Bones of Echo Lake by Declan JamesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This had moments that are riveting, and another great performance by Alexander Cendese. By now, in the third installment of the series, James has settled in to some of the recurring characters, so they are less contrived and more dimensional --this particularly applies to Gemma, Jakes's older sister, who still occasionally becomes a caricature, but is definitely more likeable. Anya, on the other hand, is less sympathetic than I would have expected, especially given her role in this particular story.
Unlike the other two that have a niche area of interest at their core (wrestling for no. 1, and hunting for no. 2), this one feels a bit more like an old-fashioned mystery (in a good way) -- human remains are unearthed and we have a town with lots of secrets to hide. This one involved introducing considerable backstory and James does it fairly well, although it did get a bit tiresome trying to keep track of the victim's various "involvements." But throw in some juicy scandal and there's a great story.
As for the culprit? I was sure I had it figured out from the get-go, but let's just say I was very, very close. And that's good -- I don't like to be right in this case (and the actual murderer was plausible, as opposed to bringing in a bunch of material right at the end to justify it). I'm looking forward to Red Sky Hill up next.
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