Details:
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 376
Publisher/Date: Corvallis Press / February 11, 2013
Price: $3.99 on Amazon
Reading Challenges: Women Authors, Where Are You Reading (South Dakota), Mystery/Crime Challenge
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
After reading Nearly Departed in Deadwood, the first book of the Deadwood Mystery series, I was in love (I gave it a five-out-of-five star rating on Goodreads, and I rarely do that). When I finished the second book, Optical Delusions in Deadwood, I thought it was great, although not as good as the first book. I drew the same conclusion from the third book.
Now we’re at book number four, Better Off Dead in Deadwood, and I’m sad to say I didn’t really like it. There were parts I definitely enjoyed, but the parts I didn’t I just downright hated.
First, the good:
Violet’s story is progressing in ways I didn’t see coming. When this series started, it was slightly paranormal (just ghosts) and Violet was a firm skeptic. Now, it’s pretty much gone off the deep end with paranormal crap. While I can’t say I completely love it (I miss the old Violet), I appreciate the author taking the books in a direction that wasn’t totally expected.
I foresee a promising plot line in the upcoming books. About 40 percent through I had an epiphany and started generating theories about the characters (primarily Cooper and Violet’s ex husband). It’s just a theory (although I am pretty sure I saw some solid clues indicating I’m on to something), but I think it would make an excellent plot twist.
Now, the AARRGH WHY ARE YOU RUINING THIS BOOK!
The relationship between Doc and Violet is damn near intolerable. Their passion for one another seems so superficial and based entirely on sex. I mean, almost every conversation between them included some nasty sexual innuendo. The very first exchange with Doc (which occurred right after Jane’s funeral) went something like this:
Doc: I like that black dress.
Violet: You’ve seen me wear it before.
Doc: I know, I remember removing it with my teeth.
Violet: That’s right. But I think I was wearing panties that time.
And then there’s talk about bending her over his desk and…well, you get the idea.
This continued through the entire book (and when Violet and Doc weren’t together, Violet was fantasizing about him ripping off her clothes).
More annoying was the fact that Doc was kind of acting like a D-bag about getting involved with her because of her children. And even more annoying than that was the fact that Violet just let it go and seemed to intentionally avoid the topic because she didn’t want their fun to end. Really? Mom of the effing year (which is sad because one of the things I liked about her in the first book was how devoted she was to her kids).
It’s frustrating because I really do like this series and think it has a promising future, but this whole Doc / Violet acting like horny teenagers thing just has to stop. It’s degrading to Violet and makes Doc seem like a sleazy perv.
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