Book 60, 2020

[chez_jae]

Bones & Boxes by Anna Drake

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I set myself a goal of reading 60 books this year (pre-Covid!), so go team me!

Once I cleaned house this morning, I rewarded myself by flopping onto the couch to finish reading Bones & Boxes by Anna Drake. It's the first of her "Hetty Fox" mystery series. The main character is Henrietta 'Hetty' Fox, recently widowed.

Hetty has moved to a small town in Illinois to be near her daughter, Megan. There, she settles in and begins making new friends. Hetty shares her home with her cat, Blackie. When Andrew, the ghost of her first love, appears, she fears she is losing her mind. Andrew, however, seems real, and even Blackie reacts to him. Hetty's life gets more complicated when her friend, Rose, asks her to come along to check on another friend, whom Rose hasn't heard from. Hetty suffers the misfortune of finding Carrie's dead body. After police determine she was murdered, Hetty turns her love of mystery novels into her own investigation. Carrie was rumored to have inherited a fortune from a woman she took care of, but if that was the case, why was she living in such poor circumstances? Hetty knows enough to follow the money, and she is helped in her cause by Andrew, who can spy on the suspects without any of them being the wiser. Can Andrew help her, though, when her investigation lands her in the sights of a killer?

Two words: Ho Hum

Story is told in Hetty's first person pov, but I never got a real sense of her character. Her investigative techniques were ham-handed and only angered the people whom she questioned. Apparently, Hetty doesn't know the meaning of the word subtle. Most of the plot/narrative was consumed with the investigation, which didn't help me get a sense of the characters. In addition, editing was poor. One character's last name seemed to alternate between 'Pratt' and 'Prat', while other names were confused.

Favorite line: "He's about as difficult to get information from as a keynote speaker at a mime's convention."

I suppose if you're looking for mindless entertainment, this story would appeal. I didn't care for it. Below average read, two stars.