Death in the Dunes

I'll start my review by saying that this little whodunit is a real delight, truly. It hits all the marks and more that have led me to love the genre, and does it in a way that is both engaging and FUN, plain and simple.

My first bit of specific praise has to go to the writing style. This book is very well written! The prose is as sharp as the mind of the author's must be to create such a compelling murder mystery, one that certainly kept me on my toes the whole way through. I was totally convinced until the very end that a completely different character was the killer, so I was definitely caught by surprise at the final twist. The level of skill that the writing showcases throughout the entire story only adds to it, bringing an already-good mystery way up there in my book.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was the third-person omniscient point of view. I haven't read many books where there isn't a set character to follow for the majority of the narrative, and I'd especially not expect it from a murder mystery, of all things. The genre demands a certain level of confidentiality from multiple characters, of course, so I was wondering if it would feel unbalanced or give away the culprit based on how much the story lets the reader into a given character's mind. All that said, however, the author pulls it off spectacularly! As a writer myself, I can attest to how difficult that is to do properly, which once again speaks to the skill of the author.

While there is a lot that I do love about this story, I also do have a couple of criticisms. The biggest one for me has to do with the B plot of the story — the A plot is so wonderfully done, which is why it pains me to see this whole other plot that just does not add anything to the overall story. To me, it simply felt shoehorned in. There were several points that felt a little contrived about its inclusion, such as a few too many coincidences associated with it that were absent from the main story. All in all, I felt it detracted from my reading experience, which is a major shame to say for a book I otherwise enjoyed so much.

The only other criticism I have for this story is that there were a few points where I was unsure of who was speaking due to a lack of use of proper nouns. This caused me to have to go back and read the conversations again when it didn't make sense why a certain character was speaking a certain way, which actually leads me to another compliment for this book — the characterization is very strong, and I could generally get a sense of who was speaking just based on how they formulated their words. I just wish it was a tiny bit more clear!

All in all, this is a highly enjoyable read that I would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a solid murder mystery to pick up! :)

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well-developed, and the suspenseful story with many twists and turns kept me guessing! Darling’s beautiful descriptions made Spartina Beach a destination I would love to visit. I see many possibilities for a continuing series here. I look forward to the next book. This was a most enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it!