Book 37, 2017
Feb. 16th, 2017 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jaeLast night, I read a short ebook novella, Dying to be a Star by Sarah Kelly. It's the first in a series featuring witch-in-training India Kirby.
The basic plot was that India's friend Amy got a catering gig for a C-List singer, who was trying to make a big comeback. Amy enlists India's assistance. During the course of the party, the hostess/guest of honor, Onyx, dies.
It went a bit pear-shaped from there.
Without knowing how Onyx died, the police arrested Amy on suspicion of murder, because she delivered a drink to the woman. Of course, that's when India decided she needed to get involved to clear her friend's name. Plus, India has an "in" with the local police, her "we're just friends" friend Xavier. And...the plot unraveled from there.
♦ No one is going to get arrested before a cause of death is determined.
♦ India says she and Xavier are just good friends, but days later, they're declaring their undying love for one another. Did I miss an entire section?!
♦ Xavier was a-okay with allowing India to "investigate" the crime, make repeated trips to the house where it happened, and question/harass the suspects.
♦ Xavier's boss, who's an asshole, seems okay with this, too.
♦ India helps herself to food and drinks from the kitchen whenever she shows up to talk to the other people in the house.
♦ At one point, when India and Xavier are on a "date", his boss calls him back to the station to process a suspect (who had confessed and then recanted) and put an ankle bracelet on the guy to keep tabs on him. Seriously?!
♦ India and Xavier took possession of items that belonged to one of the suspects without a warrant. Xavier's boss told him he didn't need one, so they just waltzed into the house and demanded the goods, and the woman tearfully surrendered them.
♦ Suspicion of cyanide in the aromatherapy oils that one suspect was using on the victim. Um, cyanide doesn't need to be ingested to be lethal; it can be absorbed through the skin, so the person administering it via massage would have died, also. Derp.
♦ Suddenly, these wealthy people who are completely clueless as to taking care of themselves are washing and line-drying their own clothing?!
♦ Author was obviously British, which is fine. I grinned the first time I read the word "kerb" instead of "curb". Spelling variations don't bother me. What did bother me was when India walked into an establishment and noted that the television was tuned to "American football". Um, here in the States, it's just "football".
So, yeah. Premise was unoriginal, execution was terrible, characters were two-dimensional, and the author lacked any concept of police procedures. Plus, the plot point of India being a witch wasn't explored in any depth. Mostly, it consisted of her communicating telepathically with her mentor, Luis.
Favorite line: ...she heard the Scooby Doo gang deliberating.
Deserves about 1 1/2 stars, but I'll give it 2 for the Scooby reference.
**
The basic plot was that India's friend Amy got a catering gig for a C-List singer, who was trying to make a big comeback. Amy enlists India's assistance. During the course of the party, the hostess/guest of honor, Onyx, dies.
It went a bit pear-shaped from there.
Without knowing how Onyx died, the police arrested Amy on suspicion of murder, because she delivered a drink to the woman. Of course, that's when India decided she needed to get involved to clear her friend's name. Plus, India has an "in" with the local police, her "we're just friends" friend Xavier. And...the plot unraveled from there.
♦ No one is going to get arrested before a cause of death is determined.
♦ India says she and Xavier are just good friends, but days later, they're declaring their undying love for one another. Did I miss an entire section?!
♦ Xavier was a-okay with allowing India to "investigate" the crime, make repeated trips to the house where it happened, and question/harass the suspects.
♦ Xavier's boss, who's an asshole, seems okay with this, too.
♦ India helps herself to food and drinks from the kitchen whenever she shows up to talk to the other people in the house.
♦ At one point, when India and Xavier are on a "date", his boss calls him back to the station to process a suspect (who had confessed and then recanted) and put an ankle bracelet on the guy to keep tabs on him. Seriously?!
♦ India and Xavier took possession of items that belonged to one of the suspects without a warrant. Xavier's boss told him he didn't need one, so they just waltzed into the house and demanded the goods, and the woman tearfully surrendered them.
♦ Suspicion of cyanide in the aromatherapy oils that one suspect was using on the victim. Um, cyanide doesn't need to be ingested to be lethal; it can be absorbed through the skin, so the person administering it via massage would have died, also. Derp.
♦ Suddenly, these wealthy people who are completely clueless as to taking care of themselves are washing and line-drying their own clothing?!
♦ Author was obviously British, which is fine. I grinned the first time I read the word "kerb" instead of "curb". Spelling variations don't bother me. What did bother me was when India walked into an establishment and noted that the television was tuned to "American football". Um, here in the States, it's just "football".
So, yeah. Premise was unoriginal, execution was terrible, characters were two-dimensional, and the author lacked any concept of police procedures. Plus, the plot point of India being a witch wasn't explored in any depth. Mostly, it consisted of her communicating telepathically with her mentor, Luis.
Favorite line: ...she heard the Scooby Doo gang deliberating.
Deserves about 1 1/2 stars, but I'll give it 2 for the Scooby reference.
**
