that the writing or the characters or the plots leave me flat and disappointed. Who is it who says traditionally published books are superior? They need to up their game.
