Saturday, July 27, 2013

You Never Saw it Coming

Mask of Shadows (Michael Drake Mystery #2) by Erick Burgess

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a review. 

Summary: Michael Drake, a part-time private investigator and part-time jazz club owner, starts the day as he has many others, doing a favor for a friend. In doing so, he falls right into the middle of a torrid affair. As Michael tries to decide whether or not to tell his friend of his wife's indiscretion, she is murdered. Through no fault of his own, Michael is entangled in a murder plot that reaches back to his days in college. The problem lies in the fact that, in clearing himself, he may implicate the friend that he intended to help. That is only the beginning when murder and passion collide in a small south Louisiana town. When the true killer is revealed, Drake must deal with the consequences and the lives he helped destroy.

Review: A murder mystery with so many twists, turns, and dead ends that you won’t know what’s coming.

The description for Mask of Shadows let me know that this wasn’t going to be a straightforward mystery, as far as mysteries can be straightforward. It sounded like it might be rather torrid, especially with Michael Drake having an affair with a woman who is murdered soon after. And I was certainly not disappointed. I might read more mysteries if they were actually like Mask of Shadows. I did not have the slightest idea that the culprit was actually the culprit. And that’s how a mystery should be. It should keep you guessing until the end.

There weren’t too many characters, but I had a little trouble remembering them all. Some of them were in and out so quickly. Although I am against cheating, I can’t really fault Drake for what he did. Drake was an interesting character. He had a lot of baggage that kept him too much in the past and I know how dangerous it can be to live in the past. His past comes back to him in unexpected ways, but he is finally able to accept the past and start living in the present. I have hope for him.

Rating:






Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those that enjoy gritty mysteries.

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