Review: Some Improvement compared to Murder in Ballyhasset
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2012
I'd like to be able to rate this book at 2-1/2 stars, somewhere between 'I don't like it' and 'it's okay.' I read it right after I finished Murder in Ballyhasset, and there has been some improvement in the mechanics of the writing. The previous preoccupation with dates and days of the week didn't intrude as annoyingly as in the first book, and the author's handling of time progression is a little smoother. There were fewer grammatical and spelling mistakes here, although there are still many instances of run-on sentences and misuse of commas. While there was less confusion about the order of events in The Body in the Lake, the plot is still unidimensional, characters minimally developed, and descriptions of potentially exciting or frightening events are wooden. Having said that, I do have to say that it's possible that this author may continue to improve in her craft, especially with editing help and perhaps by taking longer to write a book (this was #3 in 2012). Her choice of locale surely offers wide scope for writing with the flavor of Ireland and her own niche in the murder mystery genre.