Mystery Girl, by David Gordon

Sam finds himself in a pit of failure- his marriage, his job, his writing.  In an attempt to win back his wife, and perhaps some self respect, he takes a job as an assistant detective, following around a mysterious woman.  He begins to finds himself not just intrigued, but also a bit enamored with the woman, and as a result gets pulled into a bizarre world.

I really struggled with this book.  There were so many things about it that were appealing.  The new take on pulpy noir writing certainly jumped out at me.  I am a fan of noir, even when it gets a little campy, so I liked the idea that the story has a nice shadowy edge to it.  And the characters are really well developed, particularly Sam.  I felt like we were really able to tap into his feelings.  The characters had depth and dimension, and I thought the writing itself was interesting.

Where I seemed to struggle was the organization and flow of the plot.  I felt like the rhythm of the story changed part way through the book.  There were so many strange things going on throughout the story, and I never really felt like I got good resolution on all of them.  The resolutions we do get felt a little forced, or rushed maybe.  All I know is, in the end, I was left a little unsatisfied.

I think this book will appeal to fans of noir crime writing, and fans of dark mysteries.  

I received a review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  See the rest of the tour here.

 

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