[Book] The James Joyce Murder

/Spoilers/ Picked this book up from one of those 25-cent bins in front the used-book store. The title grabbed my attention for it appealed to my English Major geekiness. The fact that it only cost me 25 cents didn't hurt either. As it turned out though, it wasn't even worth that much, and the only reason I finished the book was because, well, I needed something to read in the bathroom.

The first page of the novel holds some potential (as it mentions not just Joyce but Austen!), but that potential dissipates pretty quickly as the reader is treated to a not-so-mysterious-or-interesting plotline, irrelevant and pretentious strings of literary references and boring and unlikable characters. The story is vaguely about a lost James Joyce manuscript that no reader would care about and the murder of some nosy housewife that the reader would care even less . Seriously, not even the characters in the novel care about the person who gets killed; in fact, they come really close to saying she deserves it. It makes the entire book pretty pointless because NO ONE cares why she is dead. What makes the book even more pointless is the fact that the main character, Kate what's-her-name, doesn't even get to solve the crime. All she does is spouting off obscure literary mumble jumbos that have no relevance to the story and only serve to show off how well-immersed the writer is in English literature. Blah.

Cross's characterization is unconvincing and trite. but the so-called mystery is an even bigger joke. The murder doesn't happen until half-way through the book, and there is little to nothing suspense as, again, no one cares. In fact, I'm just gonna say who's done it - the culprit is, wait for it... the accused! Wow .. I'd never have guessed it. BORING. Not only 2/3 of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the mystery, if you can call it that, but there is also some weird subplot about this guy's chastity (wtf?), and what's up with all the patronizing talks about country life? The writer might as well come out and say she hates all those rural yahoos. What a snob. The verdict? Don't waste your 25 cents.

2/10