Rating: 4 Stars
Source: Blog Tour
Description: What do an eccentric Italian heiress and an 18 year old up and coming pop star from Scranton, Pennsylvania have in common? Nothing other than they are both new clients of Allison Capmbell's image consultant business and they both went missing on the same day. Desperate to protect her business and her assistant and friend Vaughn Allison starts taking a deeper look into the disappearances. Uncovering a 30 year old suicide, family secrets and connections to a very dangerous group Allison is out of her comfort zone and very much in danger.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: The premise intrigued me and this looked a little different from the regular cozies I've been reading lately.
My Impression:
Pro: Darker and grittier than I was expecting this barely qualifies as a cozy. When I see that the primary character is not associated with the police, a PI or a journalist I always get a bit nervous but Allison investigating the disappearance makes sense. These aren't active police investigations and for her business she needs to track down these 2 people. She always represents herself honestly and while a few of the situations she finds herself in do border on TSTL (To Stupid To Live) I can see and understand how she got into the situation. I like that the characters actually talk to each other about things that are bothering them and the scene where Mia tells Jason that he either needs to support Allison or risk losing her made me want to reach into the book and hug her. There are a lot of tiny little subplots and threads of investigations and it was fascinating watching these all come together.
Con: About 2/3 of the way in it kind of felt like I hit a wall in terms of the pacing of the book. It felt like we were turning from plot advancement to time to wrap this up and it wasn't necessarily the smoothest transition. Wow! That's vague! I'm sorry about that and I really wish I had actual words to describe it better.
Overall: While this is the 2nd in the series this is the first book by Tyson that I've read. There are a few mentions to earlier cases but no spoilers (other than Allison survives which isn't really a spoiler) and I had no problem understanding who the characters were, their issues, and relationship to each other. This was a page turning read and I'm looking forward to reading more of Allison's adventures. My only real flaws with this were definitely on the nit-picky side!
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely! I'll be keeping an eye out for Wendy Tyson's future books and I've already bought Killer Image - the first book in this series.
Would I Recommend this Book?: Yes! I think if you enjoy mysteries you'd enjoy this book.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Challenges Met? Alphabet Soup (D), Reading Road Trip (New York)
I like the sound of this one. It's good to know the main character has a practical reason to be investigating the disappearances. It can stretch believability otherwise--makes the lay person turned investigator seem nosy more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why they're investigating is getting more important in my reading. I liked that this really felt like it made sense.
DeleteI'm glad you found a new mystery author to add to your list. :)
ReplyDeleteI like me some darker and grittier reads, sometimes. You just want to having those feelings sometimes. Yah know? Lol.
I don't think you were being vague. It makes sense, the transition from different points in the story needed some work and maybe more substance?
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
I did really enjoy this and that it covered some really interesting topics. I'm not sure what exactly it was and I did really enjoy it at the end!
DeleteI understood your con, I don't think you really could have said it differently without spoilers. Fantastic review :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! The ending was really satisfactory so I'm not going to complain to much about a tiny rough patch.
DeleteThis is tempting. I appreciate the warning about the transition and pacing.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one!
DeleteThanks for bringing this book and series to my attention!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely worth the read!
DeleteThis sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one!
DeleteI like the premise of this one - it doesn't sound like the normal cozy. I am not very fond of TSTL moments (love that acronym, by the way!) so it's good that there aren't that many in the book and when they happen they are somewhat credible.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a lover of TSTL either but it did feel credible. We don't always behave logically in life so I'm willing to give characters a little space!
DeleteSounds like a good read, not your typical cozy.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not typical and definitely a great read! I really enjoyed it!
DeleteHello everyone! Katherine, thank you so much for your thoughtful review and for hosting DEADLY ASSETS on your wonderful blog. ~WAT
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Wendy! I very much enjoyed getting to know Allison, Vaughn and the rest and can't wait to read more!
DeleteThis book sounds very appealing to me..I like the premise and want to follow the road Allison goes down. Thank you for putting this book out there. I enjoy new authors and books, ones I don't know. Thank you, I appreciate your giveaway and your time.
ReplyDeleteInteresting premise - and it's great that it gives the heroine a legitimate reason to look into things. I do get tired of the "I can do a better job than the police" sort of cozies after a while. The best series do give the MC a good reason to get involved - other than being the prime suspect, which is another overused trope. This sounds like something I might like. Good review!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your review and learning about the book, thanks!
ReplyDelete