POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Hmm. He's one of my favourite authors and this release was keenly anticipated.

As always, an easy read. No trouble getting into the story.

It's just ... I didn't feel as invested in this book. Maybe it's because the characters annoyed me.

The male lead was an aged hippy and I never figured out why he was so attractive to the female lead, who was intelligent, learned and together. Somehow, her buy-in to him didn't make sense to me. I went off her early on too.

Then as events rolled out, I failed to understand her commitment to him. What she went through in an effort to keep him was out of proportion to his value to her.

There was some unpleasant violence and it made me uncomfortable to read these parts, which felt unnecessary. I felt angry that the female lead got herself into this state.

Somehow she became a Babelfish and was able to communicate in all langages. And there were severa unresolved relationship issues.

DK is still a favourite author and I keenly await his next release.

( )

3.5 stars.

The Blue Hour by Douglas Kennedy is an intriguing mystery about a woman's search for her husband after he goes missing during their trip to Morocco. Considered a suspect in husband Paul Leuen's disappearance, Robin Danvers makes one bad decision after another when she discovers Paul's numerous lies.

After her first marriage ended in divorce years earlier, Robin changed careers and she is now an accountant with a thriving business. Three years earlier, she married Paul after he came to her for advice for his messy finances. By all appearances they are quite happy but Robin is growing weary of cleaning up Paul's financial messes. The only other disappointment in her life is her inability to conceive but she remains hopeful she will soon become pregnant. When Paul surprises her with a month long trip to Morocco, Robin is a little leery but she quickly becomes excited about their upcoming vacations. Despite a few minor setbacks upon arrival, their stay in Morocco is idyllic for the first few weeks, but things rapidly go downhill when Robin discovers the first of Paul's many lies and secrets. After he goes missing from their hotel room, the police are convinced Robin is responsible for his disappearance and she decides to search for him on her own.

While Robin is logical, open and quite responsible, Paul is impulsive, secretive and prone to overspending. Robin was well aware of Paul's faults before she married him and while she did not realize it at the time, she was hopeful he would change after they wed. Despite her frustration with him, their marriage is happy and quite passionate. With an eighteen year age gap between them, Robin knows there are women in Paul's past but he does not talk about his previous relationships. Although this lack of transparency is little troubling, she ignores this somewhat secretive behavior but Robin soon regrets this decision.

Enraged, hurt and disappointed by a shocking discovery in Morocco, Robin leaves Paul an angry note that quickly comes back to haunt her in the wake of his disappearance. With the police unwilling to believe her, she begins tracing Paul's footsteps after she uncovers disturbing information about his past in his diary. Stunned by the breadth of secrets he has been keeping from her, Robin is not exactly in the best frame of mind as she begins making impulsive and somewhat irrational decisions during her search. Definitely out of her element and not thinking clearly, Robin puts herself in an extremely dangerous situation that jeopardizes her life.

The Blue Hour is a well-written novel with an interesting and unique storyline. The setting is quite exotic and Douglas Kennedy brings Morocco vibrantly to life. While engaging, the novel becomes bogged down by superfluous details and long passages of introspection by Robin. The conclusion is mostly satisfying but a few threads are left dangling (although it is fairly easy to speculate what most likely happened). All in all, an entertaining read. ( )

A mad-for each-other couple holiday in Morocco. On gaining some info, Robin leaves her husband. But when he disappears she about-faces & goes in hot pursuit.

My problem is that I found the POV character unbelievably irritating from the first chapter. Rude, full of a sense of entitlement, patronising... She then makes such ridiculous decisions that I began to feel this wasn’t so much unbelievable character defects, as that the author was having his character make erratic decisions to push the story onwards. Ok, authors always do this, but it just seemed particularly clunky & unbelievable in this tale. And the sympathetic characters Robin met on her road trip were sooo sympathetic & immediately understanding & helpful, it bordered on the farcical.
Just an annoying read.

So won’t be trying another Kennedy melodrama any time soon. ( )

(7.5) Accountant Robin is convinced by her artist husband, Paul to take a 4 week break in Morocco. However Paul is impulsive, fiscally irresponsible and unreliable. From the outset he changes their plans. All seems well until Robin uncovers a shocking deceit by Paul, then he disappears. Fearful for his state of mind she tries to pursue him but is suspected of his murder and has to evade the the police.
Paul is an immensely unlikable character and I struggled to understand why she wanted to rescue him after his ultimate betrayal. I felt annoyed at her for not leaving the country when she had the opportunity but felt compelled to keep reading to see how the story resolved. I could imagine this as an action movie but it certainly didn't make me want to visit this country in a hurry. That being said, the Berber people who came to her rescue were admirable. ( )

Robyn n'a pas de chance ! Son premier mari est parti et maintenant c'est au tour de son deuxième mari Paul, de disparaître dans le désert marocain. Il faut dire que cette experte comptable est pointilleuse, exigeante, économe et qu'elle désire par dessus tout un enfant. Paul lui est un artiste, bon vivant et prodigue et un peu bohème.
Suite à trois merveilleuses semaines passées à Essarouia, une trahison inconcevable pour Robyn va tout détruire et l'emmener de Charybde en Scylla avec une myriade d'épreuves à passer dans le Maroc d'aujourd'hui .
Thriller ou simple roman d'amour, ce livre est un peu long à cause de ses rebondissements sans fin, enfin presque puisque le livre se termine en espoir. Bref j'ai été déçue et n'arrêtais pas de penser à la pauvre Susie à qui il arrive bien des malheurs et qui attend son Zorro de sauveur. ( )