laceybananareads 's review for:

In The Beautiful Dark by Melissa Payne

3.25

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Over 50 years prior, Birdie lost her love to what she believes was murder and it still hasn’t been solved. Now in her older age, she’s noticing a pattern of suspicious events around her retirement community that look a lot like what happened in the past. She has some new friends in the community who are more than willing to help with this mystery she’s focused on. 

I did enjoy this story, especially getting to know the characters in this retirement community. There was a mystery aspect but the majority of the story was a detailed portrait of ordinary life, with a focus on the rhythms and routines. I really felt for Birdie and what she was going through when no one else seemed to. Some of the dialogue between characters feel more like telling than organic conversation which made it difficult for me to really believe in this story, I just don’t feel that an elderly woman would be telling the police to take over because she’s tired when they’re arriving to a crime scene etc so expect a dated tv feel at times. Overall I loved the heart and sincerity of this story. 

Thank you so much to GetRed PR and Melissa Payne for providing this physical ARC. This is my honest review!  This published on April 22nd.