annieb123
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Lights...Camera...Murder! is the third Doc Holliday mystery by Loretta C. Rogers. Released 17th Aug 2022, it's 212 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Dr. Tullah Holliday is a veterinarian who winds up assisting yet another investigation when a death occurs on the site of a local film production company on location in her rural Kentucky town. It's an ensemble cast of well drawn characters including Dr. Holliday, her father (the local sheriff), her grandmother (the town mayor), and her veterinary assistant, Ella.
The author is adept at characterization and setting. It's a fast read and very engaging. There's also a significant paranormal element which ties into the Cherokee belief system and Dr. Holliday's own intuitions and insights as the investigation proceeds. It's not a large part of the plot, but it is there. There's also some -very- questionable medical plot tie-ins concerning sexually transmitted diseases. I can only assume the author confused HPV with chlamydia and it made it through the editing process without question. That yanked me out of the story. I suspect it might not be a problem for most readers who don't work in histopathology; but it is inaccurate as written. (80% of humans will acquire HPV in their lifetimes, it clears without any treatment or intervention in over 90% of cases. In fact, most people never know they've had it. Chlamydia on the other hand....).
With three books extant in the series at this point, it would be a good choice for a weekend binge or buddy read.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.