hungrycat started reading Knock 'Em Dead by Donald Bain (Murder, She Wrote, #13)

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Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants …
Jessica Fletcher hopes to spend a quiet Christmas in her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine, but her work catches up …
Jade Daniels faces down a brutal serial killer in his pulse-punding tribute to the golden era of horror cinema and …
Jade Daniels faces down a brutal serial killer in his pulse-punding tribute to the golden era of horror cinema and …
Jade Daniels faces down a brutal serial killer in his pulse-punding tribute to the golden era of horror cinema and …
Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants …
Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants …
Based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Tricked by his cunning ... Treated to his savagery ... …
Based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Tricked by his cunning ... Treated to his savagery ... …
I’m not sure where to begin, but know there are some light spoilers below. The best way to sum it up is that this isn’t a Murder, She Wrote novel. It’s a spy thriller disguised as a MSW novel. It was decently written—for a generic spy novel—but not for Jessica Fletcher. Despite being attached to the Commerce Department on this adventure, Jess herself ironically has zero agency, as she’s strung along by governments and subversive operatives the whole time. Jessica’s “decisions” in this book are actually just the cleverly disguised machinations of secretive government men. Nothing gets answered, Jessica plays the role of begrudging patriot, and a friendly face in the form of George Sutherland conveniently makes an appearance in the end to put everyone at ease. It was just a bunch of moving around from place to place with very little worthwhile actually happening.
This is also the second …
I’m not sure where to begin, but know there are some light spoilers below. The best way to sum it up is that this isn’t a Murder, She Wrote novel. It’s a spy thriller disguised as a MSW novel. It was decently written—for a generic spy novel—but not for Jessica Fletcher. Despite being attached to the Commerce Department on this adventure, Jess herself ironically has zero agency, as she’s strung along by governments and subversive operatives the whole time. Jessica’s “decisions” in this book are actually just the cleverly disguised machinations of secretive government men. Nothing gets answered, Jessica plays the role of begrudging patriot, and a friendly face in the form of George Sutherland conveniently makes an appearance in the end to put everyone at ease. It was just a bunch of moving around from place to place with very little worthwhile actually happening.
This is also the second time that clandestine, conspiratorial governments have taken center stage as the means and the culprit of the story. It’s overblown for a MSW. Jess is at her best with a close cast of characters and tension coming from what is at first a growing list of suspects that dwindles down. International intrigue doesn’t ring “cozy” or MSW to me. I didn’t even care about the murders. I just wanted Jess to get home so the book would end.