Title; Crisis in Crestwood County
Author: Kismet Kaye
Date: 2023
Publisher: Kismet Ink
Quote: "Why would anyone want to kill the mayor?"
Because his given name was Richard, and he'd invited a lot of people to celebrate a business deal that was supposed to bring prosperity to Crestwood County, and when the next two of those people to be murdered have the given names Endnick (Endnick?) and Vincente, in an intuitive leap the local police just guess that the killer is going to spell out the word REVENGE...and trained but inexperienced Detective Sarah Thompson's mother's name just happens to be Elizabeth.
It's possible to read and enjoy this "cozy mystery," though I did not find it especially cozy. It's easy to see ways employing an editor could have made it better. It's not always clear who's narrating. A first-person prologue written from the point of view of the mayor, just before the scene in which Mayor Richard's death is reported, kept me wondering whether Sarah's going to become mayor...she doesn't. A flashback scene illuminating why the killer seems to be spelling out REVENGE seems to be written from Sarah's point of view when it can only e Elizabeth's memory. Worse yet, there's considerable confusion whether this is an American mystery where the murders begin with a mayor, or a British one where they begin with a count. At least twice Richard is called "the count" and a character's promotion sends the character to London rather than Washington.
So, this is not one of the post-COVID novels that will be worth reprinting in hardcover as it launches a literary career...but I did chortle as, partly by careless writing, the author kept me guessing up to the scene just before the killer is caught.
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