Book Review - Flowers on her grave

Namo Namaha friends. Today I'll be reviewing a murder mystery novel called Flowers on Her Grave by Jennifer Chase. I received this as an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) last year. When I had requested this ARC I wasn't aware that this novel is a part of a series. I think the book stands pretty well on its own, and you probably don't have to read the previous books to understand this one. But, I also felt a certain level of disconnect with the characters and that could have been due to this book being part of a series instead of a standalone.

Book Name - Flowers on Her Grave

Author - Jennifer Chase

Genre - Fiction

Category - Mystery Thriller

Series - Book Number 3 from the Detective Katie Scott series

Year of publication - March 2020

Publication house - Bookouture

Goodreads rating - 4.45

Representation - PTSD (Implied)

Synopsis

Katie's working on a cold case when tragedy strikes and her uncle, who is a respectable sheriff is framed for his wife's brutal murder! This story is all about her unconventional steps to help solve her aunt's murder.

Plot - 3/5

The story was good. It made sense. A murder happens and it's solved by the end of the novel. It was nothing ground-breaking but not too shabby either. I liked the way the author tied up the murders together. We follow a few cold cases along with the active case. Though there wasn't as much intrigue as I would have liked the simple plotline is done well.

Pacing - 5/5

The pacing was excellent. It didn't drag at any point. There were action scenes where necessary. It was fast-paced and engaging throughout the novel.

Characters - 3/5

The characters sounded a bit shallow. I didn't know much about them (maybe because I directly the third book in the series?) and honestly, I wasn't much interested in them either. I also had no feelings whatsoever when the murderer was revealed. Characterization fell too flat for me.

Set-up - 4/5

The descriptions were good. I liked how the author tried to bring in the PTSD representation as well as the dog as her constant support. The murder scenes were described well too.

Writing - 3/5

The writing was ok. But, I had major problems with the dialogues. It felt stunted and staged. It didn't sound natural. Some dialogues were like those feel-good posters that you see on Facebook. "You can do it!" and so on. Who talks like that in real life? Except maybe your therapist? There were times when I cringed at the dialogues. It could be a "me" thing but I think the dialogues could have been more refined and natural.

Overall rating - 3.5

Note: I have created a new rating system for all my book reviews, you'll see a video explaining my rating system very soon on my Youtube channel. Keep an eye out for that video. Henceforth I'll review all the books I read based on that rating system. Hope you'll like it.

Grading - Borrow grade - Book worth borrowing from the library or trading with your friends/family.

Star Rating - ⭐⭐⭐

So those were my thoughts on Flowers on Her Grave. How about you? Have you read it? If yes, what did you think about it? Or are you planning to read it? Do let me know your thoughts on my SM channels @twitter, @instagram, or @goodreads.

You can even join me at my book club in discord or @bookclubz, and buddy read some books with me. Let's keep the bookish conversation going.

Till then, stay safe and blessed. Om Shanti. 🙏

Original article from my blog @: https://rrkreads.com/book-review-the-ninth-rain-by-jen-williams/