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A review by alexauthorshay
The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer
4.0
Not as happy with this book as I have been with some of Bauer's other books. Still a really good read and very demented, but not as twisted and unexpected as some of her other books. I figured out the killer so early on I spent most of the book thinking I must be wrong. About 2/3 of the way through it gets revealed for sure, so I was waiting for a twist that never really came. The ending is close to but not quite deus ex machina, disappointing. But it wasn't so totally out of the blue that it didn't work.
I really liked Ruby as a character. She was my favorite. John Trick was my second favorite, despite what transpires through the course of the novel. I lost a little of my love for him from those events though. I also enjoyed DC Calvin, he was amusing if a bit dense. But I did not like DC King. At all. There's one point in the novel where she says, as they're trying to figure out the motive of the killer, that the motive will end up being textbook, something to do with the killer's mother if not something sexual. Having read Bauer before, I was expecting something NOT like that, but that's exactly what it ended up being. Granted, you have to piece the background to it together yourself, but it ends up being pretty standard and that was the most disappointing thing of all. I would have given this 5 stars except that Bauer ended up making another cardboard cutout killer like most mystery writers I've encountered in my life. His traits early on in the book make it easy to link him to the murders later, which was how I found out who it was so early and hoped I was wrong. Not that the choice for killer makes no sense, just that it's not very exciting or original.
I did like how Bauer wrote Limeburn. The town seems to have a life of its own, the sea constantly trying to 'claim' its land back, the weather gradually wearing down the houses. Bauer gives the perfect small-town-no-secrets vibe, and having a killer suddenly in their midst would obviously have a humongous effect on the townspeople, portrayed through the local Gunslingers group. But here again, a connection is made so early on that it gives the killer away.
I still found the ending suspenseful, but not as much as if I'd still been in shock from finding out who the killer was. Knowing who he is while the characters don't generally creates a dramatic irony that includes suspense, but I didn't really feel that in this one. I never really wondered how the characters were going to survive, but rather, as the page count dwindled to 25 and less, how Bauer was going to end things. Not un-scary by any means, but given what transpired to lead to it, it felt a bit artificial. Not contrived, but like there was nothing original in the killer's motives to bring them to this point. He was the same as every other, just as DC King said. Which was kind of a let down. Every book is about infidelity now and I'm starting to feel like I'm being bashed over the head with it when I didn't want to go anywhere near it in the first place.
I really liked Ruby as a character. She was my favorite. John Trick was my second favorite, despite what transpires through the course of the novel. I lost a little of my love for him from those events though. I also enjoyed DC Calvin, he was amusing if a bit dense. But I did not like DC King. At all. There's one point in the novel where she says, as they're trying to figure out the motive of the killer, that the motive will end up being textbook, something to do with the killer's mother if not something sexual. Having read Bauer before, I was expecting something NOT like that, but that's exactly what it ended up being. Granted, you have to piece the background to it together yourself, but it ends up being pretty standard and that was the most disappointing thing of all. I would have given this 5 stars except that Bauer ended up making another cardboard cutout killer like most mystery writers I've encountered in my life. His traits early on in the book make it easy to link him to the murders later, which was how I found out who it was so early and hoped I was wrong. Not that the choice for killer makes no sense, just that it's not very exciting or original.
I did like how Bauer wrote Limeburn. The town seems to have a life of its own, the sea constantly trying to 'claim' its land back, the weather gradually wearing down the houses. Bauer gives the perfect small-town-no-secrets vibe, and having a killer suddenly in their midst would obviously have a humongous effect on the townspeople, portrayed through the local Gunslingers group. But here again, a connection is made so early on that it gives the killer away.
I still found the ending suspenseful, but not as much as if I'd still been in shock from finding out who the killer was. Knowing who he is while the characters don't generally creates a dramatic irony that includes suspense, but I didn't really feel that in this one. I never really wondered how the characters were going to survive, but rather, as the page count dwindled to 25 and less, how Bauer was going to end things. Not un-scary by any means, but given what transpired to lead to it, it felt a bit artificial. Not contrived, but like there was nothing original in the killer's motives to bring them to this point. He was the same as every other, just as DC King said. Which was kind of a let down. Every book is about infidelity now and I'm starting to feel like I'm being bashed over the head with it when I didn't want to go anywhere near it in the first place.