An Affair To Dismemberby Elise Sax
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780345532220
Series: Matchmaker Mystery #1
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Pages: 312
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Three months has been Gladie Burger's limit when it comes to staying in one place. That's why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her eccentric Grandma Zelda recruits her to the family's matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What's more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has "the gift." But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy.
When Zelda's neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family's drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor's death was murder. It's not too long before she's in way over her head--with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she's unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued--either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?
I’m not sure about this book – it was a mash up of sorts.
The writing felt disjointed and the story not very tightly woven at all. The whole matchmaking-third-eye premise of getting Gladie back home is never really explained very well – is this gift supposed to be of a psychic sort? There are hints it might be, but then well, it’s never explained.
The murder mystery itself was all over the place – it’s repeated again and again that the first two deaths are natural causes – so why is the police chief constantly around looking into things? Not really explained very well either. The plot has what it takes to be really interesting – and in honesty, I got very engrossed in the story, but the writing was so almost stream-of-consciousness that I really just felt the chaos.
Still, the characters are all really likeable and interesting – there’s no mixing them up in your head because you can’t tell them apart. Each is colourful and interesting in their own way. The men are of course, hot hot hot, though I’m firmly in the police chief’s corner for some reason.
I’m going to read the next book in the series because I want to find the story lines tighter and I’m hoping for a more cohesive book all around – Ms. Sax could have a winner of a series on her hands if she just pulls it all together better.