Showing posts with label Preston Barclay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Preston Barclay. Show all posts

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Book Review - Murder in Disguise (A Preston Barclay Mystery Book 3) by Donn Taylor

Photo Credit - Amazon
When news of Preston Barclay's beloved friend committed suicide, Preston is unable to believe the news. However, when the evidence points to an open and close suicide case, he decides to let sleeping dogs lie. The victim's wife, Grace, doesn't believe it is a suicide and pleads with Preston to investigate her husband's death. Preston begins to question the suicide, when details are emerging that don't quite add up including the anonymous threats. Will Preston be able to figure out the truth behind his friend's death?

This was the third novel in the Preston Barclay series, but each book looks like it can be read as a standalone. The book was an easy read but a few pages in, the number of musical references was a bit overwhelming to the point of annoyance. I found my eyes glazing over paragraphs with the music reference and found myself too lazy to search what each song was. I also found the dynamic between Mara and Preston to be boring, petty, and unauthentic. Mara is jealous when Preston talking to another female, but she purposely needles him about other men without Preston is saying or doing much. I felt like Mara and Preston made a poor investigator and they seem to be more like, "Let's kick the hornet's nest and see what happens". The author keeps mentioning Preston's Special Ops training, but not once I made it seem like he actually puts any of that to use. If anything, when I think of Preston Barclay, I think of a frumpy grandpa with his pants mid chest along with a pair of oversized glasses.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**