Summary:
In the first book in a new series, we meet Mags, a Wall Street hot shot who just lost everything when her boss is found to be corrupt. She moves to Nevada with her Aunt Jeep, a former WWII flying ace, to give herself time to get back on her feet. They find an old skeleton buried in Jeep's barn that they discover while Jeep and her adopted son are upgrading the drainage system in the stalls. They call in Pete, one of the local cops, to check it out. At the same time, someone is blowing up water distribution pumps across town. Jeep spots something wrong at the pump and alerts Pete, who goes to investigate there. The story follows Pete in his investigation of the blown pump, as well as a couple of murders that wind up being connected to the case, and Mags as she does her own search for who the mystery man in the barn could have been. Oh, and the dogs in the family talk to each other and think that people are not nearly as smart as they are.
Thoughts:
Holy God, reading this book took me a month and a half. Literally. And I'm no slow reader. I just could NOT get into this one. The characters I named in the summary above are only a fifth or a sixth of the actual cast of characters. Brown actually lists all the characters by name at the beginning of the book, before the opening chapter, along with their reasons for being involved in the book. I guess that was a quick reference guide for us readers who might get lost in the swamp of people. What's more, the book sounds like it should be a nice, light mystery, one that you should be able to bang out in a couple days and be no worse for reading it. But Brown gets so down and dirty into the politics of water rights in Nevada and California, I couldn't keep myself engrossed like I usually am. I haven't read any of Brown's other series, with Sneaky Pie (I think that's the cat's name.) who helps his owner solve mysteries, but I have heard that they are much lighter and more fun. Fighting through to finish this book felt like pure drudgery. I stopped partway through because I knew I was going to get behind in posting reviews if I didn't, and read the Thief, just so I would keep on my schedule for you lovely readers. I wanted so badly for this book to be fun, so I would have a new series to dive into, and near the beginning of the series, too. (There's a second book out, but that's all so far.) But I don't think I'll be reading the second book. If the political side of murder is where Brown is going to go with Mags and Jeep, I don't want any part of it. But if you're into a book debating who should control water rights and why, jump right into this one. As for me, I'll stick with the cheesier murder mysteries, thanks.
Book 8 of 50
Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery
Grade: D-
Would I Recommend?: Holy crap no, unless you're very into political debating with a side murder mystery.
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