Footnote to Murder

J.J. Jamison #1

by L.A. Taylor

Mystery Novel - All Marge Brock thought she was doing was a little library research for an author writing a book about unsolved murders. . . Why anyone woud want to kill her was beyond her imagination.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Laurie Aylama Taylor Sparer Canadian author and world traveler.

Reviews

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read

Not quite a cozy mystery but a quick read with a touch of romance and a bit of mystery. Not bad.

[C.S. S Bernhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marge a divorced mother of three children trying to make it on her own. Recently she as taken a job for Mr. Greyborn doing research on past unslolved crimes for his next book. As she delves into the cases involving young red headed women strangled to death she sees a connection to similar murders over the years in different places. Places her, her husband and friends had all been during the dates of the crimes. Could the murderer have been one of them?
This book had a good plot to it and once I got into the book I really enjoyed it.
The book started out slow for me. It wasn't until about the 4th chapter that I really started to get into the book. There were quite a few times I had to go back and reread to figure out what she was talking about. Several places I found grammatical mistakes, words mispelled and some paragraphs that made absolutely no sence.
Marge's character was a mix of emotions. She was strong and doing her best to raise her children and I admired how she interacted with her children, yet so vulnerable in other aspects of her life. Now this is not bad it made Marge's character more believable but for me she was a little whimpy at times.
The only other thing I'd like to say is when the end of the book came it came. I flipped to the next page expecting to see another chapter to finish the book but that was it, DONE. I just felt a little robbed.
All in all it was a good read. Good story line and good characters.

[Lois Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the blurb for this book, about a woman researching cold case murders who stumbles upon a series of killings that took place near Oxford at the same time she was there as an undergraduate.

It was being offered free on Amazon, but what wasn't said is that the book was published in 1983. I wouldn't have rejected it if I had known that but I do think that's something that should figure prominently in the description.

It turns out that L. A. Taylor was a Canadian who wrote a number of mysteries that are now being offered as ebooks on Amazon. I assume that it is her estate that is publishing them.

Footnote to Murder is well plotted and there are interesting characters, but I found that once past the early part of the book, the dialogue became quite bloated. There are a number of social scenes with a lot of people and it became difficult to keep track of them all. I also am aware as a writer that every bit of dialogue has to count for something, and I'm not sure that's the case with this book. However, I skipped the parts that became too much and carried through to what was quite a satisfying end.

[Sharon Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this as a mystery, intricate plotting, well developed characters and a storyline that progressed nicely made an entertaining, quick read. Interesting characters and situation, with a divorced mother of three teenagers working as a researcher for an author planning a book on unsolved murders.

I'm a character driven reader however and I do wish I'd liked the main character better. She seemed to vacillate between being a strong, independent woman who was making her way as a divorced mother raising her children with little outside support and a person who was insecure and ineffective. I also had difficulty in connecting with the main male protagonist, the 'romantic interest' in the book, for somewhat the same reason. The behaviors just seemed somewhat erratic.

I liked the plot and story so ended up with a 3 star rating but would have been happier with stronger main characters.

[E.L. Lindley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Footnote to murder is a thriller centred around a single mother who takes a job researching unsolved crimes for a writer. The crime that she finds herself enmeshed in is cleverly developed and there is surprising twist before the whole mystery is solved. As intriguing as the plot it, it is the characters that are the heart of the novel. Taylor has created characters who are completely ordinary. The main protagonist is a single mother in her mid forties who is struggling to make ends meet and her male counterpart is overweight and balding. It is their very ordinariness, however, that allows the reader to empathise with them and I found myself willing them to overcome their obstacles and make a go of it together. I really enjoyed this novel as both an exciting thriller and a heart warming family drama.

[A.G. Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid, but dated mystery without much mystery or suspense.

Marge Brock is a researcher (and divorced mother of three) who uncovers several series of murders which happened where she lived when she lived there. She is part of a small group of academics, so she begins to be convinced that she knows the murderer.

I got this book because it is based in the Boston area, and I've lived there half my life. It doesn't really play a role in the story, though.

The characterizations are great (except the murderer himself who is a bit of a cliche), but I was able to guess whodunit after reading less than half the book and was frustrated by Marge's blindness to all the possibilities of who was guilty.

The character of a researcher would be a great protagonist of a series, but I know of hope this is a one-off.

[Patricia Ibarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marge Brock is a divorced mother trying to make a living as a researcher. When she is hired by a writer to research unsolved murders for a new book he is writing, she feels that money will really be of help to her. As she starts gathering information about a series of murders, she suspects that they may be related to a group of friends she used to hang in many years back. She becomes more frightened when she is attacked, her house is broken into and feels that somebody is following her. She now feels compelled to discover who that murderer was, for her own safety.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good mystery that takes the reader through the sixties and into the eighties as Marge, the main character, unravels a the trail of a serial killer while doing research for a crime writer. L.A. Taylor does a good job of rotating the suspects so that the ending was a surprise.

[Denise MacDonald · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could not catch my interest at all. I forced my way through 100 pages hoping to become interested but it was a bust.

[Marlene Shofner-Daves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.

Left numerous possibilities or characters to decide from on who the strangler was. It was an interesting read. Sort of slow at beginning.