Book Review: Murder On Edisto

The fast pace of Murder on Edisto (Edisto Island Mysteries) by C Hope Clark is set in the first few pages when the heroine, Edisto, Callie Morgan returns home from her job as a Boston Police Detective to find her home is an inferno and her husband has been killed. Devastated by the murder, she and her teenage son seek refuge and healing in a quiet beach house on one of south Carolina’s barrier islands, but Callie is given no

respite and neither is the reader. One page after another C. Hope Clark builds the suspense to create an entertaining and believable story where the stakes are high and the consequences shattering.

Clark has created a main character, Callie Jean Morgan, that comes to life with incredible strength and genuine flaws. The reader feels her struggle with very real demons, both internal and external, while trying to support her son through the loss of his father and keep him safe but she finds the secrets she has kept from him impeding her efforts.

Adding to the readability of the book, the town of Edisto is populated with a cache of eccentric personalities. From the yoga practicing neighbor to the local handyman to the town cops Edisto island comes to life with classic small town traits.

Murder on Edisto is C. Hope Clark’s fourth novel and is preceded by her Carolina Slade Mysteries. Having read Clark’s first novel, Lowcountry Bribe, I was pleased to return to her work to see Clark’s growth as a novelist.

I received this book as my winnings in a promotional contest but I have just purchased the follow-up, Edisto Jinx.

 Purchase Hope's books on her website or her Amazon author page.

Oink Pen's Pages: Review of Wool

Wool: Part One by Hugh Howey

Cost: $0 electronically Where: Amazon

I recently read Wool: Part One at the suggestion of Oink Well in preparation for our joint book effort. My quick and dirty review is as follows.

Loved:

I loved the concept. It was an original plot for the easily clichéd post-apocalyptical genre. The entire story was full of suspense and kept me wondering what was going on and rooting for the protagonist. I also LOVED the ending. I cannot say more without major spoilers and so I won’t. Part one is free, so I’m not giving anything more than that away.

Liked:

I liked the world Howey created. Every bit of new information created more questions I wanted answered. That’s a sign of great writing. I was invested in the characters and their conflict but was not lost in this entire new world Howey created.

Loathed:

I didn’t really loathe anything. I will admit that it took me a bit to get into the story, but once I did, I was all in. I don’t know if the slowness is due to my own sleep deprived state (thanks Oinkling!) making stuff up or actual dragging at the start. But, if you give it a shot and it’s dragging at the start? I promise it won’t for long. It’ll grab you and haul you along on a ride.

Sidebars:

My brain always takes sidebars. My brain is also a logistical machine. If I’m reading something and one bit of logical minutiae doesn’t fit? It angers me and I frequently dislike a story based on that alone. 

Howey’s main character described pig’s milk being used in a drink and it being pinkish. I then spent 2 days wondering about pig’s milk. I like goat’s milk. I like cow’s milk. I also like camel’s milk as well as most of the non-milk milks like almond milk. But I’ve never had pig’s milk. So I then I wondered what it’s like. Pig is a magical animal where we consume everything from the squeak to the tail, so Howey’s choice of it as his go-to animal was perfect given the limitations of the environment of his Wool series.

Overall:

I really liked it and can see why people wished for more and how it has become a big hit. He always keeps one guessing and the plot moving along. When the end happens, I wanted more. That’s a good sign.

Raiting:

So, how does rating work? I have a 1-5 oink scale. 1 (@) being a wild bore and 5 (@@@@@) means it curled my tail!

***Everyone gets at least one oink for effort because writing and publishing takes a lot of effort.

Wool: Part One gets a 5 Oink rating @@@@@ AKA five snouts up! It grabbed me and pulled me along. I cared about the people and wanted more at the end. The structure was good. Also, it was active not passively written. The world Howey created was complete without any info dump, and his tenses weren’t mixed up!