Heather’s Bookshelf: Frances and the Navajo: The Mystery of the Vanishing Bullets
Author: Jon Jones
Released: 01/23/21
Genre: Crime Fiction Novella
“I have a case. I pay well and, if you would like a starter of danger, a main course of excitement and a pudding of fun — all of course wrapped in a healthy payment — then please feel free to follow me up to the kitchen.”
“Frances and the Navajo: The Mystery of the Vanishing Bullets” introduces Frances, a young artist working several jobs to survive. She’s smart, motivated, and trained as a martial artist. Unfortunately, her parents passed, leaving her in debt and unable to attend university.
When working an odd job, Frances happens upon two men attacking another. She intervenes, saving the man and bringing him back to her place. The man tells her he doesn’t have a name but goes by his heritage, Navajo. He’s a private detective and those men were upset about a previous case.
Just as fast as Frances appears, he disappears again. This time he sends his associate with a job offer for Frances. She readily accepts and begins her co-investigation with Navajo into a seemingly impossible murder.
Trigger Warning: violence, murder
Overall, I enjoyed this story. It’s a quick read, so the plot and storyline move along quickly. It reminded me of one of those logic puzzles I used to love when I was younger where you ask questions in order to get to a solution. There’s some backstory written into the dialogue, but as it is a quick read there’s not a huge amount of development of Frances. I felt Navajo’s character was a little more well developed with his inexplainable talents and clever style of communication. I also thought the interview aspect of the story was a nice way to keep the reader guessing without “telling” too much in a short read. The solution to the mystery is creative and could be mostly figured out by the readers looking back, which I appreciate. However, the ending was a little abrupt for me. It resolved that specific mystery but left it open for future tales in a way that was unclear if it was meant to be a stand alone or part of a series.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A quick read about a young girl seemingly destined to investigate crime and the murder mystery that sets her on her way.
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