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A review by karentipsy
The Wrong Woman by J.P. Pomare
3.0
Eh, it's ok. Pretty standard small town whodunnit with all the usual tropes: investigator returns to home town under a cloud (which is slowly clarified), to solve some kind of death. Eventually uncovers the truth despite openly hostile townsfolk.
This story doesn't really have the flow and surprises that are required to maintain the intrigue. The use of a main character relating the past details feels like a slightly lazy way to impart important information without having to create a cohesive narrative around it. It's stuff that the investigator should uncover but he doesn't really have to because we've already heard about it, and he just has hunches.
Also: If you're setting a story in a country that you aren't from you need to be 100% on the details. Talking about someone being a GP, and referring to paracetamol (both common in Australia/NZ but not in USA) really takes me out of the story. Just set it where you are from. Although that then rules out the stereotypical gun battle in the story's climax....
This story doesn't really have the flow and surprises that are required to maintain the intrigue. The use of a main character relating the past details feels like a slightly lazy way to impart important information without having to create a cohesive narrative around it. It's stuff that the investigator should uncover but he doesn't really have to because we've already heard about it, and he just has hunches.
Also: If you're setting a story in a country that you aren't from you need to be 100% on the details. Talking about someone being a GP, and referring to paracetamol (both common in Australia/NZ but not in USA) really takes me out of the story. Just set it where you are from. Although that then rules out the stereotypical gun battle in the story's climax....