Murder by Death

Well, this was a first for me, I think.  I disliked the MC of this book and yet could not put the book down.

Vivian is a drug-using, hard partying singer with a career that failed before it began, barely getting by singing weddings. She's a victim of a broken home with father-abondonment issues.  She's a mess.  Generally speaking, I prefer my heroines to have a firmer grasp on their inner strength; I don't enjoy watching, or reading, about people self-destructing, even if they do end up on the road to redemption and enlightenment.  

In addition to this, I didn't realise that this second-of-the-series was about a completely different set of characters, taking place 7 years previous to the first book.  I was expecting a continuation of the story about Mona and Adam.  So by the first few chapters I was thoroughly disappointed with the read.

Yet, I couldn't stop reading it.  There's a lot of action, and I really liked Jason, although the author skirts a fine line at times, when I expect him to kick at the ground and go "aww shucks".  But then he starts killing people again, and it's all better.  I'm not sure that says anything good about me, but never mind.

The book touts itself as a "Midnight Magic Mystery" but let's be clear: there is no mystery in this book.  There's a wolf-pack war brewing and a traitor in the pack's midst, but the traitor is obvious from the beginning; there's never any question or doubt.  Of course it's still a mystery to the pack, which allows for the continued carnage and the ultimate battle for control to take place.  Overall, if pressed, I'd call this more PNR than any kind of mystery.

In sum, I'm a bit flummoxed by this book.  I did not connect with the MC at all, the 'mystery' plot was transparent.  There were enough editing errors for me to notice.  But I could not stop reading it.  It gets 1/2 star out of sheer wonder.

There's a third book coming out apparently.  Will I read it?  Hell if I know.  I think I'll still be flummoxed over this one.