Reviewed by Silvara on
I received this book for free from Obsidian in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I really liked Shannon as a character, and getting to learn about renovation and construction. The secrets the house held was also fun to read about. Shannon was my favorite kind of character. She had faults and strengths, was usually level-headed, but also curious and with a quick burning temper. She felt like a real person, not a caricature.
I wasn't as attached to her possible-boyfriend Mac. He wasn't a bad character, he just didn't have a lot of depth. It's possible since this is book 3, that he was described better in previous books. Maybe his personality was shown more in them as well. But mostly in this one we were constantly told and shown about how handsome he is. Or reminded that he is a thriller writer. There were a few cute moments between Mac and Shannon, but they just didn't click for me as a couple.
Eric, the police chief on the other hand actually had some fun moments of witty banter with Shannon. And she was interested in him as well. But honestly, neither one of the possible romances clicked with me enough to root for them. The focus was more on the mystery, which is perfect and I loved that about the book! But if you're going to dangle romance, especially if there's a love triangle possibility, the male love interests need to be more fleshed out.
The mystery itself was exciting. An unexplained death from 15 years before, hidden in a house no one has lived in since long before that. Add in hidden rooms, a few more minor subplots, and some really interesting secondary characters and you have an almost perfect cozy mystery.
This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 20 October, 2015: Finished reading
- 20 October, 2015: Reviewed