Review: A mystery told in short vignettes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2014
I picked up this month's kindle first during a long sleepless night.  I've never read the work of an Austrian writer and thought a simple mystery would be a nice change from an orgy of science fiction reading.  "Rain Girl" turned out to be an excellent choice.Kreslehner has created a simple mystery told largely in a series of short vignettes.  Many of the "chapters" are actually only a paragraph long.  This style combined with Kreslehner's extremely descriptive prose has the effect of flipping through a stack of photos or viewing film clips rather than reading a novel.  It was a bit of an adjustment though not unpleasant.  The story did begin to have more traditional continuity later in the book which helped to connect with the characters though most never felt completely developed.Over all, "Rain Girl" was a simple, easy read.  The mystery isn't particularly complex (the red herring is fairly apparent as that and I thought the killer was easy to spot) but it follows a coherent investigation touching on many grim topics without ever becoming excessively visceral or unpleasant.  However, there is an abundance of coarse language and marital infidelity which some readers may find to be too much.Other than references to the Autobahn, Danube and some distinctly Austrian names, the fact that this was a translation was easy to forget (Bravo, Mr. Chadeayne)  I think I might like a sequel to this more than "Rain Girl" itself.  This was a good introduction to some interesting characters.Edited 7-5.  A customer indicated that they misread a phrase in original review as a spoiler.  On the theory that if one person could so could another, a slight change in wording has been made.  Thanks for pointing that out, Kevin.