Everywhere That Mary Went
Everywhere That Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I really wanted to like it. I’m always in search of a new cozy series that I can use in-between more intense, darker mystery fiction.
- The best parts for me were all the anachronistic references.
The comment about window shopping in Philly and going into a Borders bookstore–with an espresso bar! So early 1990s, it’s now quaint. - The “are you calling from a car phone?” comment.
- At one point the main character reflects on what people typically do when they get home from work. She thinks–listen to music or cook dinner. No mention of internet!
- There are also a number of references to the AIDS crisis, Act Up, and a passing remark about safe sex with a condom as if it’s a new thing.
But the mystery–the actual “who-dunnit” was…well…incredibly strange, out of nowhere, not even close to a “fair play” type mystery. Even reading it as a legal mystery with no pretensions of fair play–it’s still just bizarre.
There were a number of things I also found confusing. For example, it seemed like the main character’s husband had died many years ago. But towards the end she mentions the upcoming year anniversary of her husband’s death. Which means that this supposedly grieving widow was in another man’s arms and bed–professing love–less than a year after her husband’s tragic death. Did I miss something?
I found it extremely difficult to keep all the different lawyers straight. No one had any personality. These were very broad-strokes drawn characters with no depth at all. There was all together too much lawyer jargon, too many lawyer names to keep straight all the individuals–the partners, the associates, the companies…maybe if you have a background in law you would find this easier to track than I did.
Once I let go of it being a legal thriller, and instead began to settle into it as a cozy, I was more prepared to cut it some slack. It was light and enjoyable in some ways.
But the plot was all over the place as if the author had a bunch of sticky notes to herself with different plot possibilities and instead of honing down her ideas to one or two–she just threw everything into the pot and barely stirred.
I really wanted to like it; I felt there was potential. I know that sometimes the first in series is weak. So after I finished this one I started the second in series, thinking I’d add it to my Series Review >> website section. I made it through almost 12 chapters before abandoning. Just awful.