While investigating the "accidental" death of a con artist with numerous enemier, Rory McCain finds herself on the verge of solving a cold case--the murder of her ghost partner, Zeke...

Review

For fans of:  Alice Kimberly

When police sketch artist turned private investigator Rory McCain decides to travel to Arizona with her aunt Helene’s theater troupe, her goal for the trip is twofold:  yes, she wants to see the sights, but she’s also determined to try and solve the mystery of who killed Ezekiel “Zeke” Drummond, the long-dead Federal Marshal who haunts her home.  Unfortunately for Rory, however, she manages to accomplish neither of these things, for just as she’s starting to make some headway with regard to Zeke’s murder, she receives a hysterical phone call from her aunt.  It seems the theater troupe was caught up in a flash flood during a tour of a slot canyon, and one of the group’s members, Preston Wright, was killed.  So Rory abandons her investigation, collects her aunt, and returns home with the group so that Preston can be buried.  When Rory relays the tale to Marshal Drummond, however, he raises a good point: Preston was one of the youngest and healthiest members of the troupe – why was he the only one killed?  Is it possible someone took advantage of the chaos to rid the world of Preston Wright?

Sketch a Falling Star is the third in Sharon Pape’s Portrait of Crime Mystery series.  It’s the first of Pape’s books I’ve read, which may be the reason I found it so difficult to get into; the backstory is incredibly complicated, and rather than initiating new readers with a short info dump, Pape instead doles out the details of Rory’s situation over the course of the tale.  Unfortunately, while this approach may keep a new reader on his or her toes, it also keeps that reader in a near-constant state of confusion, and I, for one, finished the book still wondering at key aspects of the plot (e.g., why would a sketch artist leave her job to become a P.I., and what on earth would make her think she’s qualified to do so?). 

This sense of disorientation is amplified by Pape’s choppy narrative style.  The prose is a bit too colorful and is cluttered with unnecessary details and asides.  The story is lacking in atmosphere.  The mystery is solid in its construction, but not enough clues are deployed and the suspects are underdeveloped.  The dialogue is awkward.  And the book’s cast just isn’t much to write home about.  It almost feels as though Pape created rough sketches of her characters and then forgot to go back and color them in.  Rory makes for a rather disagreeable heroine, Zeke is officious and annoying, and the relationship between the two is antagonistic, at best – and not in a compelling way, either.  Nothing quite rings true here, from the setup to the characters to the plot, ultimately rendering it very difficult to become invested in Pape’s story.  Don’t get me wrong – Sketch a Falling Star is a perfectly competent mystery; I just won’t be coming back for the sequel.

Reviewed by Kat N.

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