Reviewer: Andrea
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
The Summary:
You’ll L.O.L. because Municipal Clerk Chelsey Alton is at it again! Working for a government riddled with crime, she and her sidekick Bonnie investigate to find out the answer to the pressing question: Who killed Vinny Buttiglieri? She finds herself entangled with dangerous mobsters and corrupt politicians. She thinks she’s doing the right thing, but can she save herself when she becomes entrenched too deep in this Jersey shore mystery?
The Review:
I once read an article that outlined the difference between mystery and suspense. According to the Simon Wood’s article “9 Tips to Writing Suspense Fiction” (posted on Writersdigest.com), mystery begins with the crime while suspense works almost to avoid it. Wood uses the example of a presidential assassination. In a mystery, the murder takes place immediately, and the characters try to deduce who committed the crime. In a suspense novel with the same assassination, someone discovers the plot and works diligently to prevent the crime from occurring, ending in a massive crescendo where the good guys swoop in and—usually—foil the would-be assassin. Tax Cut does a bit of both.
The “whodunit” with Vinny begins Chelsey’s voyage down mystery lane, but she soon finds more conspiracy than a Jack Ryan movie. Other than the dreaded standing in line at the DMV, I have zero experience with county or city government, and if all the espionage in this novel is any indication of the depravity of local politics, I think I’m good with my limited knowledge. There wasn’t a great deal of “shop talk” in regards to government mumbo-jumbo, which kept me from getting too lost in the jargon, and the story is a true jigsaw puzzle of interlocking crime. I enjoyed how Babs’s story is mixes with the happenings.
But while the story is complex, I had some issues with stilted dialogue and overly embellished description. A couple of things were wince-worthy. Some of the chapters were written in third-person POV from the bad guys’ perspective, and the dialogue literally used the tag “the first killer said.” I also cringed then just downright hated the characters’ use of “eff” in place of the actual word. It’s a murder mystery. Be realistic and use the real deal or don’t use it at all. Cursing is cursing even if you use a euphemism. I also found some things unrealistic. For example, Bonnie fires a gun in the middle of a city to scare off a group of tween boys who call her a cougar. Even if it’s the ghetto, that’s a bit of an overreaction then they hang around to question someone rather than hightailing it out of there. Another issue I had was with Chelsey’s treatment of the “Nero” situation. Chelsey has survived a traumatic happening in book one. She was held at gunpoint by a crazy citizen, yet she puts up with Nero showing up at her house and sending her videos of himself partially dressed? That just didn’t make sense to me regardless of her feeble excuse that he’s “harmless.” She should watch a few episodes of Dateline. Those women always end up on the wrong side of dead.
Overall, it wasn’t my favorite read, but I respect the complexity of the plot.
