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mamax4j's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
barbarawli's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
ajchaaan's review against another edition
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
surprisingly predictable for me. i think the story dwelled so much time on the hearings and there wasn’t any depth for the purpose of the killer in doing the crime - i was looking for a more and deeper back story
surprisingly predictable for me. i think the story dwelled so much time on the hearings and there wasn’t any depth for the purpose of the killer in doing the crime - i was looking for a more and deeper back story
princessleia4life's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t care for this mystery as one it was obvious who Delaney’s mother was (why else were we featuring so much of Betsy Grant’s trial?). It also was obvious who the real killer was and the drug mini plot felt really weird. Really these felt like three different plots that were combined to create one novel and created a lot of problems. First was Delaney’s story of finding her birth mom, with Alvirah and Willy searching down leads. Now I love them as detectives, but for someone who has been searching for years they discovered the truth in days. Weird. That really should have been a short story featuring them. The second plot was the Betsy Brant trial that was the best plotted out of the three. It really got slowed down with the other two mini plots interjecting and taking away from this main story. Then we had a mini plot of a famous director’s son dying from an overdose, and doctor’s being the suppliers. That one was underdeveloped, as if the Doctor was losing so much money he agreed to murder his longtime friend to get a percentage of the money from the son’s inheritance why didn’t he have any money from all the illegal drugs he was selling? Where did that money go? It was put in randomly and the “investigative reporter” didn’t do that much investigating. This book felt really messy and I was disappointed in it.
jamballdonut's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
After reading another in the Alvirah and Willy series, I really should've known I wasn't going to enjoy this story. When writing with another author (The "Under Suspicion" series), I really enjoy MHC books, but when writing solo, I just cannot get on board.
Her writing is clunky and there's never a nice flow to it. And the same criticism I had for another in the Alvirah and Willy series, why does she use character names when talking so dang much?! It's unnatural! I don't know anybody who starts almost every sentence with the other person's name when they're only talking to them.
There's not much to say, the plot was boring and predictable. I knew from almost the beginning who the mother would be, and the sudden appearance of a key witness in the trial just seemed like a cop out.
I'm hoping I don't have any other MHC books in the pile I borrowed from the library, because I'm not interested in reading another solo-written book. I will happily continue to read the "Under Suspicion" series though.
Her writing is clunky and there's never a nice flow to it. And the same criticism I had for another in the Alvirah and Willy series, why does she use character names when talking so dang much?! It's unnatural! I don't know anybody who starts almost every sentence with the other person's name when they're only talking to them.
There's not much to say, the plot was boring and predictable. I knew from almost the beginning who the mother would be, and the sudden appearance of a key witness in the trial just seemed like a cop out.
I'm hoping I don't have any other MHC books in the pile I borrowed from the library, because I'm not interested in reading another solo-written book. I will happily continue to read the "Under Suspicion" series though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts