Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove

  

Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Gothic, Mystery
Content: Strong Language

 

Come for the memories. Stay for the murder...

Little North Island, off the coast of Maine, is so beautiful it could be a postcard. Organist Willow Stone cherishes her memories of childhood summers spent on the island with her godmother Sue... even though her visits ended abruptly, and she hasn't seen or heard from her godmother in over fifteen years. Until a letter from Sue—and word of Sue’s death—brings Willow back to the picturesque island.

The islanders rarely mention Sue without also bringing up Cameron House, and the controversy around Sue’s unexpected inheritance of the sprawling mansion. When Willow overhears someone threatening the next heir to the property, she starts to question whether Sue’s death was really an accident, and can’t help but wonder whether someone on this sleepy island is willing to stop at nothing—even murder—to claim Cameron House for their own.

Through Willow’s eyes, as well as those of others on the island, a mystery unfolds that keeps drawing Willow back to Cameron House and the very real ghosts that walk its corridors. 

 

I enjoyed certain aspects of this story. I really liked the ghosts. I didn't care all that much for most of the living characters though. They were just kind of bland and uninteresting to me. Then there was this thing where the main character and the police officer disliked each other. It felt very childish, and got on my nerves. It was mainly perpetuated by the main character as she had bad memories of him as a child. It seemed very petty and immature that she couldn't get past something silly from when they were kids. Eventually they warm up to each other, but it took way too long.

As a gothic mystery goes this was ok. The house was definitely a character in it's own right. It was enormous with lots of hidden secrets. I kept wondering how they could afford the upkeep on it. There appeared to be no employees for that either. The mystery kept me guessing, mainly because there were too many obvious suspects, and I felt like because they were so obvious, none of them would be the person behind the murders. I also feel like there weren't enough clues in certain places to help deduce who was behind things. There were a few twists, one that I didn't see coming, but despite that this book just felt really mediocre to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for Providing me with an ARC of this book.