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gothmomlite's review
4.0
Here's the basic premise: beautiful and wealthy Sarah Palmer has been tagged a "Black Widow" by the press and some cops, under suspicion of having murdered her extremely well-to-do husband, Michael, in Seattle. Seeking peace, Sarah returns to her native Alaska, intending to go about doing the good work of setting up her husband's foundation so as to honor him, and in adjusting to her "new normal" of loss.
Here's the hitch: when she gets back home, Sarah receives some rather creepy valentines, but the heart-shaped notes aren't love-tokens, by any stretch. In fact, they're clues and connections to the murders of several blonde-haired and green-eyed women. And guess who else is blonde and green-eyed? If you guessed Sarah, then ding-ding-ding!
Ace police detective Steven Quaid is determined to catch this Alaskan killer. He's equally determined to hate poor Sarah's guts, based on the speculation of his pal Terry from the Seattle police force, who's just bent on pegging Michael Palmer's death on his "Black Widow."
SOME MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW
In fact, Steve's so dead set against Sarah at the start that he blindly attacks her, as Sarah rightly notes, without any concrete evidence at all. I found his prejudiced attitude and, frankly, unprofessional behavior and language toward her off-putting, so by the time he began to look at Sarah's history with the clear, analytical cop-brain for which he's famed, I wasn't too keen on relaxing my dislike of him. But the loving care he showed Sarah eventually turned me around.
I liked the character of Sarah very much, in part because I have this thing about rooting for the underdog in any given situation. But mainly, Sarah comes off as an elegant woman who's doing her best to keep herself together and do good work while dealing with heaps of grief. At times, I worried that she couldn't possibly survive the next big thing to hit her, but danged if she didn't. Every time. And girlfriend gets loads of abuse heaped upon her. Like, a lot, poor gal. Still, there's this thread of steel running along her spine, for which I have to say kudos. I admire Sarah for maintaining her graciousness, of both spirit and mind, and for her sheer grit and determination to bloody well survive. You go, gurl!
Renée weaves a crafty tale, so rich in the Alaskan landscape and rhythms that at times I got lulled into thinking this was a delightfully "cozy" mystery. Only then some brutal murder would flash before my eyes and I'd be all like, "Whoa!" I feel like, beneath the charming world Sarah was desperately trying to recreate, there was this Dean Koontzian edge of crazy that totally kept me on the edge of my seat. I recommend Murder, Madness, & Love to those who enjoy a layered mystery which is warmed by a lovely romance and spiced with a bit of the truly bizarre.
Here's the hitch: when she gets back home, Sarah receives some rather creepy valentines, but the heart-shaped notes aren't love-tokens, by any stretch. In fact, they're clues and connections to the murders of several blonde-haired and green-eyed women. And guess who else is blonde and green-eyed? If you guessed Sarah, then ding-ding-ding!
Ace police detective Steven Quaid is determined to catch this Alaskan killer. He's equally determined to hate poor Sarah's guts, based on the speculation of his pal Terry from the Seattle police force, who's just bent on pegging Michael Palmer's death on his "Black Widow."
SOME MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW
In fact, Steve's so dead set against Sarah at the start that he blindly attacks her, as Sarah rightly notes, without any concrete evidence at all. I found his prejudiced attitude and, frankly, unprofessional behavior and language toward her off-putting, so by the time he began to look at Sarah's history with the clear, analytical cop-brain for which he's famed, I wasn't too keen on relaxing my dislike of him. But the loving care he showed Sarah eventually turned me around.
I liked the character of Sarah very much, in part because I have this thing about rooting for the underdog in any given situation. But mainly, Sarah comes off as an elegant woman who's doing her best to keep herself together and do good work while dealing with heaps of grief. At times, I worried that she couldn't possibly survive the next big thing to hit her, but danged if she didn't. Every time. And girlfriend gets loads of abuse heaped upon her. Like, a lot, poor gal. Still, there's this thread of steel running along her spine, for which I have to say kudos. I admire Sarah for maintaining her graciousness, of both spirit and mind, and for her sheer grit and determination to bloody well survive. You go, gurl!
Renée weaves a crafty tale, so rich in the Alaskan landscape and rhythms that at times I got lulled into thinking this was a delightfully "cozy" mystery. Only then some brutal murder would flash before my eyes and I'd be all like, "Whoa!" I feel like, beneath the charming world Sarah was desperately trying to recreate, there was this Dean Koontzian edge of crazy that totally kept me on the edge of my seat. I recommend Murder, Madness, & Love to those who enjoy a layered mystery which is warmed by a lovely romance and spiced with a bit of the truly bizarre.
urlphantomhive's review
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
They suspected her of being a black widow, killing her husband in a car crash. Now she claims she is being stalked.
I'm not quite sure about Murder, Madness and Love, even though it provided everything that was advertised in the title. While it had me guessing for quite some time I still felt like something was missing. But maybe it was just that I feel like detective stories are not really what I want to be reading right now.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
They suspected her of being a black widow, killing her husband in a car crash. Now she claims she is being stalked.
I'm not quite sure about Murder, Madness and Love, even though it provided everything that was advertised in the title. While it had me guessing for quite some time I still felt like something was missing. But maybe it was just that I feel like detective stories are not really what I want to be reading right now.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
jemifraser's review against another edition
5.0
Heart pounding suspense
Complex characters with intriguing backgrounds
Great settings
Plot twists that keep you guessing
A great read!!
Complex characters with intriguing backgrounds
Great settings
Plot twists that keep you guessing
A great read!!
vesper1931's review against another edition
2.0
Sarah Palmer is suspected of killing her husband butthe police have no proof to charge her.
On moving back to Alaska the killings start, but the police have no motives.
I didn't take to the character of Sarah at all, added by her doing stupid actions which seemed to put her at a greater risk, and not be helpful in the murder inquiries. For me too much emphasis on the romance aspect of the various characters rather than a mystery/crime story.
On moving back to Alaska the killings start, but the police have no motives.
I didn't take to the character of Sarah at all, added by her doing stupid actions which seemed to put her at a greater risk, and not be helpful in the murder inquiries. For me too much emphasis on the romance aspect of the various characters rather than a mystery/crime story.
rosienreads's review
2.0
A body in the snow, a widow all believe to have killed her husband, a detective hellbent on solving both cases. Murder, Madness & Love started of strongly, raising questions and bringing intrigue on her characters. I sped through the first 15% of the books, and then I put it down for 6 months. When I picked it up again and carried on throughout the story, a lot of what intrigued me at the start disappeared. The mystery was forced into the background to be replaced by a romance between the detective and the widow that felt forced and ultimately detracted from the story. There were also aspects of the writing which did not work for me and, while the twists were good ones, the timing felt off which caused them to slightly miss the mark. The writer has a lot of potential with crafting this kind of novel and I presume the future books in the series will not have the romance aspect which was one of the key issues here.
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