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Eric Keith
Ransom Note Press
March 2011/ ISBN 0977378772
Mystery / Contemporary Northern California
Amazon
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Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
In best classic
crime tradition, nine people, all of whom have a connection with
each other, are summoned to an isolated vacation house. They are
all graduates of the Damien Anderson Detective Training Agency –
but where is their host? When he is found dead, the guests also
begin to die, one by one. When a snowstorm blows up, they all realize
that they are trapped there and that one of them must be the killer…
And then there were none! New author Eric Keith has given an old
idea a modern twist with his first novel. Although there are only
nine characters, at times it is easy to get them mixed up, as each
has a complex and detailed history. A handy dramatis personae at
the front is a boon, as are the plans of the house. If you are hoping
for a relaxing, lazy read, then this is not it. This is as much
a puzzle as a book and will keep you on your toes as you try to
solve it. At times reading this novel was perhaps akin to battling
through a dense forest, but stick with it as it makes a change from
most modern mystery novels, which are often more about the characters’
relationships or the setting than the actual plot. If you complain
that the old-fashioned puzzle whodunit is dead, then this might
well be the book for you.
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