|
The Avid Reader
, March 17, 2024
(view all comments by The Avid Reader)
Deadly to the Core by Joyce Tremel is the debut of A Cider House Mysteries. Kate Mulligan is ready for a fresh start after the loss of her husband. She has inherited a fruit orchard from her great uncle, and this is Kate’s opportunity to open her cider house. The author is extremely descriptive. She will describe rooms in detail down to the color of the walls, but she is less graphic when depicting individuals. The characters need to be fleshed out. I found them lacking in emotion. We are told their emotions instead of the characters expressing them. The mystery was straightforward. The orchard manager is murdered, and Kate insists on searching for the killer. There might as well have been a neon arrow pointing to the killer. The reveal was lackluster. The story’s pace was sluggish, especially in the middle. The longwinded descriptions as well as the discussions regarding maps, farmlands, who owns which properties, and property lines made for dry reading (helpful if you suffer from insomnia). Unneeded step by step details did not help with the pacing (the steps of preparing a meal, getting a drink of water, and such). I was surprised that Kate did not know more about orchards or even the terminology. As you can tell, I struggled to get through Deadly to the Core.
|