Reviewed by Silvara on
I received this book for free from Berkley Prime Crime in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I haven't read any books in this series before. And usually with cozy mysteries that isn't a problem. For the most part, it wasn't. Enough was explained as I read, that the only thing I was left in the dark about was Clyde's gift. You get a few tiny hints, but mostly you were expected to know what she was able to do already. At least until close to half-way through the book. A better explanation of her gift was towards the end.
Kind of a silly quibble, but Clyde? For a girl? Yes, it's short for a much longer (no idea whatsoever how to pronounce!) name. But even the longer version was weird. Her older sister is named Grace. And no one else in the town had a name as strange as Clyde's. It kind of reminded me of special-snowflake syndrome, only in those cases the name would have been pretty, or snobby, not boyish.
It was also strange to me, how Clyde said she was unemployed. Yet, technically she was in business with her Aunt Vi, using one of her gifts to find lost pets and objects. It didn't sound like she had many customers, and she was happy about that. But if she wasn't making money at her 'job', how did she have enough money for take out for nearly every dinner? Was her boyfriend Mac making enough money as a police officer to support 3 people?
I did like how the mystery unfolded. And the way Clyde's family was together. I didn't much like Aunt Vi, or Grace, but I really liked the other characters in the book. Seth and Sophie were adorable, well, Sophie more than Seth! But Seth was a believable teenage boy.
I loved the twists and turns. There were side mysteries as well as the main one. And I had no idea at all who the killer was, even up to the reveal at the end. I had a few guesses, but nothing that really made me go "I think so-and-so did it." I also liked how everyone who had a gift had something different.
This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 27 March, 2016: Finished reading
- 27 March, 2016: Reviewed