Tags
book reviews, books, Fiction, hiding gladys, lee mims, literature, mystery, reading
Author: Lee Mims
Pages: 242
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Adventure
Summary: “A rock fortune inspires family betrayal and murder
Cleo Cooper is either about to strike it rich or lose it all. Discovering a huge and rare granite deposit is a geologist’s dream come true. The multi-million dollar quarry deal will also benefit Cleo’s friend Gladys Walton, who owns the rural North Carolina property. So what could go wrong? Finding a dead body in Gladys’s well, for starters. A hitchhiking rattlesnake and a near-fatal accident during the drill test convinces Cleo that someone is dead set on scaring her–and halting the project. The two likely suspects? Gladys’s greedy, grown children, Robert Earle and Shirley, who try every dirty trick in the book to cash in on the granite-rich land. But are they nasty enough to resort to murder?
Between romps with a hot geologist, Cleo devotes every fiber of her being to keeping Gladys safe–and keeping her dream alive.” ~from Goodreads.com
*Provided by JKSCommunications for an honest review*
I’ve always loved a good mystery. I love the thrill I get when trying to figure out the plot of a story, who the real antagonists were, and what else could possibly go wrong. That is one of the reasons I’d originally agreed to read this book.
Despite my initial excitement, as I read the book, I found that it was alright. In all honesty, I was more interested in the plot than the actual protagonist. Upon realizing that Cleo was an older woman, I was confused. Her thoughts and actions – and sometimes her diction – reflected someone significantly younger. I found myself skimming over “Cleo-centric” paragraphs and chapters just so I could focus the majority of my attention on the actual plot of the story.
While exciting in some points, I thought the plot was fairly predictable. I would’ve preferred if something outrageous happened like Gladys was behind everything, upset that she’d signed over her land and missed out on a fortune – or something like that. Alas, that was not the case and the whole “Who did it” speculation slowly transformed into more of a “well it was obviously them” kind of thing.
The writing wasn’t bad; however, I believe that they Mims could have dug deeper into the plot and transformed it into something very exciting.
I’m not saying it was a bad book, I can see how and why some people would like it. Unfortunately it was an okay book for me.
Overall: ★★