Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great characters and an interesting mystery
Cons: The sub-plot
involving Pop was icky
The Bottom Line:
Debut mystery
Fill with fun characters you'll
Want to see again
I’d read several positive reviews of Skating Around the Law when it debuted a couple years back, but somehow I never quite got around to
reading it. I finally dug the book out,
and I can see why it was praised since it is an enjoyable debut.
Rebecca Robbins left the small town of Indian
Falls for life as a mortgage broker in Chicago . She’s returned home briefly to settle her
late mother’s affairs, including selling Toe Stop, the roller rink that was her
pride and joy.
Rebecca hopes to be in town a week or less, but that’s
before she finds the body of Mack Murphy in the women’s bathroom. Now with a killer on the loose, no one seems
interested in buying the property. Since
the town’s sheriff is more interested in his garden than finding the killer,
Rebecca decides to snoop around. After
all, the faster the murder is solved, the faster she can return to her normal
life. But when the threats start coming,
Rebecca begins to realize she is in over her head. Can she find the killer before she becomes
the next victim?
Okay, admittedly in many ways this is a typical cozy debut,
including the main character returning to her former home town and the
introduction of a sexy love interest. It
seems most series start out that way.
It’s what the authors does with these staples that makes me decide to
keep reading a series, and here the author did a good job.
First of all, there are the characters. Rebecca leads off a cast of charming and
eccentric people I enjoyed visiting.
There was enough development to make me feel like I knew them, and I
look forward to getting to know them better in future installments.
The story was confusing and mysterious, going off in several
directions that surprised me. That
includes several plot points that didn’t turn out like I expected. I did figure out who the killer was before
the book ended, but I was having fun, so I wanted to stick around to make sure
I was right.
The one aspect I didn’t like was a sub-plot involving
Rebecca’s Grandfather’s love life. It
and Rebecca’s reactions to it were supposed to be funny. I, on the other hand, felt the same ick
factor that Rebecca did.
The writing flowed well, keeping me in the story. In fact, I often would get caught up in
events and forget to check the time.
That’s not a good thing when you are reading on your lunch hour.
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