Thursday, March 5, 2020

Death with a Dark Red Rose

Title: Death with a Dark Red Rose
Author: Julia Buckley
Published: February 25th 2020 by Berkley
Format: eBook, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Writer's Apprentice Mystery #5

Sorry Julia Buckley, but you lost me with this title. By the time I finished the book, I could not see how the title matched what you had written.

What begins with a new company building an eye-sore of a structure is pristine Blue Lake, quickly jumps to Lena’s best friend Belinda missing and detective Doug going into panic mode not knowing where she is. This is where the whole red rose begins and ends. Which isn’t much considering there is an easy answer and minimal reference to it again.

This is a fling it on the wall and see if it sticks plotting session where Julia Buckley is throwing everything she has, and some that she doesn’t, in hopes of keeping the reader engaged in a straight from Scooby-doo episode where the big bad guy is unmasked and the world is saved by the bumbling, and in the end, a nice meal was prepared for all.

If the author is going with the” oh gosh, gee golly” approach, she has hit her mark. If she is wanting to engage her readers with gothic suspense, she will need to up her game with darker twists and a bit more foreboding.

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