Bad Moon Rising, Frances di Plino

I read this book because I had a personal interest in the author and her writing. It is a classic crime thriller, which is not my favourite genre, but I am trying to expand my reading experience to help me with my own writing.

I enjoyed the book largely because it is well-written and, as such, a clear and easy read. It follows the usual formula; flawed detective trying to catch a deranged serial killer at the same time as dealing with his own personal problems. There are multiple (obvious as such for me) red herrings that throw up a lot of potential suspects. The ending is unexpected, imaginative and cleverly crafted. I certainly didn’t see that one coming!

It did grab my attention and did engage me throughout, despite it not being my usual type of read. For me, by its very nature as a classic, formulaic crime thriller, the plot and characters were predictable. If you are a crime fan you will love it. My partner watches endless crime thrillers on TV, whereas I am very easily bored by them.

As a developing writer, I read this with a particular interest in the writing style. In this respect I was not disappointed! It is a lesson in plot and character development and an example of, almost perfect, sentence structure, grammar and punctuation. The writing is clear and easy to understand – I don’t think I had to re-read a single sentence to get complete clarity on its meaning.

All in all, an enjoyable read but, because I’m not a crime fan, I probably won’t read the rest of the books in the series. If I did, it would be because I wanted to find out what happens to some of the characters and the development, or otherwise, of some of the budding romances. If you are a crime fan I would definitely recommend.