Back on Murder (A Roland March Mystery Book #1)Kindle Edition
Book Description:
Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he’s the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he’s given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he’s transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight–the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist’s teen daughter.
With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he’s still one of Houston’s best detectives.
My Take:
Downloaded as a free ebook last fall, saw all the positive, glowing, almost messianic reviews and gave it a try.
After reading a chunk of pages, I had no earthly idea why there were so many glowing reviews. I found the character a sort of sad sack/charlie brown/dumponme sort of person, unwilling to stick up for himself, the precinct taking a collective dump on the guy and his slinking around the crime scene, slithering out from under everyone very off-putting. I have no idea what Bertrand was trying to do with this character, plot and reason.
The book was overly-technical in nature, words and work. I had the feeling that Bertrand was trying to sound/read more intelligent/technical than the either the character or himself really was. I would suggest bringing both character, storytelling back down to earth, use mainstream words that the casual reader can understand. You really need to write for your audience and Back On Murder falls short.
The narrative was slow, too descriptive, too much exposition and the character was way too introspective. I just could not get into the promising murder plot, which was what initially captured my attention. I was disappointed, giving 2 stars.
Brick ONeil 