A review by robinwritesallthethings
Deadly Shoot by T.J. Brearton

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

I received an ARC copy of this novel.

What It’s About: When the screenwriter is found dead during an isolated movie shoot, everyone becomes suspicious of each other as an investigation begins and tension rises during a storm that prevents anyone from leaving the scene of the crime.

Plot: Overall, I liked the mystery part of this. I’m always a fan of the locked room style of thriller. Almost everyone had a realistic motive to be the murderer, which made it hard to figure out who it really was in the end, so it did keep me guessing. However, it did seem at times that Leigh, the screenwriter, was a victim just for the sake of getting Mack to the movie set so he could dive deeper into his trauma, which felt like a fridging, in a way, at least until she was developed more in flashbacks later. Then that effect mostly went away. I also thought that too much was made of Mack’s past. It was too straightforward for his realizations to really change anything, at least for me. It was obvious why he was suffering from the beginning. Those are the reasons I lowered my rating to three stars.

Style: The book is easy to read and follow, even though it moves between perspectives, times, and scenes quite a bit. I was never confused. It also explains the screenwriting and movie lingo and process enough so that someone unfamiliar with it won’t get tripped up.

Trigger Warnings: There’s a murder, obviously. There’s some brief talk of sexual assault and grooming, and a little alcoholism as well.
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