by Carly Duncan
"The Last Dinner Party"
Genre: Women Sleuths, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense. 231 pages.
Genre: Women Sleuths, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense. 231 pages.
Price: $2.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
- SYNOPSIS -
When Jeanie D'Alisa is found murdered in her bedroom after hosting a dinner party in her home, detectives Anna Cole and Kristy Hicks are called to investigate the crime. Known within her community for her generous, yet unpredictable nature, Jeanie's secrets unfold as family, friends and neighbors become suspects.
Anna and Kristy discover stamped passport pages revealing travels unknown and a curious relationship between Jeanie and the charming salesman who frequents the apartment building. Meryl, Jeanie's devoted but needy friend, further complicates the investigation when she phones Jeanie's sister who is studying abroad and lies to her about the cause of death.
Through a muddied pool of misdirection and betrayal, will Anna and Kristy be able to assemble the clues in order to bring Jeanie's killer to justice?
The path to solving the mystery becomes tangled with faces of loved ones who are revealed to be foes in this story about the lengths people will go to
in order to save themselves.
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My Rating: 
My Thoughts: A Crime Of Passion Or Something More?
Reading mystery novels always peak my interest because I love the thrill of "Who-Dun-It?" but I usually figure out the killer half way through the book. So saying all that I'm happy to say this book had me wrapped of in suspects until the BIG reveal. The characters and detectives keep you invested in the story reading chapter after chapter trying to piece together who is the killer.
Set in the 1960's, Detectives Anna and Kristy are give the case concerning the suspected murder of Jeanie D'Alisa. By all accounts Jeanie appeared to be a very loved and involved neighbor in the apartment complex she lived in. But as the detectives dig and find further evidence not all is as it seems concerning Jeanie, her life, relationship and mental state. More suspects and motives are found the more Anna and Kristy look. The biggest worry for all involved is will justice prevail and who is Jeanie's killer?
Overall, loved the complexity of the case and the partnership of the detectives was interesting. At first I was surprised to find this story was set in the 60's, made it all a bit more classic and old school gum shoe mystery. The detectives being females also added a new dynamic which is rare to most male dominated mystery novels, so that was a refreshing change. The plot was well structured and lead you through alternate perspectives involving the characters so you were able to see them in another light other than just being interrogated. However the best point in hindsight was the fact the author never had Jeanie's perspective, but you feel as if you know her but all the accounts of her friends and family members. The only issue was poor editing skills, there were spelling errors and missing words, which did stop the flow every so often, but not too badly. So if you are up for a mystery involving a woman to involved in people's lives that upon her death there are one too many suspects and two female detectives are put on the case while still trying to figure out how to work together, then this book would be good to read.
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Carly M. Duncan is a television producer and writer. Working in television, she has
prolifically created visual narratives for networks like Discovery Health, MTV, NatGeo,
Travel Channel, FYI and more. Her short story, First Place, was published when she
was a high school student. Her two previous novels, Marcie and Behind You are
mysteries that touch on family bonds and the events that can strengthen or destroy
them.
Carly lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family and will likely never leave.
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