Book Review: Booby Trap by Sue Ann Jaffarian (Odelia Grey #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Strong plot filled with real characters

Cons: Only minor: one part of climax not quite up to my tastes

The Bottom Line:

Odelia against

Evil serial killer

Makes for a fun book

Get Entrapped in Booby Trap

Booby Trap is the fourth book in the Odelia Grey mystery series.  Odelia is a plus-sized, middle age paralegal living in Orange County, California.  But she has this habit of getting involved in mysteries, much to the dismay of all who know and love her.  Frankly, I'm glad she does because these books are lots of fun.

For the last few months, a serial killer has been terrorizing Southern California.  He's been dubbed the Blond Bomber because he kills blond bombshells.

Now Odelia's friend Lillian is afraid she has discovered this killer's identity - her son Dr. Brian Eddy, the best plastic surgeon in Southern California.  Lillian can't bear to think she is right, so she asks Odelia to find evidence to clear her son.  As Odelia tries to find what the four victims have in common, she becomes convinced that Dr. Eddy is innocent.  But can she actually prove it?

This book starts out very quickly, and I was intrigued from page one to see who the Blond Bomber really was.  The plot builds from there until I didn't want to put the book down; I just had to know how things would turn out.  There was one aspect of the climax that wasn't developed like I would have liked it to be, but the climax was so well done overall, it was only a minor issue for me.  (It probably did help that I guessed that part correctly.)

The characters in this series are outstanding, and this book shows why.  Odelia married boyfriend Greg Stevens in the last book, and he actually gets quite a bit of page time this go around.  I absolutely love their relationship, so I was thrilled to see more of him.  Even Odelia's friend Zee was a bigger part of this book than last time.  While her temperamental boss Mike Steele wasn't around much, his scenes are absolutely memorable.  The new characters are well drawn as well and fleshed out enough to keep me guessing on who is good and who is bad.

Odelia's first person narration is perfect for the book.  It really helps make her seem like an old friend.  And the writing flows, so it is very easy to get lost in the events of the story.

Every time I picked this book up, I didn't want to put it down.  Booby Trap is an addicting story that fans of the series will love.  And if you aren't already a fan, change that today.

Once you are a fan, you'll race through the Odelia Grey Mysteries in order.