Xs
An
Allie Armington Mystery
Louise
Gaylord
Little
Moose Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-9720227-4-0 (0972022740)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9720227-4-3 (9780972022743)
Publication Date: January 2005
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): There’s a Bad Apple in the Big Apple ...
The trouble started with a call from her sister, a supermodel, in New
York City. The next thing she knew, Allie Armington, young, bright,
successful and slightly bored Texas attorney, was on a plane to the Big
Apple. It was downhill from there.
Beautiful women are showing up dead, neat X marks carved in their
breasts with almost surgical precision. Chilling enough in the
abstract, but made all too real when Allie’s
sister’s roommate turns up among them.
In a New York minute, Allie’s up to her eyeballs in an NYPD
sting operation targeting mega-rich men hosting parties in a secluded
castle on the exclusive Jersey shore, complete with masks, mysterious
monikers, models and mischief of the carnal and chemical kind.
Just as things get really dangerous, enter Uvalde, Texas’s
ex-Sheriff Bill Cotton, Allie’s long lost heartthrob, in Ivy
League apparel and minus the Texas drawl.
From the Rich Boys’ club to the mysterious Sigrid Hale, there
are surprises galore. Once again Allie demonstrates her incredible
ability to get into trouble. Let’s hope she’s as
good at getting out if it.
Review:
Xs
is the somewhat disappointing second book in the Allie Armington
mystery series by Louise Gaylord.
Though the overall book is quite readable, there are some aspects to
the story that make it seem it was rushed into publication in
mid-rewrite. There are entire plot elements that are begun then left
incomplete or unresolved. Foremost among them is the title: What is the
mystery behind the Xs? A related query might be: Why is the book titled
Xs?
Sometimes publishers change the title of a book to generate more
interest, or possibly in this case, to create a visually evocative
cover. But the more important question is: What was the point of
including the Xs subplot if it had, at best, a marginal impact on the
story?
A similar problem exists with the masked secret society. Although it's
been done before, if incorporated effectively, or if it had an unusual
twist, it could have added a mysterious aspect to the story. Instead,
it seems as if it was used as a prop, and a weak one at that. And again
the question: What was the point of its existence in the story?
It's possible that Gaylord was simply trying too hard to confuse the
reader with red herrings, swapped identities, false names, and
uncertain relationships. She should have had more faith in her
abilities as an author that she didn't need all the extraneous material
she included to create an effective mystery.
Special thanks to Author Marketing Experts for providing a copy of Xs for this review.
Review Copyright © 2005 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Xs? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Anacacho
Little Moose Press (Hardcover), August 2002
ISBN-10: 0-9720227-0-8 (0972022708)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9720227-0-5 (9780972022705)
Anacacho
Cedar Vista Books (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-10: 0-9786049-0-3 (0978604903)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9786049-0-5 (9780978604905)
Xs
Little Moose Press (Hardcover), January 2005
ISBN-10: 0-9720227-4-0 (0972022740)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9720227-4-3 (9780972022743)
Spa
Deadly
Little Moose Press (Hardcover), November 2008
ISBN-10: 0-9720227-1-6 (0972022716)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9720227-1-2 (9780972022712)
Omnimystery
keywords for Xs
...
Location(s) referenced: New York City.
