For one last scary, post-Halloween hurrah, we have a murder mystery where being afraid kills you. Nice. The concept of phobias is always an interesting one and getting to the bottom of what drives peoples biggest fears is a fascinating idea. Mix that in with some typical yet fun mystery characters and you've got this book. Let's dive right in.
Dr. Francesca Stein's made it her goal to help those with life-crippling phobias. Her special treatments and use of hypnosis to make people's bad memories go away have worked wonders on hundreds of patients. However, her patients start dying in horrific suicides and Frankie is being stalked by someone called the Night Bird. Now homicide detective Frost Easton is on the case, and together he and Dr. Stein must catch the killer before he strikes again.
As far as mysteries go, this one is handled really well. It never gets overly complicated and readers can follow along just fine, picking up clues and figuring things out as they go. I admit, I didn't know where this was going most of the time. I was genuinely interested and didn't figure it out too soon, which is how mystery stories are meant to go. Admittedly I did figure it out a bit earlier than I was probably supposed to, but for the most part, I was intrigued. The story has just the right amount of elements in it to keep the reader's inner detective curious. It drops just the right hints at just the right time, it has red herrings to fool the readers onto the wrong track, and there's just the right amount of threat and urgency in the plot to keep the reader invested. In this department, it was quite a success.
I also got to really like the character of Frost Easton...despite his rather silly name. Most of these detective-types in mystery novel tend to fall into Gary-Stu territory, what with being overly perfect, knowing things they couldn't possibly know, and being able to knock out opponents twice their size. Frost, however, is very human. While he does have the traditional tragic backstory and he does brood about it from time to time, he's still comes off as likable. He's not the "don't get in the way of my investigation" kind of guy, he wants to help and doesn't judge. He has useful friends he relies on, he has a brother that he gets along with and loves, he doesn't jump into bed with any woman he meets, he's just...human. Also, he rents his home from his cat. You read that right.
Now, admittedly, the rest of the characters in this book are...a bit cookie-cutter. You know all these stereotypes from other mystery novels: the self-absorbed sister, the criminal that got away, the flamboyant gay guy, the husband who doesn't get enough attention, yada yada. Then again, this is mystery fiction, so it's kind of hard to blame them for this. You know who these characters are within five minutes of knowing them and can pretty easily picture what their role is and what place they have in the story. They're mostly just there to get the plot moving. The stuff involving Dr. Stein's personal story is probably the worst part, that tidbit I actually could guess and it's resolution left me a bit peeved, but the kind of peeved you get when you're invested so...there's that.
With this being a fictional story, you do have to allow for some creative license. For example, I'm not sure how sound some of the science is in this book, as in I don't know if this is something someone can actually do. There are times when both Frost and Dr. Stein make decisions that probably wouldn't work in real life...such as entering places without a warrant (yeah, that happens). However, it doesn't happen very often and, in one instance at least, there could be an argument for probable cause so it does check out. Frost stays mostly by the book, but it's Dr. Stein who ends up making some of the dumb moves. But, again, it's to move the plot along so most of it is pretty forgivable, it didn't really bother me. The only thing that really did bother me, aside from the thing about Stein's forgotten past, is that the author really likes to wax poetic about the surrounding area during tense moments. When people are about to die and things are getting really intense, the last thing I wanna hear about is what the trees look like! There's a time and place for such things.
Final Verdict
A creepy baddie, a cool cop, and an interesting mystery are all pros this book has to offer, while stereotypes and poor decision making are its cons. Still, I was pretty entertained and nicely intrigued by this book and it did its job by bringing me along for the ride and letting me figure things out on my own. Overall, I'd say that this creepy tale is worth your money at your local bookstore.
Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer
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