Book 16, 2021

[chez_jae]

All Signs Point to Murder by Kat Goldring

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I didn't have work today, which enabled me to stay up late last night to finish All Signs Point to Murder by Kat Goldring. It's billed as the first in the "Willi Gallagher" mystery series, but it seems maybe only one or two more books were added later.

Willi teaches English at the high school in the small Texas town of Nickleberry. In the school library one day, Willi overhears two of her students gossiping about blood and rituals. Later, when two small animals are found sacrificed near the school, she can't help but wonder if some of her students are caught up in a cult. After two students die under mysterious circumstances on a class trip, Willi is convinced they were murdered. The local sheriff chalks the deaths up to accidents, and his nephew, visiting Texas Ranger Quannah Lassiter, advises Willi to stay out of it. Willi, however, is nothing if not curious and persistent. Not even the warnings from her neighbors, who practice palmistry and read Tarot cards, can convince Willi to let it go. Unfortunately, her meddling not only puts her in danger, but it endangers the lives of those around her.

Reading this book was like experiencing a dream. It was oddly disjointed and bizarre. I'm not sure as that I enjoyed it, but the story was strangely compelling. While I admired Willi's pluck, her persistence delved into stupidity. Other things that baffled me:

- The book was copyrighted in 2001, but it read like it was written in 1951, considering the attitude of the menfolk toward the wimmin. Good grief.
- There were more oddball names than common ones. I don't mind a unique name or two in a book or story, but virtually ALL of them?! No. That's purely subjective on my part, blah blah blah.
- Not one of the chaperons did a head count as their group was leaving the ferry?
- Why were two students roaming the corridors of the hotel in search of their missing classmate? The chaperons should have been doing that, while ensuring the rest of the kids were in lockdown in their rooms.
- The second time that Willi visited her Aunt Minnie at the hospital, she remarked that Minnie sounded better than she had the day before. Um, Willi visited her twice in one day. I even went back and double-checked to make sure I wasn't the crazy one.
- How many times can one person get bashed over the head or clipped on the chin and knocked unconscious in the space of a few days?! Willi should have been in a coma by the end of it.
- SPOILER!!! How was the killer able to truss other adults up, multiple times in some cases?

Favorite line: "That female is giving all she's got with both gams."

I find myself stymied. I really did not like this story, yet I was utterly engrossed with it. This is a case where half-stars would come in handy, because I'd like to award this 3 1/2 stars. Hm, hm, hm...I'll be generous and give it a four.