In Over My Head
A
Chesapeake Conference Center Mystery
Diane
Marquette
Cambridge Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-59431-468-3 (1594314683)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59431-468-1 (9781594314681)
Publication Date: July 2007
List Price: $16.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Jill McCormick works as the night security guard at an
exclusive, high-level conference center on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.
She considers her job a stepping stone to something better in her
pursuit of a career in law enforcement, and recognizes that a stint at
the prestigious Chesapeake Conference Center will look impressive on
her resume.
But the tranquil waters turn choppy when the drowning of a prominent
guest begins to look more like murder, and the evidence mounts against
Jill's boss, the self-centered and unpopular general manager of the
center. When the local sheriff seems content to look the other way
rather than suspect his good friend the manager, Jill enlists the help
of her deputy lover, Mitch Garrett, to conduct an investigation of
their own, even though it may implicate both their bosses in the murder.
Review: Diane
Marquette's debut novel, In Over My
Head, featuring security guard Jill McCormick, might have worked
better as a mystery if only it were a mystery. Inexplicably, Marquette
pens a three paragraph prologue that not only reveals (for all
practical purposes) who the killer is, but the motive for the murder as
well. For someone interested in a whodunit, there's almost no point in
reading any further.
A medical conference is taking place at the Chesapeake Conference
Center organized by Dr. Roger Henderson, a cardiologist from
Philadelphia. The morning after everyone attending the conference
arrives, Dr. Henderson is found dead in the swimming pool. Jill
McCormick, a security guard at the conference center, is just getting
off the night shift and helps recover the body. She participates in the
subsequent investigation which determines (no surprise here) the death
is not accidental, and is instrumental in solving the crime by
identifying the killer.
Setting aside the whodunit aspect for a moment, In Over My Head suffers from not
knowing what kind of mystery it wants to be. At times it tries to be a
cozy. There is the requisite cat, Gunther, which has a higher character
profile than the victim or any of the suspects. Or is it a police
procedural, where the discovery of clues and piecing together the
evidence inexorably leads to the apprehensive of the killer? Maybe
romantic suspense, where the focus is less on the crime than on the
relationship between Jill and Deputy Mitch Garrett? It's all this and
more, including the increasingly tired plot device of a woman
professional having to work twice as hard as a man in order to get the
recognition she deserves.
This disarray is all the more unfortunate because Marquette seems to be
a competent writer. The narrative is relatively crisp and the dialog
natural. Character development is a bit weak as is setting and locale,
but in a series these can advanced over time. However, if she's going
for a whodunit-style mystery, at the very least there has to be some
suspense, some unknown factor that compels the reader to turn the page
and find out what happens next. In
Over My Head has none of that.
Special thanks to Diane Marquette for providing a copy of In Over My Head for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read In Over My Head? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
In Over My Head
Cambridge Books (Trade Paperback), July 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59431-468-3 (1594314683)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59431-468-1 (9781594314681)
Omnimystery keywords for In Over My Head ...
Location(s) referenced: Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.
