Everywhere That Mary Went

I love Lisa Scottoline books. I have to go back and read them again in order to review properly.

Lisa Scottoline writes intriguing mysteries, and this one is no different. I don't know how many times during the reading did I decide who the villain must be, only to change my mind again in the next chapter. Lots of red herrings and interesting side journeys to get to the final conclusion. I do think I would have liked more insight into the stalker and a few more actual clues along the way, but overall, I enjoyed it and it was all wrapped up neatly in the end.

I read a lot of books from many categories. I've read some pretty boring books that while boring, still offered something substantial either in story or facts. This book was boring and shallow. The story was so underdeveloped. I felt like there were many opportunities for a great story. It was like reading a rough outline of a story without meaningful substance. The story had so much potential.

SPOILERS

There were parts of the book that didn't need to be there. I don't know why so much time was spent on her sister. She had some impact on Mary's actions but not enough to justify how far the story went into her religious lifestyle. I found it difficult to relate to Mary or her family. The end of the story came out of nowhere and not in a clever or exciting way. I think the characters could have been better developed, perhaps more background detail specifically as it pertains to her coworkers. In the story, there is a lot of suspicion on different coworkers but it doesn't give much detail about them. The only coworker with any substance had so much pointed at him that it was obvious that the author was trying to divert the readers attention so she could throw in the random “surprise” ending. This leads to the end of the story where the person who is stalking her comes to light but I knew so little about them that it killed all suspense. I didn't care. The story was missing the normal climb to a suspenseful end.

I would not classify this as a legal thriller, or a suspense novel. It was not clever or exciting. I found it to be predictable. I probably wont read another book from this author.