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A review by johnbreeden
The Sculthorpe Murder by Karen Charlton
4.0
I would give this a solid 3.5. I'm rounding up from having enjoyed the novel, in spite of a few things I was put off by.
In The Sculthorpe Murder, Detective Lavender and Woods are called North to investigate the beating death and apparent robbery of an elderly man. Running in the background is a troop of five criminal thieves, the Panthers, that has harassed the communities. Lavender must determine the true culprits while surrounded by two towns full of people whose identities are not what they seem.
I hate to say this. I was a bit disappointed in this book. Admittedly, there was much that I enjoyed, hence the bump up, but I couldn't get past one point in particular.
The first 3/4ths of the book kept me engaged. I liked the complicated web that wove through the community. Wood's brother was an fun twist, and I like how that came out. All of the secrets that bent back and forth throughout the story were great.
My problem was the reveal. A complaint tossed at many mystery writers is that they keep some element of the case buried that is never hinted of. It simply appears at the last second to make a big impact on the story and change how everything transpires. This novel suffers from a mild case of this. The reveal of the true identity of the town constable as a deserter who'd changed his identity and was being blackmailed hinged solely - from what I read - on the revelation of a letter disclosed at the very end, just before the confrontation. From there, it felt like Charlton could have picked any combination of the other blackmail victims and had the same result. It just wasn't polished. It was the one time I've been disappointed in the Lavender stories.
I hate to say that. I've enjoyed the books so far and will certainly be continuing them. I just feel it wasn't the best choice in handling that twist. I keep trying to think of anything I missed that resolves that letter, but I can't find it. Maybe I did miss something, so I still have to recommend this book.
I wanted to give this novel a 5, but one incident left me unable to do so. I'll keep that 5 in my pocket for when I read the next story. I'm sure it will earn it.
In The Sculthorpe Murder, Detective Lavender and Woods are called North to investigate the beating death and apparent robbery of an elderly man. Running in the background is a troop of five criminal thieves, the Panthers, that has harassed the communities. Lavender must determine the true culprits while surrounded by two towns full of people whose identities are not what they seem.
Spoiler
I hate to say this. I was a bit disappointed in this book. Admittedly, there was much that I enjoyed, hence the bump up, but I couldn't get past one point in particular.
The first 3/4ths of the book kept me engaged. I liked the complicated web that wove through the community. Wood's brother was an fun twist, and I like how that came out. All of the secrets that bent back and forth throughout the story were great.
My problem was the reveal. A complaint tossed at many mystery writers is that they keep some element of the case buried that is never hinted of. It simply appears at the last second to make a big impact on the story and change how everything transpires. This novel suffers from a mild case of this. The reveal of the true identity of the town constable as a deserter who'd changed his identity and was being blackmailed hinged solely - from what I read - on the revelation of a letter disclosed at the very end, just before the confrontation. From there, it felt like Charlton could have picked any combination of the other blackmail victims and had the same result. It just wasn't polished. It was the one time I've been disappointed in the Lavender stories.
I hate to say that. I've enjoyed the books so far and will certainly be continuing them. I just feel it wasn't the best choice in handling that twist. I keep trying to think of anything I missed that resolves that letter, but I can't find it. Maybe I did miss something, so I still have to recommend this book.
I wanted to give this novel a 5, but one incident left me unable to do so. I'll keep that 5 in my pocket for when I read the next story. I'm sure it will earn it.