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The Mourning Ring
A Rachel Hollins Mystery
Holly Jordan
Grace Abraham Publishing (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9741090-8-8 (0974109088)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9741090-8-8 (9780974109084)
Publication Date: August, 2006
List Price: $10.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Rachel Hollins buys a ring from a flea market and gets more than she bargains for. Turns out the ring is a 19th century mourning ring which once belonged to Claire Marcette, a woman murdered in 1920. When Rachel attempts to return the ring to one of Claire's family members, she gets involved in a modern-day murder rooted in the past.
Review: The Mourning Ring, Holly Jordan's second novel and potentially the first of a series featuring the likable Rachel Hollins, has an interesting premise and could have been a fascinating multi-generational historical mystery but rapidly loses its way by creating an expanding network of familial relationships that in the end overwhelm the mystery itself.
Following the purchase of an unusual ring at a flea market, Rachel finds herself amidst a myriad of puzzles. In trying to unravel the history of, and secrets behind, the mourning ring, she inadvertantly sets into motion a series of events that eventually lead to murder.
The resolution to the mystery of the ring and of the murder (or murders, if one includes the death of Claire in 1920 as described in the prologue) is largely unsatisfactory as Jordan has chosen to supply an unnecessarily complicated ending rather than a crisp, clear, and more logical outcome.
Special thanks to Grace Abraham Publishing for providing a copy of The Mourning Ring for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 Hidden Staircase Mystery Books
Other mysteries by Holly Jordan:
The Perfect Woman
Non-series
Grace Abraham Publishing (2005)
ISBN: 0-9741090-5-3
