by: Kellye Garrett Published: Mar 8, 2022 Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction 336 Pages, Paperback
★★★★
GoodReads Synopsis:
When the body of disgraced reality TV star Desiree Pierce is found on a playground in the Bronx the morning after her 25th birthday party, the police and the media are quick to declare her death an overdose. It’s a tragedy, certainly, but not a crime.
But Desiree’s half-sister Lena Scott knows that can’t be the case. A graduate student at Columbia, Lena has spent the past decade forging her own path far from the spotlight, but some facts about Desiree just couldn’t have changed since their childhood. And Desiree would never travel above 125th Street. So why is no one listening to her?
My Review:
Very slow to the draw. 90% of the story is played out very slowly and doesn't pick up until the last chapter. While I didn't expect it to be fast-paced all the way through, most of it was very lackluster. Let me back up.
Instagram model/influencer, Desiree Pierce is found dead of a drug overdose but her sister, Lena immediately suspects foul play.
I've said it before in other reviews, cops in these stories are so useless and it infuriates me that they are always written this way. Case in point: see The Perfect Marriage. Detective Green and Detective Zizza were imbeciles.
Over the course of about 10 days, Lena is turning over every leaf and following every lead, to figure out what happened to her sister -- something that should be the NYPD's job. Of course, she is met with many roadblocks; her father is unhelpful and almost comes off as a suspect, there is an old family friend who is mixed up in Desiree's life, a new "best friend" who isn't who she says she is, and a pesky reporter who flirts with Lena at all the wrong times.
There are enough characters in this story to keep you guessing. However, the final climax left much to be desired for me -- it was very anticlimactic.
Aunt E was the scene stealer! I'd love to read a story about her and Gram.
Final thoughts, it was an easy read and despite my best efforts, I was unable to predict the ending for that alone, it gets an extra star! I'm usually pretty good at pegging the "suspect" early.
One-Word Summary: Shitnuts