Dying Grass Moon by Andra Jacka (IBPA) 2 STARS

Publication date 9/9/21 Pages 356

One look at the cover and the horse on there, it was a must read. The title it had to be a western book which i am guessing some of you might know I love all horse books. However, this one I did not like much. I want to take this opportunity to remind readers of my reviews i give my honest opinion and constructive reviews explaining why I didn't like it. Just remember I am one person, my tastes maybe very different than yours. please just read the review and synopsis and gauge your own view as to whether you would like to read it. Don't be put off by my star rating as it just could be I didn't like the style it was written in. I would still like to thank Netgalley and the author and her publishing team for allowing me to read and review this book and that i have explained well enough for this to be constructive criticism and not anyway to slam a book telling everybody not to buy this book. I'm not! As you the reader of this blog post might love it so much more than me.

Synopsis

Bordello madam and amateur sleuth Hennessey Reed doesn't go looking for trouble. But trouble has an unnerving habit of coming looking for her.

Melancholy, Idaho Territory, 1882. Hennessey Reed learns a reclusive family has been shot dead, bound in pairs, and dumped on the outskirts of town. Were they chosen at random, left as a warning, or, as members of a burgeoning religion, murdered because of their beliefs?

Encouraged by past success as an amateur sleuth, Hennessey barrels headlong into the search for the killer. Unfortunately, a laudanum addiction and penchant for Irish whiskey can be most unhelpful when hunting a murderer. So, too, strained relations with the town marshal, a cagey Pinkerton agent, and an independent wolfhound who follows her nose, but rarely instruction.

Hennessey knows present-day events are often rooted in the past. When her investigation leads her across societal boundaries and county lines, she is pitched against villains ready and willing not only to pay the ultimate price to wreak havoc and exact revenge, but also to kill whomever gets in their way ...

PLEASE NOTE:This book reveals plot details, and the villain, from the first Hennessey Reed mystery ONE FOR ANOTHER.

My Review

I was excited to read this book it sounded so good and i loved the title and cover. The first 2 chapters was brilliant, I felt this is so exciting. Then after they find the dog and a few dead bodies the story just fell apart for me. The story felt a bit disjointed and became easily confused as to what exactly was happening and why. The story was very flat with no sense of atmosphere, no suspense or tension. I failed to connect with the characters, there was nothing to like or dislike about them. I didn't even feel like I knew them. Yes this book is the second book in the series and I haven't read the first book. However, I have read many books out of sequence and still understood the plot and fell in love with the characters. The only character I felt a connection with was the yellow cur dog. There were words in the story that felt like they didn't need to be there. As the book was reading OK then random words I felt was better placed it a literary fiction book or a classic, it made the writing feel disjointed as I had to google some of them and the words didn't fit the period of the novel. Looking up words doesn't happen often for me. I read the whole book as it didn't feel right to review a book I gave up on half ways through. Right near the end I started to feel tension building and got excited again. However after the cave section (I'M not giving away the end or the plot, no spoilers here), and then the book finished on the flat story, and I was once again confused. This book really dragged for me as I couldn't connect with the story it took 4 days to read instead of the usual 2 days. This book had so much potential to be really good but alas it was not the story for me but it may still be the story for you!