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A review by bcbrownbooks
Dead Roots by Nancy J. Cohen
3.0
Beauty salon owner, Marla Shore, and her fiance, Detective Dalton Vail take a much-needed vacation to her family reunion at Sugar Crest Plantation Resort.
Marla is looking forward to introducing her fiance to her family when a surprise of secret ownership of the planation by her Aunt Polly (and the subsequent death of the same aunt) leads Marla and Dalton on a kooky goose chase including an odd duck ghost hunter on the loose and a series of mysterious deaths, past and present.
Major highlights include:
Likeable characters such as Marla and Dalton.
Humor. The author has a quick, clean humor when she writes.
Detailed mystery. The story has an intricate plot with rich history and several plausible red herrings.
Major lowlights include:
Dull. Perhaps the worst thing a mystery can be is dull. The pacing seemed far too slow. While genuinely interested in the story, the action was so far and few inbetween I was forced to pick up the story to continue.
Flat secondary characters. The ghost hunter was a bit cliched, and Marla's family (while a bit nutty) were flat and seemed lifeless. With the exception of Aunt Polly, the secondary characters in the novel didn't impress.
Overall the story was humorous but fell flat. I may or may not opt to seek out this author in the future other than for sheer curiosity to see if another book might outshine the former.
Marla is looking forward to introducing her fiance to her family when a surprise of secret ownership of the planation by her Aunt Polly (and the subsequent death of the same aunt) leads Marla and Dalton on a kooky goose chase including an odd duck ghost hunter on the loose and a series of mysterious deaths, past and present.
Major highlights include:
Likeable characters such as Marla and Dalton.
Humor. The author has a quick, clean humor when she writes.
Detailed mystery. The story has an intricate plot with rich history and several plausible red herrings.
Major lowlights include:
Dull. Perhaps the worst thing a mystery can be is dull. The pacing seemed far too slow. While genuinely interested in the story, the action was so far and few inbetween I was forced to pick up the story to continue.
Flat secondary characters. The ghost hunter was a bit cliched, and Marla's family (while a bit nutty) were flat and seemed lifeless. With the exception of Aunt Polly, the secondary characters in the novel didn't impress.
Overall the story was humorous but fell flat. I may or may not opt to seek out this author in the future other than for sheer curiosity to see if another book might outshine the former.