A Chain of Pearls
A Chain of Pearls (Martha’s Vineyard Murders #1)
By: Raemi A. Ray
I didn’t have much to go off of with this book. This was Ray’s debut novel so I didn’t really know about her or what to expect.
Overall, I wouldn’t say this book knocked my socks off, but it was a decent read— more of a cozy mystery.
I liked the Martha’s Vineyard setting where it’s this island set apart from the mainland where people are wary of outsiders. It makes it a little more interesting on who may be the culprit and who is just keeping someone else’s secrets.
I think the main thing I didn’t like was that the mystery felt too straightforward. You kinda find out the main ‘players’ early in the story— you don’t know exactly who did what when, but the corruption aspect was exposed too early in my opinion. I wish there had been some other major players in the mix to create more red herrings.
I also just realized that I’m not sure why the book is called ‘A Chain of Pearls’. It’s possible I just don’t remember because I’m writing this review several days after finishing, but it seems odd it’s not more obvious. Is it a play on words that the pearls, representing wealth and privilege, are also a chain, representing lack of freedom? Hm. Not sure how it connects. No one was strangled by a chain of pearls so….
The basic premise is this:
Kyra’s mother passed away when she was young. Her dad dealt with the grief by investing heavily in his global journalistic work, leaving Kyra to live with an aunt in London. They’ve had a strained relationship ever since. Then Kyra learns that her dad died in a boat accident on the Martha’s Vineyard island.
When she arrives to deal with his affairs she sees that he may not have really been retired, but actually working on a story unfolding on the island. It may be that his accident was actually a murder. She can’t restore her relationship with her dad anymore, but she can finish what he started.
She ends up (unofficially) partnering up with the local detective working (not working?) the case— Tarek— to find out what really happened to her dad and who was responsible.
One thing I wasn’t sure I was onboard with was how Kyra basically functioned like the detective. The information Tarek shared with her about bank accounts etc. seems like a major breach of his job. She was never cleared by anyone in his office but took part in virtually every aspect of the investigation. It seemed less like Kyra provided Tarek with some leads or evidence of her dad’s and more like she was sending Tarek out to do her bidding and check on her hunches and get her the info she needed to figure it out.
I also feel like there may have been a missed opportunity for a twist when it came to the neighbors. I don’t think this is a major spoiler but if you’re worried about that, just skip this paragraph. I think it would have been a good twist if one of the neighbors, either one really, had actually been involved. They were so ‘close’ to her dad so they had access and knowledge about what he was investigating. Charlie had been involved in the purchase of his house and could easily have bugged it or something like that. It would have been clever that they could easily have lied to Kyra about how close they actually were with him to get information from her. It’s the whole ‘the people you’d least suspect’ kind of thing that I think would have added some excitement. But they just got to be the friendly neighbors who are sweet as could be. Since this is a series, I’m guessing Raemi has plans for developing their relationship with Kyra in the next book and couldn’t kill the friendship off. Too bad.
Recommendation
If you’re looking for a cozy mystery, you’ll probably enjoy this book, however if you are more into twisty thrillers, this one might be a bit too boring for you.
I have the second one in the series so I’ll probably read that one too eventually and see if the writing style/content changes at all. Based on the reviews it appears that those who loved the first book also loved the second one. Plus it has a pirate ship and treasure so that sounds exciting.
At the very least, this series could function as an easy palette cleanser in between the more intense thrillers on your shelf.
[Content Advisory: 39 f-words (a good chunk of these were probably in the last 40ish pages), 17 s-words; a few LGBTQ characters]
**Received a copy via Author Marketing Experts in exchange for an honest review**
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