A Field Guide to Death and Deceit is the second Harry & Emma mystery by Dr. Michelle L. Cullen. Due out 15th Sept 2026 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and will be available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is a well written and engaging amateur sleuth murder mystery featuring an anthropologist and his bonus-daughter/former caregiver, who's a smart and capable registered nurse and an assistant in his international aid work. The characterizations and interplay between the characters have the starring role. There's a lot of verisimilitude in the way the author depicts the very human, often flawed characters, and does so with warmth and compassion. The plotting and mystery are a little patchy, blending multiple law enforcement agencies stepping on one another's toes, loads of betrayals and double crossing, huge real estate scams and money laundering schemes, thieves falling out with one another, and a graphically violent farm-implement death which sets the whole thing in motion.
Although it's the second book in the series, it works well as a standalone, and the story is self-contained in this volume. There are some character developments in this book which will be minor spoilers for the first book if they're read out of order, but nothing major.
Four stars. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition, or for a short binge/buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment