The
River Killings
A
Zoe Hayes Mystery
Merry
Jones
St.
Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-33041-3 (0312330413)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-33041-5 (9780312330415)
Publication Date: October 2006
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): On summer vacation from her job as an art therapist,
Zoe Hayes, a divorced art therapist with a six-year-old adopted
daughter, takes a sculling class for fun with her best friend, Susan
Cummings. One evening, while her daughter Molly waits with Susan's
children at the boathouse on the banks of the Schuylkill River, Zoe
rows off with Susan to practice for an upcoming regatta. When Susan's
oar catches on some flotsam (which turns out to be a woman's dress),
the boat flips, and the two find themselves in deep waters with not
just one but an entire throng of floating bodies.
Someone along Philadelphia's Boathouse Row is a murderer, but who?
After Zoe argues with Detective Nick Stiles, her boyfriend, she and
Molly head out to the river at night. There, Zoe uncovers a sinister
plot that she and Molly might not be able to escape.
Review:
The
River Killings is Merry
Jones's 2nd mystery featuring art therapist Zoe Hayes who is caught in
the middle of a syndicate of human trafficking along Philadelphia's
riverfront when one night while she and her best friend Susan are
rowing they accidentally stumble upon a number of dead bodies floating
in the Schuylkill River.
It is an understatement to say that there is way too much going on in
this book. The gripping opening chapter is followed by a long string of
chapters that are so convoluted they hardly make any sense. Early on,
Zoe states that she "... wandered from room to room, agitated, not able
to focus on any one issue, mind bouncing from one jarring event to
another. Agent Ellis had been killed. Nineteen women were dead. My
house had been broken into, and Susan had been carjacked. Coach Everett
and Tony were involved in something shady, and Molly had seen and heard
too much. And then there was Nick. Nick knew more than he was telling
me. Nick kept secrets." This passage is a clear indication that not
only is Zoe confused, but so is the reader.
It never makes sense when an author inexplicably turns an otherwise
law-abiding citizen into a criminal by having them break into a private
residence under the guise of solving a crime. Is it not possible to
have Zoe investigate criminal activity without become a criminal
herself? And why is it necessary for Zoe to put her daughter in harm's
way by leaving her alone, on more than one occasion, in a potentially
dangerous environment? And what happened to Susan? One of the more
interesting characters in the book, and one who plays a prominent role
early on in the story, she virtually disappears about half-way through.
There are stylistic questions as well. Jones has included 98 chapters
in this book of just over 300 pages. Chapters often indicate a change
of scene or perspective, but in this case, there is no logic to their
content or length. It is almost as if each chapter represents a day of
writing by the author. Some are several pages long, some barely a page
long. Some span an extended period of time, some scarcely finish a
thought. It's incredibly disrupting to the flow of the plot and makes
the book seem far longer than it really is.
Merry Jones writes in a very descriptive, illustrative manner, and this
series definitely has potential. But she needs to work on her plotting
which, in the case of The River
Killings,
is simultaneously far too complex and inferential.
Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of The River Killings for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The River Killings? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Nanny Murders
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), April 2005
ISBN-10: 0-312-33038-3 (0312330383)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-33038-5 (9780312330385)
The River Killings
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-312-33041-3 (0312330413)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-33041-5 (9780312330415)
The
Deadly Neighbors
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), November 2007
ISBN-10: 0-312-35621-8 (0312356218)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-35621-7 (9780312356217)
The
Borrowed and Blue Murders
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), September 2008
ISBN-10: 0-312-35623-4 (0312356234)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-35623-1 (9780312356231)
Omnimystery
keywords for The River Killings
...
Location(s) referenced: Philadelphia.
