Scents and Shadows

McNamara Series, Volume 2

By: Roxana Nastase

Narrated by: David McCann

An improbable killer. A stubborn detective. Misleading evidence. Nothing is what it seems to be. A beheaded victim leads to revealing a sordid story. Throw a new crime in the middle, and you may get lost in the evidence. Follow McNamara and his team in his quest to find a bold murderer. Even though many might think the killer should be decorated, McNamara must follow the letter of the law. A shy love story seasons the darkness of the crimes. If you love a good traditional crime story, then this is the book to you. Buy it and spend a nice afternoon – or two with a compelling and riveting story.

©2017 Roxana Nastase (P)2017 Roxana Nastase

Can you smell the darkness? How about evil?

This is a short little mystery that is perfect for a midlength car ride, or an evening with nothing to do. It is a murder mystery, and is populated with interesting characters. It has a stylish location, and the narration by McCann is superb. In fact, I really liked lstening to him, he has an oddly hypnotic voice that sort of pulls you into the story. Personally, I think that he added a lot to the text. He is a master storyteller, and he keeps this book afloat when it would sink.

What do I mean by that? Nothing bad, I assure you. The book is a little slow,especially at the start. It might be because I am not familiar with the characters, as I have read nothing of this series prior to this book, and my ignorance made me take it in a bit slower than I normally would. Also, as intriguing as it was, the book did lack for suspense. I figured out the killer well in advance of the reveal. That did not take away my enjoyment of the book, as I generally do figure out the killer more often than not. Additionally, most writers nowadays, reveal who did it right at the start of the book, so you are generally just watching the main character figure it out on their own. I have to admit, I am not big on romance, but McNamara and Bryonny's burgeoning romance was a nice diversion. Mac has good taste.

I will say that I loved the cover of this book. It is dark and atmospheric, and conveys that there is evil afoot, a mystery that needs solving, and danger lurks out of sight in the fog and shadows. I am taking a star away for the transparency of who the killer was, and for the slight hesitation in getting the story going. I really hate to do that, since I did like the book, but I am aware that other readers are far more particular than I when it comes to that sort of thing. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

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