Words On Wednesday

“The Coworker” looks like a promising murder mystery on the surface, but I hope we’ve all learned not to judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately, it’s more of a poorly written love triangle drama with a backdrop of murder and mystery. This one was a struggle for me to finish. Admittedly, I didn’t exactly pursue it initially on its own merit. I was looking for something to listen to while I waited for the audiobook that I ACTUALLY wanted to hear (the next “Dresden Files” book). I sorted by popularity descending and filtered to available audiobooks. The first few were either random entries in a longer series or autobiographies. Sorry, Britney, I’m not really looking for another autobiography right now. The first book that wasn’t part of a longer series and wasn’t an autobiography was “The Coworker.” Interestingly, my wife had recently purchased another Freida McFadden book as a birthday gift for one of her friends. “The Teacher” wasn’t available, but I figured this might give me some in...

I was big on murder mystery novels a couple years back, and I have a hard time leaving a series unfinished unless I just truly hate one of the books. Hence, I decided to revisit the Hawthorne series for the third book that had since been released after I read the first two. The one thing I can tell you is that I would be an awful detective. Up until the very end, I don’t have a clue who committed the crime. Sure, I’ll throw out theories while I’m reading. Occasionally, one of those theories does coincide with the final resolution, but nothing makes it any more special than the dozen or so theories I floated around. When the big reveal comes, I am consistently surprised. Great for the satisfaction of reading, but don’t expect me to solve any crimes for you. Given that disclaimer, I can’t tell you how easily this mystery would have been solved by someone with a more keen eye for detail. The clues make sense when they’re finally laid out clearly and directly at the end, but I wouldn’t hav...