Crime and Punctuation (Deadly Edits, #1)

by Kaitlyn Dunnett

After splurging to buy her childhood home in the Catskills, recently widowed Mikki Lincoln emerges from retirement as a freelance editor. With her ability to spot details that others fail to see, it’s not long before Mikki earns clients—and realizes that the village of Lenape Hollow isn’t the thriving tourist destination it was decades ago. Not with a murderer on the loose . . .
 
When perky novice writer Tiffany Scott knocks at her door holding a towering manuscript, Mikki expects another debut novel plagued by typos and sloppy prose. Instead, she finds a murder mystery ripped from the headlines of Lenape Hollow’s not-too-distant past. The opening scene is a graphic page-turner, but it sends a real chill down Mikki’s spine after the young author turns up dead just like the victim in her story . . .
 
Mikki refuses to believe that Tiffany’s death was accidental, and suspicions of foul play solidify as she uncovers a strange inconsistency in the manuscript and a possible motive in the notes. Then there’s Tiffany’s grandmother and husband, who aren’t exactly on friendly terms over the local area’s planned rejuvenation efforts . . .
 
Unable to convince police that they are focused on the wrong suspect, Mikki must rely on her keen eyes to catch the truth hidden in Lenape Hollow. As she gets closer to cracking the case, only one person takes Mikki’s investigation seriously—the cunning killer who will do anything to make this chapter of her life come to a very abrupt ending . . .

• ISBN10: 1496712552
• ISBN13: 9781496712554
• Publish Date: 29 May 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

My ratings don't set out to be objective, critical reflections of the book I've read, so upfront, this rating reflects the disparity between myself and the book's primary demographic.  I'm too young as yet to really appreciate what this series offers.   Mikki is a 60-something recent widow who pulls up stakes and moves back to her hometown in the Catskills area of New York.  Her life is taken up with worries about living on her retirement income while renovating a house; she has hearing aids in both ears, and her closest friend is frequently crippled by her arthritis.  This last bit was really the only part I was able to identify with, as my bff has battled psoriatic rheumatism for 3/5ths of her life, and my husband has just been diagnosed with a rarer form of rheumatism in spite of being a sprightly early-forty-something (sorry, that's not coyness; I just don't remember exactly how old he is).  Mikki's friend in the book appears to even be on the same medications.     So given this connection, it's not the infirmities that left me feeling too young for this book, but rather the mindset.  I don't know if it's always been thus, but at some point each person becomes aware they are 'old' by societal standards.  Reactions differ of course, but the one Mikki seems to adopt is a subtle loss of confidence and self-worth.  She doesn't quail externally, but her internal dialogue is liberally peppered with retreat, an assumption she won't be believed because of her age, a pervasive sense of impending weakness.  This is what I don't identify with and why I failed to connect.  I don't think the author set out to create a frail character in any way, but she'd definitely created Mikki to appeal to readers who can relate to those doubts, fears, and adjustments that become necessary to face as time marches on. I'm not there yet.   Unfortunately, the mystery plotting wasn't enough to overcome this for me.  It was solid, but nothing spectacular or surprising.  Dunnett didn't telegraph much, but her structuring of the story gives the murderer away if a reader has read a superfluous number of mysteries over the years.   Characters are generally pivotal to the plot, or secondary outliers used to fill out the story and the MC's life - it's when a writer creates a character that straddles that line that's a flag; the character that fits neither category is usually the murderer. (hide spoiler)   Overall, this is not a bad mystery; certainly not a bad first mystery.  And I loved the bits about editing.  She includes some quick usage rules at the back as a short appendix that is enough to make me want to hang onto my copy of the book.  I finally have an easy to remember rule for hung and hanged.  But I don't think I'll be continuing with the series.  At least, not anytime in the foreseeable future.  I still have a lot more growing up to do.