“Deadly Blessing” is a great start to a promising new mystery series from Julie Hyzy. While the angle of a snooping reporter has been done before, Julie has kept it fresh and in the moment. Since it is the first book in the series there is a lot of character-establishing that has to be done, and that can slow the book down at times. It is well-handled though, and we end the book with a good feel for Alex’s ethnic background (important to the story), personal motivations, relationships (past and possibly future), home, family, and work relationships.
Alex as a mystery-solver isn’t depicted as a super-sleuth. She isn’t street-tough or world-wise (don’t be fooled by the cover; there’s no gun in her purse – at least in the first book). Don’t take this as a negative – I hate it when writers make the mystery lead superhuman. She makes mistakes and doesn’t always catch everything going on around her. What she is, though, is a determined investigative reporter who cares about people. It drives her to keep going when she loses her story, sees no way forward, and feels a sense of despair and danger (both personal and for others).
I must say I loved Karen’s narration for the book. She does a great job making you hear the sound of someone struggling with English when she does the girls from overseas without making it too difficult to understand. While it does slow down the narration somewhat it really worked for me in this situation. Beyond this her narration flowed smoothly and the characters stood out well. She even does a decent job with the male voices, especially her boss Bass.
Overall I’d say “well done” for a start to this new mystery series – a solid 4 for story and 4.5 (almost my first 5-star rating!) for narration. If you like to plan for winter hibernation by stocking up on good mysteries to curl up with to pass away the long nights, I would highly recommend giving this one a shot.