The Paper Gardens

Ah, it's been a while since I last read a "who-dun-it". I don't read a lot of mystery books, because I have an uncanny ability to always know who the culprit is. It's the same reason I keep my mouth shut when I watch CSI with my husband. The reason to read a mystery novel is for that "Aha!" moment when everything falls into place in your mind. For me, that's generally a fourth to halfway through the book - why pay attention to a book when you know what's going to happen?

This book did very well about keeping its culprit a mystery till the end. I mean, I had figured out that...hmm. Spoilers. Let me try rephrasing this.

Due to certain facts that were brought up about a character's appearance as opposed to her family, I had figured who the killer probably was. But, you're not given the full details behind the story until the end. There was even a moment where the author throws you off the trail completely. It was nice - it gave me an incentive to read on to the end.

The story was pretty depressing, too. There's plenty of alcoholism, date rape, murder, and spousal abuse. And the Mafia. And houses being burnt down.

This is apparently the third Sloane Monroe book. I haven't ready any of the others, but it didn't matter. You can follow what's going on in this book just fine if you haven't touched any of the others in the series. I love a series where each book works as a stand-alone.