Anne Brooke: fiction writer

This book has to be one of the dullest novels I've ever read. Journalist Nick is incredibly boring, utterly self-obsessed and also rather nasty - he lusts after the girlfriend of his best friend's teenage son and then gets upset when said son calls him a pervert. Get real, Nick! He also goes on and on about local politics in his home town and honestly it isn't interesting the first time we read this. Let alone the other 99 times, sigh ...

The actual crime doesn't appear to happen until we are three-quarters through the novel (so that's a heck of a lot of local politics to read through, believe me ...) then there's a rare moment of interest on page 230 or thereabouts when the book finally gets going. Somewhere this author manages to make the crime dull too, and it was a huge relief when I finally reached the end.

Mind you, I can see why the awful Nick's ex-wife keeps her distance, though I was terribly sorry for the unfortunate Juliana who - once the teenage son's girlfriend is out of the scene - seems to be lined up to be Nick's Next Girlfriend. Lord help her! Run, Juliana, run ...

So, honestly, I'd give this novel a miss. You won't regret it.