Revenge Served Cold

Revenge Served Cold
by: Jackie Fullerton

Kathy Spence awakens in the middle of the night and finds herself in a living nightmare. Her husband has been run down and she is the primary suspect. With an eyewitness to the crime and proof that her car was the murder weapon, it appears to be an open and shut case. Terrified for her future, Kathy turns to amateur sleuth Anne Marshall for help. Believing in Kathy s innocence, Anne launches her own investigation, uncovering proof of a conspiracy that reaches from Kathy s past and threatens her own life. In a race against time, Anne must count on her close friends and even the ghost of her father to help her bring a killer to justice before it's too late. (from goodreads.com)

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I really enjoyed Revenge Served Cold. It is a great little murder mystery that has just enough twists to keep you interested, but not so many that you can't keep up. At the center of the story is Anne, a law student who can't seem to help getting involved in investigations, and drag everyone who's near her into it too. The book makes reference to a previous incident which left Anne battered and bruised, but even that can't stop her from becoming involved when Elliot, a friend of Anne's father is murdered, and his wife Kathy is the lead suspect.

The story moves between several characters as the truth is slowly revealed. Without giving too much away, we see Anne trying to uncover who the real murderer is; the police, including Anne's friends Shane and Maria try to build a case against Kathy; Ross and Alice, old friends of Kathy and Elliot's who have too much at stake in the investigation and Anne's father, who continues to visit Anne despite the fact that he is dead. I really liked that the point of view shifted occasionally through out the book. Although the bulk is seen through Anne's actions, being able to see what other characters are doing and thinking really let's the reader get a better idea of the whole picture, which in a murder mystery is most definitly a good thing.

I really loved the character of Anne- she was a strong, courageous lead for the story. It reminded me of the Nancy Drew character in that we had a smart and stubborn girl who uses intelligence and street smarts to figure out a crime. When you add in her father's influence and help, you really have a good main thread for the book. Anne seemed like the sort of person who could be sitting next to you on the bus, nothing remarkable or superhuman, but someone who puts her mind to something and sees it through.

There were a few minor things that I wasn't a huge fan of. One was all the references to the prior investigation that Anne had inserted herself into. I felt like I had missed something, that there was a whole other book that I should have read prior to this one. I appreciated the fact that it was to show how Anne has a history of ignoring the authority (i.e. her police officer friends) and putting herslef in danger in order to solve a murder, but there wasn't quite enough information to make me feel like I had a good idea of what exactly had happened. Second was how long it took to get the main action of the book. Again, I don't want to give too much away, but the scenes towards the end, when it all comes together and Anne is with Alice are some of the best. Alice is a pretty diabolical character and I would have liked to see more of her and what made her tick. I think more of that sort of action, and slightly less of the extensive investigation really would have pushed this book into a different league.

That being said- I still really enjoyed the plot and action in this book, I thought that it was believable (even the visits from her dad), and it was easy to relate to Anne and several of the other characters. Should there ever be another story about Anne the amatuer slueth, I would buy it. If you are a fan of mysteries and are looking for some good summer/beach reading, this book is a good bet.

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Disclaimer: I recieved this book from The Cadence Group for review.