A Grid For Murder: A Mystery By the Numbers, by Casey Mayes
Published by Berkley Prime Crime, 2012
Review first appeared on Cozy Little Book Journal on September 8, 2013
It's a good little cozy, or rather it's almost a good little cozy. My main problem with it is the flaw in the lead character's logic. The amateur sleuth, Savannah Stone, makes the same leap of logic when trying to solve a murder that nearly all cozy sleuths make: she is so obsessed with finding people with motive that she completely ignores means and opportunity. Who was actually in the area when the victim was killed? Who could have had access to her in the time period before she died? She's focused solely on the "why" and not the "how."
The reason this bothers me in this book more than in most is that the sleuth in question was a material witness to the crime! She was there! Right around the time the victim was poisoned! She had tea with her! So yes, on the one hand I understand why this would give her motivation to try to solve the crime herself because obviously she's a prime suspect, but on the other hand you'd think she'd be better at steering that investigation. Because she knew who else was there! Start with them! It annoyed me.
The other thing that I thought was a bit odd was that the character of Savannah is written to be a bit older (in her 40's I think?) but she behaves like a much younger woman. Her relationship with her husband is so soppy and clingy that she seems like she's more like a twenty-year-old. At one point a neighbour tries to give her information as long as she keeps it quiet and doesn't tell anyone. Savannah insists she has to tell her husband. I assume it's because her husband is helping to clear her (by working with the police, which seems odd considering his wife is a suspect) so she needs to be able to share information with him in order to clear her name. Nope. It's just because she loves him sooooo much that she can't possibly agree to keep anything from him, lest it jeopardize her marriage. Of course he keeps information from her (because he's working on the police investigation, incredibly) but that's not a problem. Honestly, she seemed like a love sick teenager.
At first I assumed this might have been because the author herself was a younger woman and was giving her middle aged character somewhat unbelievable qualities. Turns out Casey Mayes is actually one of the many pen names of mystery author Tim Myers. I don't think I've ever read any of his other books so I can't categorically say that Tim Myers doesn't write believable female characters, but I did find this one in particular a little unbelievable.
So overall not the worst cozy mystery. It's not poorly written and the setting is developed. I can picture the town and its fictional inhabitants clearly. It just requires more suspension of disbelief about the process of crime solving than I'm willing to give. Plus for a character whose job is "logic puzzle creator" it's weird that she doesn't use logic, isn't it?
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