In The Scout Master, the fourth book in the Grace Marsden
Cozy Noir series, Grace's husband, Harry, has recently found
out he has a ten year old son. Picking the boy up from his
scout troop's community cleaning project, a mystery is literally
uncovered. The scouts find a World War II munitions crate
containing carefully laid bones. Bringing more boys to the
site that night to show them the curiosity, Grace is attacked
by hooded assailants. Narrowly escaping, Grace embarks on
a mystery that becomes more strange with each chapter. When
Grace's new employer is found dead near the site, a homicide
investigation leads to dangerous discoveries, and Grace
slipping in and out of consciousness several times in near-misses
with the bad guys, who are suspected of Satanic ritual and
sacrifice.
What could be a fascinating mystery quickly becomes cluttered
with family issues. Grace tries to find her place as a stepmother
to a boy whose parents are committed to each other through
him. Unbelievable plot twists drag the story behind: a brief
flirtation with the occult and paranormal, bodies found
on top of bodies and impossible coincidences. Beuhler consistently
uses her heroine in an attempt to convince the reader that
each uninteresting character holds some value, but falls
short. Subplots don't ever sit long enough to engage the
reader to care about the mystery, but the author can spend
8 pages (42-50) letting characters wake up and have breakfast,
after just having survived a trauma - with little discussion
about said trauma. Points of tension are explained in the
narrative, rather than shown, never giving enough credit
to the reader.
With focus, the novel could have been a captivating read,
but the end result is far-fetched, asking the reader to
suspend all belief and logic before getting to heart of
the plot. With thirteen major points needing resolution
(as listed by Grace halfway through the book) the reader
simply hasn't the energy or the attention span to care what
happens.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Flood Gondek interviews aspiring writers on her blog, FlashFlood
and her work has appeared in Flashing
in the Gutters.
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