Killer Image (Allison Campbell Mystery, #1)

by Wendy Tyson

[Rinn]

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. This review is also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

I'm not a big reader of 'chick lit' - the only book I can think of that I really enjoy within the genre is Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding - but I'm not sure whether I would actually completely refer to this book as 'chick lit', after reading it. I enjoy a good mystery, and this definitely has more of the mystery/investigative element to it, than the typical elements of a 'chick lit' book.

Allison Campbell is an image consultant in Philadelphia, and when she takes on a new client - Maggie McBridge, the troubled daughter of a congressman - she finds herself tangled up in recent nearby murders. What I enjoyed about the book in regards to Allison is that the author really revealed a lot of Allison's past, and explained why she became what she is today. It was nice to have that much background information and history on a character. However, as so much seemed to be focused on the past, I felt I didn't know the modern day Allison very well. She also switched between being quite shallow (although I suppose it is her job to notice people's appearance...) to selfless very quickly.

As for the other characters - I liked that Vaughan had such a nicely built back story for someone who was essentially a rather minor character for the majority of the book. Maggie, however, was annoying and a complete and utter cliché of the teenage rebel. Goth? Check. Overuse of teen slang? Check. Moody and sully? Check.

As for the mystery part of the book - I did enjoy it, but some clues just seemed far too convenient. The murders involved Satanic ritual (hence why they blamed the teenage Goth), and while visiting someone Allison believes may be implicated in the crime, she spots a book on Satan worship. Just sitting on the bookshelves, along with the celebrity biographies and coffee table books. It just seemed a bit ridiculous to be honest. As well as this, some characters and ideas were just suddenly introduced, giving the reader no time to try and work the case out for themselves - which is always the fun part of a mystery novel.

Overall, I really liked the way Wendy Tyson built up a detailed background story for a couple of her characters, but felt that some of it could have been brought forward to the present. The story was good fun, but there was no room for the reader to try and guess the killer for themselves.