Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Sunday, December 18, 2016

"The Murder Game", by Julie Apple

Julie Apple is the pen name of Catherine McKenzie

The story is of protagonist Meredith Delay, a successful Crown Prosecutor in Montreal who handles many homicide cases in Canada’s second largest city. In “The Murder Game” Meredith is assigned a particularly troublesome case: the accused is none other than her law school friend Julian McCarthy who admits to have committed the murder. Julian will be represented by Jonathan Sayers, another law school friend.

The storyline as two distinct timeline and works seamlessly as it goes forward and switches back and forth from the trial in 2007 to the law school days 1995-99 where the McGill students became a tight-knit group. This is a largely humorless story narrated in the grim voice of Meredith. As the story progresses we discover why she is so much in a funk. Definitely there is a mystery right from the start and discovering what it may be is the fun part. But the trouble with this mystery is to get there……“How to Get Away with Murder” is really the basis of this story….once we get there…

Ms. Apple (McKenzie) has made the city of Montreal and some interesting key points in the country history a vibrant background for her legal drama. Her expertise working in the legal system in Quebec and her intensive research have abled her to make the courtroom aspects flow smoothly although I thought the scenes were rather on the drab sides, by adding some American style dramatics into the mix Ms. McKenzie could have pinned down a more captivating saga. The author is well- versed with the city and understands the nuances in the two cultures (English and French) some aspects may slip those not familiar with Quebec past and present but still makes for a light and entertaining read.

Although this is a good story, it is misses the punches others have managed to do in legal thrillers. “The Murder Game” is very predictable and is for my taste too much the run of the mill chick-lit drama.

I received this book from Lawsome Books via Netgalleys for an honest review.

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