Shiny Water by Anna Salter

Shiny Water by Anna Salter
Mystery

Michael Stone is a psychologist that specializes in helping battered women and children get past their issues and determining if children are being sexually abused. When she (yes, Michael is a female name in this book) determines that the two children in the middle of a custody case are being sexually abused by their father, she doesn't look forward to testifying in court. Unfortunately the case doesn't end the way she would like but soon after both the children are murdered. At first, everyone suspects the mother but things seem to point towards her too easily. Stone gets insight from sadistic inmates that she talks to in prison to help her determine if she missed anything in examination and if not, who exactly killed those two children?

It took me about 40 pages to figure out whether the main character was a female or male and what her name was. In the end, I looked at the back of the book to help me figure it out. Surely this should be one of the most important things a writer needs to communicate at the beginning of a book?

I found that there were parts of this book that was kind of pointless. When Stone was meeting with inmates that were child predators, the knowledge she gained from those conversations and the arguments she had with the people there felt like an afterthought in the book.

This book was an easy read. You could easily figure out who the murderer was. This is the first book in the series and I don't think I would actively look for the next in the series.

First Line: "I don't think most people's reaction to finding a dead body on a dock would be to call their kid to come look at it."

Rating:

(3/5)