I'm stalking him
…for research!
My bestselling-mystery-author career had come to a
standstill, and I was plagued with writer's block. So I asked myself: What
would my favorite fictional girl detective do? She would find a suspect to
inspire her to finish the case, of course! Luckily, I have a new, mysterious
and very dreamy private investigator next door to follow. I'm going to help him
solve the case and finally finish this book of mine. Then maybe the two of us
can pursue The Case of the Perfect Couple…
This book was highly frustrating for me to read. Petra is
the author of a bestselling mystery novel and is having trouble getting started
on a new book. She decides to follow her private investigator neighbor around
to get ideas. She ignores that she's putting herself and him in danger,
interfering with his work, and making herself look like a fool. Petra is one of
those people who takes classes in anything that interests her and then thinks
she's an expert at whatever it is. She also uses the fictional girl detective
Nancy Drew as her role model, constantly asking herself, "WWND (What Would
Nancy Do)." Despite Ryan asking her not to interfere, she just plowed on
anyway.
I didn't get much of a romantic feel in the book. Petra
was attracted to Ryan, but there was no indication that he felt the same way
until the end. It was hard to tell if his determination to keep her out of
danger was general protectiveness, frustration at her interference, or growing
feelings.
The suspense had a good premise: finding a missing girl
suspected of being taken by sex traffickers. There was enough action and
uncertainty to keep me interested in the mystery, though my frustration with
Petra frequently pulled me out of the story. A couple of twists at the end complicated
things, but the final confrontation was well done.
I did not like that the book was written entirely in the first
person from Petra's point of view. Nothing showed Ryan's thoughts, feelings, or
actions except when he was with Petra. I felt like I was missing half the story.
I may try another book by this author, but it will depend significantly on how it
is written.
No comments:
Post a Comment