Heather’s Bookshelf: Ceremony
Author: Paul Austin Ardoin
Released: 8/17/21
Genre: Detective Fiction/Mystery
“An engine revved hard.
She turned her head—a light blue van bore down on her. Coming fast. Onto the sidewalk.
She dove out of the way and landed in a slushy pile of snow.
Tires squealed as the van jumped the corner—almost taking out the bus stop sign—right where she’d been standing, then squealed down Highland Avenue.”
“Ceremony: Murders of Substance Book One”: introduces Bernadette Becker, a case analyst for the Controlled Substance Analysis Bureau who has recently run across some difficulties in both her professional and personal life. She’s assigned to a murder case that also happens to have a tie to a little-known illegal substance. She’s also assigned a co-investigator, Dr. Kep Woodhead, a celebrity forensic toxicologist with an unusual approach to investigation- using his sense of smell to enhance his observations.
The murder victim is a graduate student working on a project involving a fishery and cancer drugs. His body is found in a shared chapel with an unusual history and controversial patrons. The investigation starts out rather normally until someone tries to kill Becker and then a co-worker of the victim.
Everyone seems to be lying or hiding something as Becker and Woodhead continue to investigate and more people are found killed. Will they be able to find the culprit before it’s too late to save themselves and their careers?
Trigger Warning: murder, adult language
Overall, I enjoyed this story. The mystery of it was intriguing and the backgrounds of the main characters were alluded to in a way that left it interesting but also open for future stories. The pacing of the tale was good with occasional repeat of plot during the police procedural parts, but not enough to be frustrating. However, I was torn a little on the main characters themselves. I felt Becker was more well-rounded, likeable, and memorable than Woodhead who had a really handy skill, but not much else. Becker’s motives were clear, she was funny and sarcastic in frustration. Woodhead was arrogant, self-loathing, and quite annoying at times. He didn’t really stand up to her character’s presence. The ancillary characters (mostly made up of suspects) each had their own voices and time in the spotlight which helped maintain the mystery. However, the end result I found to be a little more convoluted than it could have been. It ends on a cliffhanger, but wraps up the majority of the main novel, so it still feels pretty complete.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A detective mystery with a lot of intrigue and suspects, but an ending that doesn’t quite hold up.
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