Review of Murder on the Cote d’Azur by Susan Kiernan-Lewis (2012) (Maggie Newberry Mysteries)

Bottom line: I didn’t enjoy it very much, but it would be a good book if you were looking for a free book to read on a plane to France.

Rating: Not Recommended

Blurb:

The first in the Maggie Newberry mystery series takes Atlanta Copywriter Maggie Newberry to the south of France and Paris in her search for her sister and her niece’s killer. Along the way, she meets Laurent–a sexy Frenchman who is not at all what he appears. Is he helping her in her quest? Or is he the reason for it?

Review:

I’ve had this on my Kindle for quite a while, as it consistently show up on the Amazon’s top 100 free bestsellers. I finally read it today and was disappointed. I wanted to like it, I just didn’t. I’m having a hard time putting my finger on what exactly it was that bothered me. It’s set in Atlanta and France, but other than the use of “y’all” and several French lines (which was kind of fun, dusting off my very poor high school French), this isn’t a book that really immerses you in the locations. The story doesn’t flow very well, you jump around in time and place a lot, with no warning that a switch has occurred. The main family was set up to have some really interesting, complex relationships, but the characters still seemed somehow flat to me. And there are a lot of secondary characters, none of whom seem particularly likeable or realistic. In addition, I didn’t feel like all the loose threads were tied up at the end.

I did think the murder and unraveling of it were handled well. Amateur detectives often are given unrealistic insight or access to information, but this protagonist used means that any ordinary person would be able to pursue. There were also some plot layers that were handled well – you aren’t quite sure which crimes are connected, or who is involved – without it feeling like elements were introduced solely to trick you.

All in all, it works better in theory than it did in execution for me. There just wasn’t anything I loved about it, and I found myself pushing myself to read quickly to get it over with.

Available: Free e-book at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Smashwords.

What did you think? Did you like the book?