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A review by kandicez
Too Many Murders by Colleen McCullough
3.0
It actually pains me to give this book 3 stars. Seriously. This is a continuation of Carmine Delmonico's crime fighting adventures, or whatever you want to call them. We met Delmonico in [b:On, Off|3418|On, Off (Carmine Delmonico, #1)|Colleen McCullough|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1163666782s/3418.jpg|2492568]. This one starts with 12 muder/deaths on one day in a relatively small college city. They seem unrelated, but...are they?
The plot was vintage McCullough. It started out with a bang, shocking me into realizing this wouldn't be a calm who-dunnit, but the actual turns of phrase fell short of her usual genius. I know she's been very ill, and I want to think that's the problem with this book, at the same time, I didn't feel [b:On, Off|3418|On, Off (Carmine Delmonico, #1)|Colleen McCullough|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1163666782s/3418.jpg|2492568] really lived up to her name on the front, so maybe it's Delmonico.
In a relatively short book she managed to fit in the above mentioned, 12 murders, plus 2 more and a suicide, rape, necrophilia, child neglect, espionage, political intrigue AND glimpses into the private lives of Delmonico and his team. I couldn't help but feel the entire book would have been improved by about 200 pages more. She's not a flowery describer, but she usually eases us into lives. In this one, I felt she tossed a few details around here and there, no build up, no let down, and the end...whimper instead of bang. She did tell us, in Delmonico's voice that's how crime solving generally ends. You investigate, run around, research, stress, find the killer...and then must wait for a trial that's out of your hands. Maybe that's what she was trying to get across, I just wanted more satisfaction.
It seems as if she's going to be devoting some time to this series. If so, I am more than willing to wait for the next installment. I'd prefer the wait for a pure McCullough, than another installment with the clumsy feel this one had. All the more disapointing because the plot was first rate. She was capable of the perfect book using the bones of the story we got...alas.
The plot was vintage McCullough. It started out with a bang, shocking me into realizing this wouldn't be a calm who-dunnit, but the actual turns of phrase fell short of her usual genius. I know she's been very ill, and I want to think that's the problem with this book, at the same time, I didn't feel [b:On, Off|3418|On, Off (Carmine Delmonico, #1)|Colleen McCullough|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1163666782s/3418.jpg|2492568] really lived up to her name on the front, so maybe it's Delmonico.
In a relatively short book she managed to fit in the above mentioned, 12 murders, plus 2 more and a suicide, rape, necrophilia, child neglect, espionage, political intrigue AND glimpses into the private lives of Delmonico and his team. I couldn't help but feel the entire book would have been improved by about 200 pages more. She's not a flowery describer, but she usually eases us into lives. In this one, I felt she tossed a few details around here and there, no build up, no let down, and the end...whimper instead of bang. She did tell us, in Delmonico's voice that's how crime solving generally ends. You investigate, run around, research, stress, find the killer...and then must wait for a trial that's out of your hands. Maybe that's what she was trying to get across, I just wanted more satisfaction.
It seems as if she's going to be devoting some time to this series. If so, I am more than willing to wait for the next installment. I'd prefer the wait for a pure McCullough, than another installment with the clumsy feel this one had. All the more disapointing because the plot was first rate. She was capable of the perfect book using the bones of the story we got...alas.