Devi Nair
š±š Read on Kindle š 212 pages ā± Duration: 3 hours š·ļø Publisher: Self Published (Sept 10, 2019) ARC provided by NetGalley
Here's the thing about small-town cozy mysteries: they live or die on the town. Mirror Falls had all the ingredients: a recently widowed protagonist starting over, a cast of quirky locals, a cold Minnesota setting practically begging for comfort reads and hot beverages. I was ready to settle in. The premise hooked me: Lainey, sharp ex-investigator, probes family secrets after Mary's test bombshell. Neat resolution ties it up, sure.
And then the story decided it was in a hurry. The rapid-fire events steamrolled everything. Situations piled up without breathing room, leaving characters as sketches, not folks you'd root for over coffee. No time to bond with Mirror Falls or feel the stakes. it all blurred into a hasty sprint. Pacing this breakneck kills the cozy heart. The DNA ancestry hook is genuinely clever, and inheritance-gone-wrong is a premise with real tension. But clever premise and satisfying execution are two different things, and this book doesn't quite bridge the gap.
I didn't finish this one wanting more time in Mirror Falls, which is rarely a good sign for book one of a series.
Would I recommend it? This one didn't land. Loose plot rushes through DNA twists without lovable characters or relatable stakes, despite tidy ending. Skipping the Lainey Maynard series. No pull to chase more Mirror Falls mayhem.
š±š Read on Kindle š 212 pages ā± Duration: 3 hours š·ļø Publisher: Self Published (Sept 10, 2019) ARC provided by NetGalley
Here's the thing about small-town cozy mysteries: they live or die on the town. Mirror Falls had all the ingredients: a recently widowed protagonist starting over, a cast of quirky locals, a cold Minnesota setting practically begging for comfort reads and hot beverages. I was ready to settle in. The premise hooked me: Lainey, sharp ex-investigator, probes family secrets after Mary's test bombshell. Neat resolution ties it up, sure.
And then the story decided it was in a hurry. The rapid-fire events steamrolled everything. Situations piled up without breathing room, leaving characters as sketches, not folks you'd root for over coffee. No time to bond with Mirror Falls or feel the stakes. it all blurred into a hasty sprint. Pacing this breakneck kills the cozy heart. The DNA ancestry hook is genuinely clever, and inheritance-gone-wrong is a premise with real tension. But clever premise and satisfying execution are two different things, and this book doesn't quite bridge the gap.
I didn't finish this one wanting more time in Mirror Falls, which is rarely a good sign for book one of a series.
Would I recommend it? This one didn't land. Loose plot rushes through DNA twists without lovable characters or relatable stakes, despite tidy ending. Skipping the Lainey Maynard series. No pull to chase more Mirror Falls mayhem.