Book Review: Left For Dead (DI Amy Winter #3) by Caroline Mitchell

Thomas & Mercer
Published July 8th, 2020

A victim on display. A detective on the rails.

Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine’s Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace—until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin’s mouth.- Goodreads

This is the third book to the DI Amy Winter series. I did not know this when I requested this arc on Netgalley. With that being said, you need to read at least the previous book. On top of the current murder investigation, a previous issue, that takes up 90% of Amy’s head space, is extremely prominent within this novel.  Although I enjoyed this read, I would have loved it if I read the previous novel. So go do that before reading this review and the book :)

I was sucked into this book fairly quickly. It is told in multiple point of views and it was great. It wasn’t great because Amy wasn’t a good voice to read but it was great because each perspective gave actual insight to the case and everything else that was going on. Yes, you do get the killer’s point of view and its creepy. Like he is a creep but that isn’t what made it creepy.

Beyond this the book is fast paced but it was a hard read for me because I didn’t read the previous books. When I realized this was a third, I expected there to be some reference to the previous books not chapters about them. It took away my interest and it also made the current murder seem so small.

Despite this, I really enjoyed this book. The writing style is captivating. How everything moved together behind everyone’s eye took a lot of talent.  Do I plan on reading the previous novels? Not sure. Since I know how some things end, it might not do me any good.

Overall, would continue this series.

3.5 Pickles 

Book Review: A Cure for Madness by Jodi McIsaac

Thomas & Mercer
To Be Published Jan. 19, 2016
299 Pages

Clare Campbell has put enough distance between herself and her troubled family that she thought nothing would ever bring her back to the small town she is from. 

But when her parents are murdered in the street, Clare must return home to not only take care of the funeral arrangements for her parents but she also now has to care for her mentally ill brother, Wes.

Ready to leave at the first chance she can, a deadly pathogen outbreak takes over the town, causing any chances of leaving to become impossible. Soon the government steps in and there is a high interest in Wes. 

Determined to make up for the wrong she did to her brother, Clare will do anything to protect Wes.

*Short Review*

This book too so many turns, it was slightly hard to keep up.  I also wouldn’t label this book as thriller. There was a lot of running around, some killings and some conspiracies but nothing in me would say this is a thriller. At first, I was thinking science fiction but it really isn’t that either. Its something but it sure wasn’t thriller.

The story went from dysfunctional family, to out of nowhere murder, to I hate this small town and responsibilities, to government conspiracy and finally sacrifice. I don’t mind the shifting topics as much as I mind the characters that help move this process along.

Wes was a butt and this had nothing to do with her mental illness. For a lot of the book, he was mentally stable and made some pretty clear (and understandable) decisions. He wasn’t as incapable as the book try to make him appear.

I didn’t like Clare. She was a very selfish woman and even at the end I am not sure if her intentions was even pure. And since I mentioned the ending, I would like to say it was full of crap. It was meant to make Clare human, to show growth and to not seem so selfish. But she was; everything about her, beginning to end was selfish. Her intentions was not pure at all and the author just threw a happy ending in there which made the problem worst.

I did like the pace of the novel and I did like the story overall. But Clare was just horrible and a lot of the story left me scratching my head or rolling my eyes.

Overall,

2 Pickles