Hmm. I am a big Heather Gudenkauf fan. That’s one of the reasons this long awaited release was so exciting. It’s her first book to be released in hard back, a wonderful accomplishment for any writer. I greatly anticipated getting my hands on a copy this book.
That said, from page one I found myself asking, “This is Gudenkauf?” The writing was uncharacteristically simple and sparce. The characters weren’t as well developed as hers usually are. And the plot? It was a simple paint by numbers murder mystery. Not at all what I was expecting.
It wasn’t bad, I enjoyed it, but my first suspect was indeed the guilty culprit and the writing kept taking me out of the story. This book gave me the impression that Gudenkauf got the much coveted deal for a hard cover release before the book was written, and she choked. She’s a much more talented writer than this book portrays. I would recommend this book to someone looking for a quick and enjoyable mystery, but not to anyone expecting The Weight of Silence. It is with a heavy heart that I give this one only 4 stars.
Shannon Hollinger 
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