Hello everyone!
LOL.
If you know me (and if you've been following this blog, you probably do at least a little by now) then you'll know I enjoy looking through any and all mystery books. I've been an Agatha Christie fan since I can't even remember when, but the Queen of Mystery (and murder AND mayhem, usually including harmless looking little old ladies or egg-head shaped detectives with big mustaches) tends to make her way onto my reading list often enough.
When I see something that might resemble that, I go all for it.
BookSirens is definitely a good place to be in that regard as there are quite a few mysteries like that around, and when I saw the title I'm working with tonight, I knew I had to read it. I didn't end up liking it quite as much as I'd hoped, but it was still entertaining to a degree.
The Perfect Sister isn't quite as perfect as the title says. Then again they never are.
I've never read anything by Gail Meath before so this was my first introduction to the author, and I have to say I like the way she thinks, her plot points tend to be crisp and precise, but it's the execution of them that needs some added work.
Aside from the constant back and forth between past and present tense in sentences, the plot itself seems to be wobbly once things get going, but let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Katherine, our protagonist, is just reeling from the death of her sister Lorraine, who, of the two older girls, was considered 'perfect' - and had all the conceited traits that come along with that kind of moniker, honestly. Katherine is the one usually overlooked, ignored, downright bullied in her own household, and the one who desperately wants their father's approval, but because she's the most like their deceased mother, who had about 0 spine and faded away into nothing in the oppressive household by literally starving herself to death instead of sending her husband to hell where he belonged, he definitely doesn't have the warmest sentiments for her.
Anyway, the hunt is on for Lorraine's murderer, and Katherine actually runs into him in her retreat where she paints and thinks on the beach - Michael insists he's innocent of the crime though, no matter that all signs and evidence seems to point straight at him. He's also not the one who gave Lorraine a big ass diamond ring, which she got from someone not her intended.
Katherine gets really, really sick and the doctor barely saves her, furiously explaining to her father she needs to be taken care of, not neglected (though as she's supposedly an adult I don't know why she'd need constant babying given she can, in theory, look after herself). She also needs a change of scenery, so her father sends her off to his sister and her husband, who take it upon themselves to give the girl a more normal experience, including but not limited to a new wardrobe, a hairstyle overhaul, and some socializing with normal people.
It's also where she gets the chance to be closer to politician Jack, who is on a fast track to becoming the mayor of their city, but this is where things start getting complicated and convoluted.
See, Katherine and Michael have fallen in love with one another even though neither has said a word to the other, but also Michael is working with an undercover agent from Washington who is looking into this murder business as well as some weird happenings in the city itself.
And while this is going on, Katherine does her own sleuthing after finding her sister's diary filled with weird entries and finance logs, and it turns out the perfect sister wasn't so perfect after all - or, she was perfect for extorting money from the merchants in the city who've been overrun and coerced by this criminal syndicate that's taking over the entire thing, and always hoping for more.
In the process though, Katherine almost gets herself shot, doesn't take no for an answer when she should, and gets stuck between the two men in her life - Jack and Michael both want her, but Jack is the only one who can publicly court her since Michael is still a fugitive.
Things come to a head when Katherine tries to double cross Jack, having finally (after way too long) started believing he's with the bad guys, but he figures her out and as punishment marries her, not that it's a happily ever after kind of thing. BUT he IS in love with her, desperately so, and believes she just needs time to forget everything else and fall for him.
Because that's how it works, yes.
In the meantime, with the original agent shot to death, Michael takes matters into his own hands and of course gets himself thrown into prison so Jack now has something to hold over both his and Katherine's head, but luckily for the two of them, the people around them have a bit more smarts to their name and mount a rescue mission, which eventually frees not only Katherine from Jack's abusive marriage, but Michael from prison and the death sentence as he's cleared from Lorraine's murder, but also the city from the syndicate proper because they round up all of Jack's associates.
And because we do need to wrap ALL the storylines up, it turns out Jack had previously courted Lorraine - but her killer was actually Lorraine and Katherine's father, who found out what she was doing, and lost control when she was laughing at his face, being the complete wild child she'd been right under his nose.
As for Katherine and Michael, they agree to find someone to marry them post-haste before they'll head off to Michael's farm.
The end!
Overall, the story about one "perfect" sister and one that was just overlooked and practically bullied into an illness that might have claimed her life if she hadn't traveled elsewhere was an interesting premise, especially with a manhunt on for the "Perfect" sister's murderer and of course the obligatory mix-up when it wasn't actually the guy everyone accused that did it, but someone that readers of whodunit books will probably see coming, if you think about it.
That plot wove in with one of corruption and an attempt of control with the added benefit of a slightly deranged caller who turns into a possessive husband who has no clue how to take rejection. This, too, would have been an interesting venue to explore.
Sadly, however, what happens is that the two main characters - Katherine, the overlooked sister, and Michael, the "murderer" - are not characters readers can empathize or connect with. Or at least, I personally couldn't, no matter how much I tried.
Katherine doesn't make a favourable impression even from the get-go with her meek and bending personality, but even as the book progresses she doesn't really rise above that all too much. She goes poking where she isn't supposed to, getting herself in trouble, literally stomps her feet when people don't tell her something because they want to protect her (and can see she's literally just a silly girl playing at investigating and not knowing the actual stakes), puts other people in danger by her own blinders-on mentality, and does other ridiculous things like clapping her hands over her ears to tune out someone who's telling her something dangerous or something she should know, but she doesn't want to hear it. It's difficult to root for a heroine who is so incredibly self-absorbed and blind to everything but what she specifically wants in that one moment, even if she later regrets it. If there had been at least one favourable scene with her initially, I might have been more lenient, but there isn't.
Michael, on the other hand, starts out rather favourably and then dives right down the same hole soon after when he doesn't use the brains he was given and stomps around, directly approaching when he should have though about it, and gets himself caught because he can only see the one tree but the forest escapes his narrow view. This not only puts Katherine in jeopardy but the entire plan, ends up with his strongest protector and supporter dead, and a slew of other things.
The story could have been great if at some point Katherine and Michael stopped pretending to be investigating and actually did it, and didn't play pretend. It would have also benefited from the two of them focusing on anything else but each other, as this wasn't billed as a love story, but alas, the love story gnaws and eventually brings down all the rest of the otherwise intriguing and interesting read about the murder and intrigue.
Not the worst book I've ever read, but equally not the best either.
That plot wove in with one of corruption and an attempt of control with the added benefit of a slightly deranged caller who turns into a possessive husband who has no clue how to take rejection. This, too, would have been an interesting venue to explore.
Sadly, however, what happens is that the two main characters - Katherine, the overlooked sister, and Michael, the "murderer" - are not characters readers can empathize or connect with. Or at least, I personally couldn't, no matter how much I tried.
Katherine doesn't make a favourable impression even from the get-go with her meek and bending personality, but even as the book progresses she doesn't really rise above that all too much. She goes poking where she isn't supposed to, getting herself in trouble, literally stomps her feet when people don't tell her something because they want to protect her (and can see she's literally just a silly girl playing at investigating and not knowing the actual stakes), puts other people in danger by her own blinders-on mentality, and does other ridiculous things like clapping her hands over her ears to tune out someone who's telling her something dangerous or something she should know, but she doesn't want to hear it. It's difficult to root for a heroine who is so incredibly self-absorbed and blind to everything but what she specifically wants in that one moment, even if she later regrets it. If there had been at least one favourable scene with her initially, I might have been more lenient, but there isn't.
Michael, on the other hand, starts out rather favourably and then dives right down the same hole soon after when he doesn't use the brains he was given and stomps around, directly approaching when he should have though about it, and gets himself caught because he can only see the one tree but the forest escapes his narrow view. This not only puts Katherine in jeopardy but the entire plan, ends up with his strongest protector and supporter dead, and a slew of other things.
The story could have been great if at some point Katherine and Michael stopped pretending to be investigating and actually did it, and didn't play pretend. It would have also benefited from the two of them focusing on anything else but each other, as this wasn't billed as a love story, but alas, the love story gnaws and eventually brings down all the rest of the otherwise intriguing and interesting read about the murder and intrigue.
Not the worst book I've ever read, but equally not the best either.
xx
*image not mine
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