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Wealthy city dwellers retreat to exclusive West Heart to hunt, swim, fish and relax. And, quite frankly, drink a lot and have affairs. Private detective Adam McAnnis visits West Heart over the July 4th bicentennial weekend, finagling an invitation from an old friend. But his reason for going isn’t for fun; Adam has been hired to do some investigating.
Then the bodies start piling up. One is found in the water; another is shot. And everyone at the club is stuck there because a massive storm makes the roads impassable. Adam takes it upon himself to investigate the deaths.
Of course, as he interviews people and adds that information to what he’d been gathering before the deaths, everyone seems to have something to hide. Who will die next, and who will be revealed as the guilty party?
This novel isn’t a straightforward whodunit. The writer is always switching up the point of view and the method of telling the story. And he regularly inserts himself into the narrative to share all kinds of information about murder mysteries, famous real and fictional mystery books, famous writers and their styles, and so on. It’s a fun conceit if you’re up for that kind of thing, which I was. I was just disappointed by the ending. The plot built up fairly well, mostly setting up for a satisfying denouement, but then it fell short. I saw what the writer was trying to do, but it didn’t quite work. I saw it compared to The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (or at least “If you’re a fan of 7 ½ Deaths, you’ll love West Heart Kill!”), but it is not the same. And I didn’t love it. Clever but it lacked the punch I was expecting.
Rated: High. (Just over the line from moderate.) Profanity includes 7 uses of strong language, around 15 instances of moderate profanity, about 20 uses of mild language, and 25 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Several deaths, including murder and suicide. Some mentions of blood and gore in relation to a shooting murder. References to sex and affairs, but little in the way of detail.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
