Not at all what I was expecting. I won't continue the series. Meh. ( )

A dark little mystery full of family intrigue, Australian Aboriginal Symbology, and general angst by the leading lady,

The book is well written - but the mystery seemed overly complicated. The setting also seemed overly complicated - there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for why Dinah's Uncle to choose a run down resort in the middle of the Australian Outback to die. Dianah's angst was rather annoying - and not really a whole lot of reason for it. The book was full of characters who weren't really likable. ( )

In Simon’s mystery novel, Harvard scholar Dulcie Schwartz continues to work on her thesis when she receives a frantic call from her friend Trista. A visiting scholar has vanished and police suspect that Trista is involved. Dulcie dives in donning her detective hat to solve a mystery before anyone else gets hurt.

A nice addition to the A Dulcie Schwartz Feline Mystery series. ( )

This book has such an interesting premise and takes place in a country about which I've always been fascinated. When I saw the added bonus of anthropology, I knew I had to read it. I did, with very mixed results. The Australian setting is well done, and although the cast of characters is a large one, I didn't find it difficult at all to keep track of each individual. Dinah has a refreshing sense of humor, too. The bones of this tome skeleton are good, but a few things went awry for me when the musculature was added.

Enough emphasis was placed on the first murder of the man on the island to make readers believe that it had true importance. It didn't, and as a result the conclusion was a bit anti-climactic. Dinah's sense of humor wasn't enough to disguise the fact that she can be silly and childlike, and has altogether too much baggage for one character. Speaking of characters, they were well-drawn because I was never confused in following each member of this large cast. However, I rapidly lost interest in them. A large percentage of them were extremely unlikable, and the ones who weren't didn't figure into the story enough to outweigh the poison of the others. I don't mind reading stories about unlikable characters, but it's a hard slog when my interest wanes and I begin to wish that they'd all admit to being the guilty party.

All in all this book has an interesting premise, a wonderful setting, and a good sense of humor that I felt were let down by the story and characters. Here be talent, though, and I would be interested to see how this series develops. ( )

Only Poisoned Pen Press book I've out-and-out disliked. Only one character I liked, snd he was not a msin character. Disliked the plot as well. ( )