Review: Dating Can Be Murder

I bought this book because the front cover quote called it a "cozy", and the back cover quote said it was "amusing and light", and the back cover blurb was in keeping with the labels.

In the early chapters I had some fear this book was going to be a Harleqiun romance with a slight mystery plot. Samantha Shaw, the amateur sleuth, is a widowed Mom who had been making pin money by reviewing romance novels. When her cheating husband died of what she thought was an accident, she and her two boys moved in with her Grandfather, a retired magician. She sold her husbands big boy toys and their house, and used the money to buy the dating service where they had met.

But a cozy its not. Now she's in trouble with the IRS, and she's being stalked, assaulted and threatened by several someones for reasons she doesn't understand. She's changed from an underpants wearing soccer Mom to a thong wearing, breast enhanced businesswoman, with feelings for two men, the cop she met because she was threatened, and an ex-cop gone private that she's hired to install a security system which turns out to be a beer drinking police dog. Her best friend Angel is a female stalker, who focuses on her ex.

There is wry humor. But there is a lot of violence, some of it graphic, a pretty high body count, and the sex is on stage and graphic. This does not fit my definition of cozy despite the amateur sleuth status and the inclusion of a dog. And mid-book Sam(antha) loosely associates herself professionally with the ex- cop turned detective anyway. There was simply no part of this book where I felt cozy while reading, nor would I want to know any of these people in real life except maybe the magician.

That being said, this woman can write. Her writing style is reminiscent of Janet Evanovich in terms of the situational humor and the rivalry between the two men, although she had the good sense to write Sam as a decisive character who makes the final choice between them in this first book. The angst level regarding her late husband is about the same level and similar to the Diane Mott Davidson series, and no recipes. And the level of violence and graphic nature is about the same as the Joanne Pence series. Despite all these comparisons, Apodaca writes with her own voice.

The story is well plotted, the characters are multifaceted, and believeable to an acceptable standard of suspending disbelief. The story engages you from the first sentence, and keeps you turning those pages to the very last word. This is the first "first in a series" that deals with drugs as the main plot line That I've read that doesn't feel trite. She does give it a modern twist by putting it at the beginning of the story and as an integral part of the story rather that some lame excuse for motive at the end. There is a subplot regarding missing video tapes of intimacy between married couples in her neighborhood including the President of the PTA. This, along with her trying to remember to cook dinner and get her kids to school daily weaving in and out of the main plot in much the Valerie Wolzien and Katherine Hall Page tie daily life into their plots may be why some would think this book would fit under the cozy genre label.

Although I did not get what I expected from this book and was therefore disappointed, it was only by being mislead by the cover when I was in the mood for a real cozy. I would consider this book soft-boiled. And under that label I would have to rate it a solid 5 paws. As a first in a series it was much better than average, I don't have any quibbles about areas that need improvement. I think she's created a world that offers a lot of future interesting adventures. I think she'll get to write them because when readers of soft-boiled genre discover her, they'll want a lot more.

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: Dating Can Be Murder

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.