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The Art of Death
The Art of Death
David Fennell | 2021 | Crime
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Characters and twist on the murder genre (0 more)
Typos! (0 more)
Read in 2 days!
I knew I was going to like this book from the First Impression. I read quite a few crime novels and some can be quite "samey" but this was a bit different. The concept of murder victims displayed as artworks by the killer was an interesting twist on the genre. Also unnerving was the way he chose his victims by stalking them on social media and dating sites. It makes you think about what you put online.

Several characters could have been the killer. You decide who it is and then some small action or comment makes you think "Hang on, they just did........ maybe it's actually them?"

The two main police officers were well written, and I would like to see them again in another book. I really wanted to know Detective Inspector Grace Archer's back story from when she was a child and you do get to find out, but perhaps this will be explored further in future?

(A bit of a niggle is the number of typos in the text, at least 10-15!)

Overall, easy to get into, keeps your interest and I'd definitely read more by this author.
  
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)
2007 | Action, Comedy, Horror
7
7.2 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I used to be a plumber
Jack brooks: monster slayer pays homage to movies like Evil dead, from dusk till dawn & gremlins.

After witnessing his family's brutal murder as a child, he grows up with an unquenching fury he is constantly fighting.
After accidentally unleashing an ancient evil during a plumbing job, his client/professor (Robert Englund) becomes possessed and mutates into a gruesome monster with an undying hunger.
This results in Jack facing his fears he can no longer run from and discover the purpose of his inner rage.

This is a great movie that honestly pays off, a low budget project that deserves a franchise.

Starring Trevor Mathews & Robert Englund

Story by: John Ainslie; Jon Knautz; Trevor Matthews; Patrick White
Directed by: Jon Knautz
Release date: October 9, 2007 (Sitges Film Festival); July 25, 2008 (Canada); August
  
Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge
Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge
Laura Levine | 2018 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bah Humbug Murder
Thanks to her neighbor Lance, freelance writer Jaine Austen is spending Christmas at a Bel Air mansion. It's not all luxury, however, when Jaine gets roped into helping her temporary neighbor polish his script. Scotty Parker is a former child actor best known for playing Tiny Tim in a movie version of A Christmas Carol, but now he'd be a shoe in to play Scrooge, complete with penny pinching ways and fights with neighbors. Someone has had enough, and Jaine finds Scotty's body on Christmas morning. With the police focusing on her, Jaine begins her own investigation. But which of the many suspects actually killed Scotty?

Those familiar with the series know exactly what to expect here, and they won't be disappointed. The murder may take place a little later in the book than in some series I read, but we are busy meeting suspects and getting motives, so when Scotty does die, we can jump right in. Jaine once again brings the case to a satisfactory conclusion. We also have a couple of fun sub-plots involving Jaine's on-line dating misadventures and a cruise her parents are taking with their neighbors. There are plenty of laughs, chuckles, and grins. The characters lean toward caricature, but it works for this series. The pages fly by all too quickly as always.