Book Review: Rules of Murder by Juliana Deering (***)

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first ever book review! Hope you enjoy :)

                                                                    Summary:

Drew Farthering loves a good mystery, although he generally expects to find it in the pages of a novel, not on the grounds of his country estate. When a weekend party at Farthering Place is ruined by murder and the police seem flummoxed, Drew decides to look into the crime himself. With the help of his best friend, Nick Dennison, an avid mystery reader, and Madeline Parker, a beautiful and whip-smart American debutante staying as a guest, the three try to solve the mystery as a lark, using the methods from their favorite novels.

Soon, financial irregularities at Drew’s stepfather’s company come to light and it’s clear that all who remain at Farthering Place could be in danger. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer–and trying harder to impress Madeline–Drew must decide how far to take this game. (taken from goodreads.com)

Review:

I ordered this book in the mood for a good, classic murder mystery. I certainly got that! The plot was fantastic and I honestly couldn’t guess who the culprit was. I found myself accusing one person one minute and another the next. Even when the “great reveal” took place at the end the hows-and-whys still had to be explained to me. :P

 The faith-aspect was very well played also. It wasn’t forced or “preachy”.

 However, (there always has to be one of those, right?) I didn’t fall in love with the characters like I wanted to. Drew, the main detective character, was a bit of a snob and pretty cocky. Honestly, in my opinion, he was annoying. Two or three times in the book it went something like this, “Drew felt bad for pressing for more information due to the pained look on so-and-so’s face. But it couldn’t be helped.”

 Also, I didn’t appreciate the way he treated Madeline. Of course, he was the utmost English gentleman to her and was very sweet at times, but on several occasions she wanted to come along on an investigation (because she was, after all, one of the first people to find the body) and Drew literally snuck away and went without her.

 Speaking of Madeline, she was probably my third favorite character (right behind Nick and Uncle Mason) but she was a little confusing. In the beginning she seemed like someone who had long since wandered from the faith, which I think would have made good character development for her and Drew as they drew closer to God through the book. However, she went from being a worldling to having always been a saint.

 And the constant banter that made up nearly every conversation really annoyed me, although some of it was really very funny. That just isn’t my taste, personally.

 All in all, it was a great book plot wise, but a little disappointing as to the characters. It made it hard for me to enjoy since I like for the characters to become my best friend. But if you’re looking for a good mystery, Rules of Murder is an excellent choice.

 Have you read Rules of Murder? Let me know what you thought!