Book 1 of 2013

Appointment with Death by David J Dundas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Appointment with Death by David J Dundas is a relatively short crime story. It follows Mike Murphy, a detective in Silverton where people are showing up dead. They are murdered by the same person because this serial killer had his own unique way of leaving his victims. Detective Murphy narrows the possibilities as the killer keeps taunting him and he even leaves bodies of some people close to him as a "Catch me if you can" statement. Maybe the goal is to kill Detective Murphy as the 'cat and mouse' game continues until finally Detective Murphy thinks he knows who this killer is and why he is killing these people. The real test is if he can find and stop him before more people die.

The characters are varied in their development with some are more developed than others. Mike Murphy is the most developed and the story starts off with him before he went to the Police Academy so there is more of a background for him. There are enough characters in the story to make it realistic including other police personnel and those outside the police force such as the prostitutes. The killer is developed enough to understand what is going on and why. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters in the story though.

The plot is good and the story always progressed toward the final goal but I had a hard time really getting into it. It was enjoyable and has a good entertainment value but there was no real connection going on with any one and the story failed to draw me in. You know how some books you are drawn into them and it's like you are right there next to the characters in your mind's eye watching as the story plays out with each turn of the page? Well, that didn't happen at all. It was me sitting in my bedroom reading a story. I never got drawn into it nor did I connect with any of the characters but even so, it still was a good crime story.

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