Review: Quick Read - Mysterious
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 11, 2012
This is the first story by Helen Smith that I've read.  I was initially put off on the first or second page by her description of the stars as compared to some kind of action inside a toddler's mouth.  (HUH?)  Also, I now assume that Emily is a character in her other stories, and that people who've read them would have a  more complete sense of who she is as a character.  This story was NOT a good introduction, because all I could discern at first was that she was very sad about the loss of her dog.  For awhile I imagined that she was perhaps a 60-something lady who'd rarely ventured out of the house she'd shared for years and years with her best and only friend in the world, her aging and now-deceased canine companion.  Pathetically enough, in her sorrow she decides to venture out to a party meant for a much younger crowd and is received much like a distant aunt.I was wrong, but it was well after the strange disappearance (or was it a murder?) of a young woman that it became clear that she was a contemporary of the party-goers.As described by other readers, the bizarre Guy Fawkes/Halloween party is punctuated by events contrived by the party-planners.  These events conspire to confuse our heroine as well as the reader.  Unlike other readers, I did not find the party intriguing. Rather, I had a sense that with the exception of one or two passing encounters, people were rather unfriendly.  Had it been me, I'd have left and the mystery would have remained undiscovered, not to mention unsolved.Because it was short, I finished it.  (Thank heaven for Kindle's % read indicator in the corner.)Also, because it's short, if you want to go by the ratings of others who gave it 4 or 5 stars, give it a shot.  Being under $2.00, it won't break your budget.