I received this book via Early Reviewers for free. It was a very quick read and very basic reading/grammar. The premise is a high profile man dies with all signs showing as suicide but a reporter thinks there's more to the story. It was ok, like I said... very simple and basic story.

For the rest of the review, visit my blog at: http://angelofmine1974.livejournal.com/72404.html ( )

This short novel is part of the Rapid Reads series. The intent is for someone to pick the book up in
an airport, and then finish it by the end of their plane trip. The market of the novel seems to be aimed at women. But the writing of this book was dreadful. The book is full of stilted language and cliche.Rich, counsellor murdered by Lady X...small-time journalist gets big break by revealing killer and in process almost gets killed himself. It was a chore to read this book because the prose was so lame. And then
the ending when the killer is revealed is so abrupt, it was as if the author realized that his page allotment had run up and he had to tie up all of the knots of the story. I really don't know who would want to read this book because even though it is short, it is a very boring and poorly written read.I really couldn't find anything redeeming about this book.

I read this book as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program and, well, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it. As part of the Rapid Reads" series -- something I didn't quite register when I requested it -- it was definitely a quick read. As such (it is only 130 pages), there really wasn't a lot of depth to it. I actually felt it read sort of like an adult version of an Encyclopedia Brown mystery. For example -- SPOILER ALERT -- the main character, journalist Sebastian Casey, is able to convince the police that the city councilor's death is not a suicide because the note left behind spells his wife' name wrong. Really? The police wouldn't notice that on their own? The murderer would be smart enough to avoid well-concealed security cameras but wouldn't check out the correct spelling?

There were a lot of other issues I had with this book, but I'm not sure how fair it is for me to go into them since I think they're more a function of the convention of a short(ish) story/novella rather than an issue with the writing itself. If this were a side project of an ongoin series than I would say that I was interested enough in the characters and thought the writing was overall good enough for me to pursue the series' full-length novels. But I don't think I'll be on the lookout for other rapid reads. ( )

This book is part of the "Rapid Reads" collection and it is that at only 130 pages. I found it an enjoyable mystery. It takes place in Vancouver, BC. As I am from BC it is always fun to read a book that takes place in areas that I am familiar with. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a light, fast read with some local flavour.

I received a free copy of this book from the LibraryThing's early reviewers program in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )

This is a well-crafted murder mystery novella that's easy to read which I guess is the point of the "Rapid Reads" series to which it belongs. The plot is complex enough to keep you interested, but is not overly complicated with too many characters to keep track of. The protagonist is an interesting guy - a not too ambitious reporter for a small weekly newspaper - who lives simply. For example, he goes everywhere by bus because he doesn't own a car and until recently he got his wardrobe at thrift stores. Included in the story is a wry episode involving a security guard -- it's almost comic relief.

There's a sub-plot about his romantic relationship with a woman who just happens to be off in Ireland tending to her dying mother. Nothing turns on this sidebar except to add a dimension to the protagonist's character. (I think there's an earlier book -- and maybe a future one -- where the relationship is more significant).

I read this book in an hour or so which would make it a good choice for a short trip or similar situation.

I received my copy as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer.

There is a couple of "copy edit" errors for those detail-oriented readers to catch. ( )