Mar Preston

An excellent mystery that could have been 5 stars BUT...it receives 1 star from this reader. I can't give 2 stars and say it was OK. For 3 strong reasons it was not. 3 Strikes = Not Recommended!

1-The description on multiple platforms indicates the setting of Santa Monica, California as indicated by

"No Dice is set in Santa Monica, California where a gaming goliath is trying to steamroller local opposition to building a glitzy casino complex on the shoreline. A real whodunit confronts Santa Monica police detective Dave Mason when a crucial city councilwoman is murdered on the eve of the vote bringing the gaming consortium another step closer."

The author's "Acknowledgements" indicate the police department...

"I am grateful to the Santa Monica Police Department and all the officers who took part in the Citizen Academy program. I would also like to thank Lauralee Asch of the Department’s Community Relations Unit for her time, information freely given, and her encouragement."

However, 121 times in the Kindle edition the setting and respective police department are indicated as "Santa Marina, California." In checking the paperback edition via the feature on Amazon of "Look Inside" Santa Monica, California is used. Did neither the author herself or anyone at the publisher of Pertinacity Press since copyright of 2011 check the Kindle Edition to notice this blatant error? This was Mar Preston's debut novel. Now she is writing guides to teach others. Is everyone afraid to mention this to her?

2-There are also multiple copy edit errors! Very simple copy edit errors that would not be captured by spell check but could have so easily been discovered and corrected.

3-This is the 1st time that I've read a novel that did not use a scene transition (i.e., a blank line between paragraphs, asterisks, a piece of clip art) to indicate a smooth pivot to a different location, group of characters, etc. within a chapter. Within one chapter of the book the reader is engrossed in a conversation between Ginger McNair and her father taking place in the kitchen of her apartment. The conversation doesn't seem to continue or end except that in the next sentence it is the next day and Ginger is sending an email blast in the community hall. Within another chapter, Detective Dave Mason is conducting an interview at an individual's place of business. Again, the conversation doesn't seem to continue or end except that in the next sentence the reader is suddenly with Ginger in the midst of

"a long, contentious meeting of the Coalition strategy group."

I didn't mind that the conversation ended or the day or location changed in the storyline. I did mind the abrupt scene transitions that made the advance of the novel choppy and ineffective rather than a seamless flow of good storytelling.

As any mystery reader I wanted to read to the close of the investigation. It was a poor reading experience and not a writing style I choose to pursue.… (plus d'informations)

Mar Preston’s police procedural dealing with the murder of a wealthy Kurdish college student presents some historical information about the Turks, Armenians and Kurds and brings up the possibilities that Yasemin Safak might have been killed for any number of the usual reasons AND presents the idea that her death might have been a hate or honor crime. How Detective Dave Mason and his crew solve who killed Yasemin unfolds in an orderly manner presenting Yasemin and her family as they are seen and experienced by those on the investigative team. Interpreters are needed by the team and are added into the usual task of rounding up clues, interviewing and sleuthing that is required when on the search of murderers willing to burn a woman to death. I believe this book will perhaps open some eyes to the horrific situation women around the world, and even in Western countries, may face when dealing with family and the perception of honor.… (plus d'informations)

In a small mountain village in California dismembered body parts are found during Oktoberfest. The local security patrol calls in homicide detectives and the search for a murderer begins. This story is a police procedural with a dash of romance. The murderer is not exposed in the beginning leaving the reader to wait quite awhile as the story unfolds. This book includes a desire for love, finding of love, forest fires, an abused animal saved, good hearted and not so good hearted people and an ultimate ending that will satisfy any reader.… (plus d'informations)