Review: What an adrenaline rush!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 29, 2013
They call her Merlin, but while Julie O'Hara is no wizard she does have a way of reading people's innermost secrets in their smallest unconscious movements. When Julie is the first to discover a dead woman drifting in a swan boat on Lake Eola, the successful body language expert feels an immediate connection to the case. When the woman's death is ruled a suicide, her distraught parents hire Detective Joe Garrett to delve deeper into the case. Not only is Garrett's office next door to O'Hara's, but the two are also an item, though a tragic accident in Julie's past stands in the way of true happiness.Julie joins Joe on the case, and together the two look into the life and death of the beautiful but enigmatic Dianna Wieland. Using Joe's gut and Julie's honed powers of observation, the duo uncover secrets, discover Dianna's dark past and edge ever closer to finding a killer who will do just about anything to stay hidden.Swan Song is a smooth and enjoyable read. Author Lee Hanson is a deft writer and keeps the plot twisting and turning throughout the novel. Julie and Joe are enjoyable characters, and I especially found myself looking forward to Julie's perspective. Hanson has done her homework, and Julie's body language expertise was convincing and really added a fun layer to the mystery.One thing I really appreciated was how the character of Dianna Wieland grew throughout the novel. From an anonymous dead body at the beginning of the novel, she seemed to become more and more alive as Joe and Julie put together the pieces of her life.For anyone looking to snuggle up with a good mystery that will keep you guessing and give you a strong shot of adrenaline at the end, I strongly suggest Swan Song.As for me, when I turned the last page (or, more accurately, pushed the `next' button one last time on my Kindle) I realized that I didn't want this song to end. I'm glad that Julie is back in the Volume 3 of the Julie O'Hara Mystery Series, Mystral Murder.(This book was provided to Compulsion Reads for review by the author.)