I gave Death by Didgeridoo 3* out of 5*

I received this book  in exchange for a fair review as a member of #RBRT

 The Blurb:

Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, still reeling from the death of her mother, is pulled into a game of deception, jealousy, and vengeance when her cousin, Adam, is wrongfully accused of murder. It’s up to Jamie to find the real murderer before it’s too late. It doesn’t help that the victim is a former rock star with more enemies than friends, or that Adam confessed to a murder he didn’t commit.

My Review:

This is a short, straight-forward murder mystery; easy to read. Overall, it is well written and the pace is steady. The characters are well portrayed  (and unusual!) within the action of the book but I would have liked more character development; to know their backgrounds and have more insight to their personalities.  I liked the way the  protagonist, Jamie Quinn, is  shown with her dark humorous outlook on life but I never really felt I understood the character and struggled to have any empathy with her. .

Most of the dialogue  helped  towards revealing, to round out the characters as the plot progressed but sometimes it seemed a little contrived, too ‘quick-fired humour’ if you know what I mean; striving too hard to funny to sound realistic.And I didn’t think the text conversations worked too well. But the latter is probably me, I’m not  (as I’ve often been told!) into text speak

I’m a reader who loves settings; descriptions, however simple, however short, that give a sense of place. And in Death by Didgeridoo there are few  of these for me to place the characters in the world they move around in. And I found that disappointing.

It’s difficult when reading to review. If I’d picked this book up as something to entertain me for a short while, I would say that this first book  of the Jamie Quinn series is a good read; it does the job. Much in the way a short story is enough. Death by Didgeridoo is fun. But I felt there could be so much more to the characters and the plot. I think I will need to read the next two to see how the protagonist develops.

So, would I recommend it? Well, for those readers who are looking for something a little different; fast action, quirky characters, humour, I would. And I would give the others ( The Case of the Killer Divorce, Peril in the Park) a chance.

Buying links here:

Amazon.co.uk:

http://amzn.to/25dURs7

Amazon.com:

http://amzn.to/1RdOzvk