Today, I'm featuring a book review as part of a blog
tour for Jeanne Quigley's The Double Exposure Murder.
My post comes a couple of days late but here it is.
Book: The Double Exposure Murder
Series: 1st in series, Robyn Cavanagh
Mystery Series
Author: Jeanne Quigley
Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: TouchPoint Press
Number of Pages: 270
Synopsis:
Robyn Cavanagh enjoys a thriving second career as a
portrait photographer in her beloved suburban hometown of Garland, New York.
Having built a large portfolio of high school senior
photos and family portraits, Robyn is thrilled when math teacher Brooke Gibson
hires her to take photos of a different subject: 16 Clover Lane, the house
Brooke has recently inherited from her late great-aunt.
Brooke will soon put the home on the market and wants
Robyn to take the photos for the real estate listing. Robyn thinks the cozy
house will attract prospective buyers—until she finds bride-to-be Brooke’s
battered body in the garden shed.
When Brooke’s mother asks her help in canceling the
wedding plans, Robyn plays amateur sleuth and gathers clues while also
collecting refunds from Brooke’s wedding vendors.
With help from her friend Will Vonderlin, Robyn
assembles evidence of a possible love triangle, financial indiscretions, and
neighborhood feuds and builds a suspect list that includes Brooke’s fiancé, a
jealous relative, a longtime rival, and a shady bartender.
The clues lead Robyn to the killer and a spectacular
July Fourth finale complete with a marching band and a parade of howling dogs.
Book Review of The Double Exposure Murder
"Violent acts of any sort were a
rarity in Garland. I was certain that Brooke knew her killer."
The
Double Exposure Murder by Jeanne
Quigley is the first book in the Robyn Cavanagh Mystery series.
The book opens with photographer-slash-accountant
Robyn Cavanagh taking photos and listening to bride-to-be Brooke talk about her
July wedding.
In addition to preparing for her wedding, Brooke is
also working to sell her late Aunt Olive's house. Aunt Olive had left the house
to Brooke and her cousin Jessica.
Robyn goes to meet Brooke, a few days later, to finalize some pictures. Instead, she stumbles on to Brooke's dead body.
"With my Olympus [camera], I had
photographed a charming home and the engagement photos of a beautiful young
woman. The detective had just filled a memory card with shots of the same
person and setting, but of a darker scene and mood.
I much preferred the hopefulness and serenity in my photos to the violence and despair in his frames."
Soon after, Laurel, Brooke's mother, tasks Robyn with
collecting the wedding refunds from various businesses in their town.
Doing so gives Robyn the opportunity to help Laurel
and uncover many unsettling things about her friend Brooke. It also leads Robyn
to considering various crazy theories about who wanted to kill Brooke and why.
At first I felt the book was slow especially with the
first chapter focused on a babbling Brooke.
But I believe it was because author Jeanne Quigley
wants readers to see how nice Brooke is and make a connection with her. But
then when Robyn begins her own secret investigation,
Chapter 27 in The Double Exposure Murder was one of the longest and most boring chapters in the book. I don't like – or understand – American football. I think there were a few sections that were just there and that the author could have sped it up a little.
"You should stop snooping around the case. Leave it to the police. Perhaps they should investigate you. You are the one who found Brooke's body. You should be the price suspect."
One of my problems with The
Double Exposure Murder was that I got
confused a few times by the characters.
Since the book handles teens, there are the teens and
their parents, and others. So I felt they were a lot!
I also felt that the reason why Brooke
was killed was a bit complex. I had to read the final bit a couple of times to
realize what was going on. The fact that Robyn had dug up a lot of dirt on the
seemingly-sweet Brooke may or may not have contributed to that.
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While reading The Double Exposure Murder, I was annoyed a few times by Robyn's many
far-fetched ideas about who the killer was and why they murdered Brooke.
But then I realized: Robyn wasn't a detective, so it was natural for her
thoughts to be all over the place.
Quigley has left with a few ideas and thoughts of my own.
On the other hand, here a few of the things I liked
about The Double Exposure Murder:
1.
Robyn Cavanagh is around 46 and single with no apparent romantic
interest. You don't see that too much in cozy mysteries.
2.
Robyn's sarcasm and inner sarcastic dialogue.
3.
Yogi, Robyn's dog. You get the impression that he's so understanding and
Robyn has these cute conversations with 'him.'
4.
I loved how all of Robyn's family pitched in to discuss the murder, the
suspects, the potential motives, and so on.
Overall,
I found The Double Exposure Murder
to be an interesting read. It may slow down in some parts by it's generally
enjoyable.
Overall rating for The Double Exposure
Murder by Jeanne Quigley: 4 Stars.
Note: I received a free copy of The Double Exposure Murder by Jeanne Quigley from Lori Caswell as part of a blog tour with
Dolly Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
About the Author
Jeanne Quigley is the author of the Veronica Walsh
Mysteries and the Robyn Cavanagh mystery series.
Unlike her fictional sleuths, she has never been a
soap opera star or an accountant (though she was an accounting major for a few
minutes in the spring of 1985), but she has worked for an educational publisher
and in the music industry.
A lifelong New Yorker, Jeanne lives in her native
Rockland County.
Connect with Jeanne via Facebook, Goodreads,
Amazon, and her blog.
Last but certainly not least, as part of the blog
tour, there's a giveaway! So use the Widget
below to enter. Good luck!
