Review: Hardboiled or Half-Baked?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2014
The story is well plotted and provides an interesting surprise ending.  The problem is character development.  Although the author provides detailed cast information at the beginning, the people do not live up to the plan.  Men are cardboard characters.  Tom is a mystery, never fully developed or explained.  Jeremy is the weakest of the men, portraying no appealing qualities deserving of such intense love as Sabrina exhibits toward him.  Or is struggling Sabrina that desperate?Too much of the plot goes astray amidst the proliferation of nuisance details …like why did Aggie not worry about her lost purse?Aggie, the lead character, is a perpetual victim, not only of the plot’s main mystery – including the deaths – but also her health.  When she “doesn’t feel quite right,” she convinces her doctor to test for celiac disease.  Where did she get that idea?  And why did her doctor jump to a conclusion so quickly?  Blood testing may indicate a tendency toward celia problems, but a complete diagnosis requires a biopsy of the small intestine.  Aggie never had that.  People who launch gluten-free diets for reasons other than celiac disease open themselves to dietary deficiencies that often do more harm than gluten.  Even so, her recipes using white rice flour are good.  Personal note:  I have found an extra egg helps prevent crumbling in breads or cakes, without the obnoxious taste of guar gum and other gluten substitutes.The author certainly needs an editor or an astute proof-reader.  Grammar and punctuation errors abound, such as in being “late for him and Aggie’s date.”  There are comma-spliced sentences, misplaced apostrophes, and other errors such as setting off a name with a comma without adding the second comma.This had the makings of a five-star book, but I’m feeling generous in giving it three.