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jonetta 's review for:
Guilty as Sin
by Tami Hoag
This is the follow up to the first book in the Deer Lake series. I’ll start off by saying I’m not a fan of having to read two books to figure out the resolution to a mystery. However, I liked the book even though it had some issues.
The story continues with the State’s Assistant City Attorney Ellen North at the forefront. She’s been handed the case involving Garrett Wright who Mitch Holt arrested for the assault of Megan O’Malley and the abduction of Josh Kirkwood. What seems to be an open and shut case turns into anything but. She’s pitted against a hot shot attorney from Minneapolis with whom she has personal history and a judge who has a super sized ego. To top it off, a Hollywood true crime writer has come to cover the story and he has designs on Ellen.
Here’s what worked. The characters (there are quite a few) are well developed and complicated people. There are no perfect individuals here even though some may seem so on the surface. And, they can’t help being themselves in spite of circumstances that call for them to behave differently. I like when a story stays true to character no matter how unpopular or uncomfortable that may seem. I also liked that the story is complex, which is essential in a suspense tale or mystery. Finally, the last 100 pages seemed to zoom! There were rapid-paced courtroom scenes and the climactic segments leapt from the pages. My heart rate accelerated and I couldn’t read fast enough.
Here’s what didn’t work. This was too long, especially since the mystery began in another book. The ending should have started about 100 pages earlier. There was too much emphasis on the bad guys winning, to the point where I was in despair. It was astounding to me that Paul’s affair with Karen wasn’t discovered in the first book and it took forever to come out in this one. Finally, while there was a payoff for the relationships at the end, they all felt rushed. I know I’ve complained about the length but 10 more pages to resolve the relationships more definitively were in order.
This is a really good story. Don’t give up on it because about the time you’re ready to skim to the end, it takes off.
The story continues with the State’s Assistant City Attorney Ellen North at the forefront. She’s been handed the case involving Garrett Wright who Mitch Holt arrested for the assault of Megan O’Malley and the abduction of Josh Kirkwood. What seems to be an open and shut case turns into anything but. She’s pitted against a hot shot attorney from Minneapolis with whom she has personal history and a judge who has a super sized ego. To top it off, a Hollywood true crime writer has come to cover the story and he has designs on Ellen.
Here’s what worked. The characters (there are quite a few) are well developed and complicated people. There are no perfect individuals here even though some may seem so on the surface. And, they can’t help being themselves in spite of circumstances that call for them to behave differently. I like when a story stays true to character no matter how unpopular or uncomfortable that may seem. I also liked that the story is complex, which is essential in a suspense tale or mystery. Finally, the last 100 pages seemed to zoom! There were rapid-paced courtroom scenes and the climactic segments leapt from the pages. My heart rate accelerated and I couldn’t read fast enough.
Here’s what didn’t work. This was too long, especially since the mystery began in another book. The ending should have started about 100 pages earlier. There was too much emphasis on the bad guys winning, to the point where I was in despair. It was astounding to me that Paul’s affair with Karen wasn’t discovered in the first book and it took forever to come out in this one. Finally, while there was a payoff for the relationships at the end, they all felt rushed. I know I’ve complained about the length but 10 more pages to resolve the relationships more definitively were in order.
This is a really good story. Don’t give up on it because about the time you’re ready to skim to the end, it takes off.