Thursday, August 29, 2013

City of Mirrors (Melodie Johnson Howe)



Every once in awhile a book comes along that gets good buzz but that I just didn’t like.  Samantha Shannon is supposed to be the next J.K. Rowling and signed a 7-book deal, but I couldn’t get through a preview copy of the mega-hyped The Bone Season. Unfortunately, this is also the case with Melodie Johnson Howe’s City of Mirrors.  I was able to finish it but found it difficult to do so; it just wasn’t interesting to me at all.

The subtitle of the novel is A Diana Poole Thriller #1; Howe is on record saying that there will be more.  Poole is living in her deceased mother’s shadow, as her mom was a very famous actress, and Poole struggles to get roles.  However, she is starring in a movie with young starlet Jenny Parson, who Poole later finds murdered.  Not content to rest on her acting chops, she of course plays detective and winds up getting caught in a dangerous web of lies and deceit.  Along the way, there is a forgettable cast of characters such as Diana’s love interest, her best friend, and the movie’s director.

As a book reviewer, I am usually reading three or more novels at a time.  I found myself hurrying up with this one so I could get to the other ones I’m reading nowadays.  While Howe admirably fills in the big puzzle and doesn’t leave any holes, I just didn’t care about any of the characters; none were likable, including the murdered Jenny. And without any redeeming qualities, the characters didn’t make me that interested in this murder mystery.

MY RATING - 2