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Alexa Glock Mysteries #1
Molten Mud Murder
When a body is found half-submerged in a Waiariki Thermal Land of Enchantment molten mud pot, forensics expert Alexa Glock, her specialty odontology, spots a way to prolong her stay in New Zealand. Her fellowship has ended and no one is waiting for her to return to the States. Men have never been her expertise, but teeth are. Other ways of identifying the body may have... melted away.
A determined Alexa barrels her way onto the scene and into the lives of Rotorua's finest, especially Detective Inspector Bruce Horne. There's something about his glacial blue eyes that gets under never-married Alexa's skin, even though she's sworn off men.
Danger lurks in "the land of the long white cloud." The murder victim, a city councilman, had trespassed on a sacred island forbidden to Pakeha, or non-Maori, and Alexa must follow suit. The Maori community is incensed that the rules of tapu have been disregarded and the consequences are disaster, demonic possession, or death.
Say what?
Alexa doesn't believe in these three D's, but when she discovers an unorthodox death threat in her rented riverside Trout Cottage, she reconsiders. A second murder heats the case to the boiling point and reveals a molten mix of motives and suspects. At the heart of Molten Mud Murder is an age old debate: is the past better left undisturbed, or unearthed? And at what cost either way?
Sara E. Johnson's debut novel, the start of a series based in New Zealand, presents a page-turning story of facing the past and cracking the door open to an unexpected future.
A determined Alexa barrels her way onto the scene and into the lives of Rotorua's finest, especially Detective Inspector Bruce Horne. There's something about his glacial blue eyes that gets under never-married Alexa's skin, even though she's sworn off men.
Danger lurks in "the land of the long white cloud." The murder victim, a city councilman, had trespassed on a sacred island forbidden to Pakeha, or non-Maori, and Alexa must follow suit. The Maori community is incensed that the rules of tapu have been disregarded and the consequences are disaster, demonic possession, or death.
Say what?
Alexa doesn't believe in these three D's, but when she discovers an unorthodox death threat in her rented riverside Trout Cottage, she reconsiders. A second murder heats the case to the boiling point and reveals a molten mix of motives and suspects. At the heart of Molten Mud Murder is an age old debate: is the past better left undisturbed, or unearthed? And at what cost either way?
Sara E. Johnson's debut novel, the start of a series based in New Zealand, presents a page-turning story of facing the past and cracking the door open to an unexpected future.
314 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2019
183 people are currently reading
1699 people want to read
About the author
Sara E. Johnson
9 books132 followersSara E. Johnson is a mystery writer who spent nine months exploring wondrous New Zealand. Everywhere she snooped, there was a mystery that needed writing.
Molten Mud Murder, Sara's debut novel, will be published September, 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press. It is the first in the Alexa Glock Mystery series set in New Zealand.
Sara lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband Forrest and golden doodle Beaufort. She is a part-time educator and full time snooper. She is the current president of Triangle Sisters-in-Crime and a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
Molten Mud Murder, Sara's debut novel, will be published September, 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press. It is the first in the Alexa Glock Mystery series set in New Zealand.
Sara lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband Forrest and golden doodle Beaufort. She is a part-time educator and full time snooper. She is the current president of Triangle Sisters-in-Crime and a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
August 20, 2019
This book reacquainted me with one of my favourite places, Rotorua, New Zealand. The author vividly describes. Its geothermal activity, the geysers, bubbling, boiling mud pools, and nearly magical cave where glow worms light up the walls and ceilings. We are also introduced to Maori culture, traditions and artwork. About 36% of this small city is of Maori origin.
Forensic expert, Alexis Glock, an American, has been teaching at a university in N.Z. Her contract has ended and she wants to stay in the country longer. Her specialty is in odontology, the study of teeth.
She travels to Rotorua to attend the funeral for a friend. A man has been found dead in a boiling mud pit. Alexis feels the only way that the remains might be identified is from her forensic knowledge of teeth. She inserts herself into the police investigation. At first, they are reluctant to accept her offer of help, but when their expert needs to return to Auckland for a family emergency, she is hired to help identify the body. It turns out the man was a city councillor and was murdered. He angered the Maoris for disrespecting their customs. He trespassed on an island they consider sacred, so there is the belief that this was a ritualistic killing for ignoring their taboos.
I found Alexis to be headstrong, pushy, insubordinate, with a tendency to go off on her own without any authority from the police department. She displayed a lot of risky behaviour.
There seems to be a romance developing with her boss, Detective Inspector Bruce Horn. There is a mutual attraction, and I felt her constant daydreaming about him added little to the story. He was frequently annoyed that she interviewed suspects without official permission, and had to remind her that her role was in forensics and to stop playing detective. She wonders if her reckless behaviour is done to impress him.
Following the identification of the man killed in the mud pit, another man is found drowned. He was a Maori who had an important role on the sacred island. Alexis, with some police officers, is sent to the island to search for clues. Along with her questioning people connected with the crime, Alexis finds her life in danger. Her assistant has already been attacked and seriously injured in the workplace.
Police eventually come to believe that that attack and the two murders may be connected to smuggling valuable Maori antiquities and artifacts, but there are many suspects related to the killings and the attack.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this atmospheric crime story.
Forensic expert, Alexis Glock, an American, has been teaching at a university in N.Z. Her contract has ended and she wants to stay in the country longer. Her specialty is in odontology, the study of teeth.
She travels to Rotorua to attend the funeral for a friend. A man has been found dead in a boiling mud pit. Alexis feels the only way that the remains might be identified is from her forensic knowledge of teeth. She inserts herself into the police investigation. At first, they are reluctant to accept her offer of help, but when their expert needs to return to Auckland for a family emergency, she is hired to help identify the body. It turns out the man was a city councillor and was murdered. He angered the Maoris for disrespecting their customs. He trespassed on an island they consider sacred, so there is the belief that this was a ritualistic killing for ignoring their taboos.
I found Alexis to be headstrong, pushy, insubordinate, with a tendency to go off on her own without any authority from the police department. She displayed a lot of risky behaviour.
There seems to be a romance developing with her boss, Detective Inspector Bruce Horn. There is a mutual attraction, and I felt her constant daydreaming about him added little to the story. He was frequently annoyed that she interviewed suspects without official permission, and had to remind her that her role was in forensics and to stop playing detective. She wonders if her reckless behaviour is done to impress him.
Following the identification of the man killed in the mud pit, another man is found drowned. He was a Maori who had an important role on the sacred island. Alexis, with some police officers, is sent to the island to search for clues. Along with her questioning people connected with the crime, Alexis finds her life in danger. Her assistant has already been attacked and seriously injured in the workplace.
Police eventually come to believe that that attack and the two murders may be connected to smuggling valuable Maori antiquities and artifacts, but there are many suspects related to the killings and the attack.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this atmospheric crime story.
August 15, 2019
Molten Mud Murder by Sara E. Johnson is the first book in a new mystery series that proved to be entertaining.
Alexa Glock is from the United States and has been in New Zealand working at university but her class is now finished and she's at loose ends. She's fiercely independent but facing a crossroads in her personal life which often entered her thoughts throughout the book. The mystery is smoothly paced and there were few suspects to consider. Ms. Johnson's descriptive writing of New Zealand, the Maori culture and wildlife made this book a fascinating read for me.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
Alexa Glock is from the United States and has been in New Zealand working at university but her class is now finished and she's at loose ends. She's fiercely independent but facing a crossroads in her personal life which often entered her thoughts throughout the book. The mystery is smoothly paced and there were few suspects to consider. Ms. Johnson's descriptive writing of New Zealand, the Maori culture and wildlife made this book a fascinating read for me.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
August 7, 2023
Introducing Alexa Glock, a forensics expert from North Carolina, during a sojourn in New Zealand, where she's been teaching a course in her specialty (teeth). She'd like to stay on for a while, and her six-month work visa can be renewed if she gets another professional appointment. A badly disfigured corpse out in Rotorua might give her that opportunity, if she can sign on with the investigative team headed by Detective Inspector Bruce Horne to help identify the victim.
Does this remind you of another North Carolina forensics specialist named Temperance Brennan? The novel is narrated in very close third person, rarely straying from Alexa's immediate point of view but keeping an external view of Alexa herself. The prose is clear, and the story is pretty straightforward as Alexa (and the reader) learn more and more about this corner of New Zealand where so many of the inhabitants are Maori.
There's tension in the relationships that form on the police team as Alexa repeatedly oversteps her bounds--quite strong-headed, this outsider--but it's nothing compared to the tensions between the Maori and pakeha ("whites") over the direction of this case, which involves violation of a great deal that's sacred for the Maori and easily dismissed by the pakeha. The murder looks like it was intended to shift blame to some Maori, and as the blurb says the victim turns out to have trespassed on a sacred island--so the police team has to go there too.
There is a great deal of cross-cultural interaction, spelled out in rich detail, as the murder they're investigating connects to a larger on-going criminal enterprise stealing Maori artifacts and selling them in international markets. The second murder victim mentioned in the blurb twists the cross-cultural picture in a new direction, intensifying the penetration of the police team into sacred elements of Maori life.
All along, Alexa and DI Horne develop something that might turn into friendship or even more, but there's plenty of conflict too. Alexa gets very invested in the case, partly to prove herself to the others but also for her own goals; she undertakes all sorts of tasks beyond forensic odontology, produces valuable information, and gets the reprimands. A lot of the credibility in all that rests on the ambivalence in DI Horne's attitude--his decisions at each step rang true for me.
Still, I can see that Alexa would be hard for any boss to live with!
Not much mystery here--after a while the picture starts to become clearer at each step--but enjoyable for the Maori side of things and for some reasonably well developed characters. The final action sequence was one I could have done without, though.
Does this remind you of another North Carolina forensics specialist named Temperance Brennan? The novel is narrated in very close third person, rarely straying from Alexa's immediate point of view but keeping an external view of Alexa herself. The prose is clear, and the story is pretty straightforward as Alexa (and the reader) learn more and more about this corner of New Zealand where so many of the inhabitants are Maori.
There's tension in the relationships that form on the police team as Alexa repeatedly oversteps her bounds--quite strong-headed, this outsider--but it's nothing compared to the tensions between the Maori and pakeha ("whites") over the direction of this case, which involves violation of a great deal that's sacred for the Maori and easily dismissed by the pakeha. The murder looks like it was intended to shift blame to some Maori, and as the blurb says the victim turns out to have trespassed on a sacred island--so the police team has to go there too.
There is a great deal of cross-cultural interaction, spelled out in rich detail, as the murder they're investigating connects to a larger on-going criminal enterprise stealing Maori artifacts and selling them in international markets. The second murder victim mentioned in the blurb twists the cross-cultural picture in a new direction, intensifying the penetration of the police team into sacred elements of Maori life.
All along, Alexa and DI Horne develop something that might turn into friendship or even more, but there's plenty of conflict too. Alexa gets very invested in the case, partly to prove herself to the others but also for her own goals; she undertakes all sorts of tasks beyond forensic odontology, produces valuable information, and gets the reprimands. A lot of the credibility in all that rests on the ambivalence in DI Horne's attitude--his decisions at each step rang true for me.
Still, I can see that Alexa would be hard for any boss to live with!
Not much mystery here--after a while the picture starts to become clearer at each step--but enjoyable for the Maori side of things and for some reasonably well developed characters. The final action sequence was one I could have done without, though.
February 13, 2023
Molten Mud Murder (Alexa Glock, 01)
by Sara E. Johnson
★★☆☆☆
299 Pages
POV: 3rd person, single character POV
Themes: crime, murder, forensic investigation
Triggers: mentions brain cancer; death of a friend; historic burns; violence; off-page risk of premature labour; graphic postmortem scenes
Genre: Contemporary, Crime, MF Romance, Mystery, Forensics
~
DNF'd at page 96.
This review is to explain why I stopped, and my opinions of the section I read.
~
When I began Molten Mud Murder, I was thrilled by the first chapter. I'd had a run of books that I didn't enjoy, but the first chapter was so promising I was sure this would be a great novel. I kept that opinion until around Chapter 4, then quickly became disillusioned.
It quickly became clear that it wasn't the plot itself but the main character who was the problem. And the writing. The style, the choices, and the research behind the story really lacked any strength to support the novel. At first, Alexa feels refreshing as a female MC, as she's unapologetically career focused, recovering from an incident that left her with severe burns at 14 years old. Intriguing, right? As an American, she doesn't know much about New Zealand or the Māori culture, except through her friend Mary, who is the reason she's in New Zealand. Mary recently died in a freak accident, and Alexa is now in her hometown, nosing into a recent crime.
Sounds great.
But, Alexa is the problem.
Why?
Oh, let me count the ways...
ALEXA AS A MAIN CHARACTER
Alexa is portrayed as being open, interested and approachable towards the Māori people and culture, yet calls their beliefs “crap”, and seems capable of identifying a Māori person on sight. Even when there is *nothing* to indicate their ancestry.
She's pushy, and over-confident. The way she talks to the team of New Zealand investigators is shocking. Alexa is so self-opinionated and imperious, she talks down to the entire team, inserting herself into their case and taking over. She doesn't respect their position, just treats them like bumbling hicks.
The more obvious place this happens is when she talks to DI Horne. He's a DI, yet Alexa wades in full of arrogance to tell him how to do his job. She tells him about “her” lying checklist – which she learned from a professor, and is well known by most professionals in their field – as if he's got no experience investigating cases or interrogating witnesses. Not to mention that she's wrong about most of the issues, and missed out some important notes. I can say that, because I studied forensic medicine and science, including investigative procedures, and what Alexa claims is right often isn't.
She's what I call a snowflake-princess. She's perfect, smart, wonderful. All the men want her. All women envy her or feel jealous or threatened. Sadly, this is a common trait lately – to write a female MC who is like this, but this is the kind of MC who really turns me off a book. They're not real. They're not relatable. They're generally not nice, and have huge ego problems and generally have problems meeting the expectations the author put upon them – such as Alexa being a forensic genius and being...not a forensic genius.
I get so disappointed when female authors write vapid, egoist, self-interested women who think every available, mildly attractive man fancies them, and every not-perfect woman is somehow ugly or unfortunate or lucky to be loved but not for their looks.
Alexa is obsessed with Horne from the minute she meets him. She looks him up online and seems disappointed he's married, yet she never stops harping on about how gorgeous he is, and she's always flirting with him. This quote just makes me cringe - “Flirting was safe if a man was married.” It's so backwards and self-important, presumptuous and arrogant of her.
When they discuss her lying checklist, Horne is having a perfectly normal conversation for two people who don't know each other well, but Alexa turns it into something else. She's so egotistical she thinks he's flirting, when that was never the case. There was zero indication he was flirting.
At this point, she claims she's not interested in married men, which is a LIE. Because Alexa never stops going on about how handsome he is.
My God! You have a character called Glock and she's *constantly* asked if that's the same as the gun? You don't say! *insert eye roll* Despite Alexa saying at the beginning that she has dozens of comebacks for that, she never uses even one of them.
THE WRITING ISSUES
I'm disappointed that nowhere in the entire book is Māori properly written with the diacritic above the “a”. It's not hard to do, especially for a professional publisher. If I can do it in my review, then surely the author or publisher – who are working on a book about the Māori people and culture.
I'm also getting huge stereotypical vibes from the way the Māori people and their culture are discussed and featured in the story. Right from the start, I felt they were being treated as stereotypes rather than individual people. This started with Alexa being able to “identify” a Māori person on sight, despite there being no indication of ethnicity. It was only in the next sentence that someone else was labelled as having the lip and chin tattoo of the Māori, which I could buy as an explanation for this giant leap, except that was a totally different character to the one Alexa “identified”.
I feel like the entire Māori culture – in the part I read – was used more as a plot point and pretty backdrop than having a real place within the story. What I mean by this is that it was a convenient way to show Alexa was aware of the culture, popping in Māori words and descriptions of their culture, things she'd learned from her friend Mary – BUT it was usually in a negative way. Either from the way Alexa viewed it, from the way other cops interacted with the Māori cops etc. Whenever the Māori were mentioned by Alexa, or around her really, they're shown as hard and cold (both Mary's brother and the cops) or a barbaric history of boiling heads and taking revenge on trespassers. There were very few positive portrayals.
When a Māori cop visits a lab tech who was recently injured and in hospital, Alexa instantly jumps to the conclusion they must be guilty, because Māori culture says to boil the head of betrayers and maybe a Māori cop would want to cover up the crime. There isn't a single moment when Alexa takes the sensible thought of wondering if they were friends, before jumping to the worst case scenario.
I feel like the author tries really hard to convince us that Alexa is compassionate, open and accepting of the Māori people/culture, and intrigued by it all because of her past friendship with Mary. However, none of that comes through in her words, thoughts or actions.
The second Alexa discovers Horne is divorced aka. single, Alexa invites herself to dinner. And when Horne says he knows where she lives, she's shocked. “How does he know where I live?” No, Alexa, it's not because he's infatuated with you. You told him. Twice. And you wrote it on your statement, the morning of Jenny's attack, when you needed an alibi.
She shows up at a crime scene, showing her badge and lying about her importance to gain entry and have the scene explained to her, despite being told her services weren't required. She's so brazen that she constantly disregards the warning to stay away, and shows up, lying her way in, without a single care or thought to proper procedure, proper clothing, or the fact that waltzing in will contaminate the crime scene.
She never prepares for her work. At one point, she knows the results of tests and what might be needed afterwards, then goes home to dress for a funeral. Yet, at no point does she register that she'll need more appropriate clothes and shoes for when the funeral is over. So, she bundles into a crime scene with her fancy funeral clothes, which makes no sense.
Not to mention, she's constantly not looking where she's going – for absolutely NO reason, except that it's convenient for her to “bump” into someone. First, for an alibi, and secondly so that she can find out DI Dreamy is actually single.
For some reason, there were lots of sentences that...well, weren't sentences. Such as:
“Door was locked.”
“Oxymoronic when a police station feels hazardous.”
I'm sorry, but what is wrong with “the” or “it was”? Are these somehow banned? Because, I can't understand why they're not here, when the leftover sentence is irritating and lazy without them.
INVESTIGATIVE INCONSISTENCIES
Alexa has a very thin grasp of forensics and criminal investigation. Unfortunately, this is the author's doing, and probably means they've only done surface level research. As a forensic medicine and science student, I've studied forensics, investigations, and how they're conducted, and I can say very firmly that Alexa's knowledge is partly true, but misses the depth required to do the job properly.
There's no proper, set procedure, and Alexa – the lauded professional with all the right training – constantly tramples over crime scenes with no care for the obvious contamination. She begins listing traits that prove a person is lying, but the entire list is hodgepodge. The real list is made up of natural body language and its interpretation, and a man of DI Horne's status should know that. The fact that Alexa tries to explain this to him is insulting to his position, but also condescending.
Examples of her inexperience:
Alexa removes evidence from an evidence bin – noted as being full of soil, blood, hair samples etc – and doesn't stop to question the contamination of the evidence she's about to test.
While talking to a victim, they talk about an attacker they never saw and use the term “they”. Alexa jumps on this as a suspicion that this means there was more than one attacker. 1) this is not proven by the crime scene. 2) why would 2 people be needed for the attack? 3) the most logical exception – most people will use the pronoun “they” when talking about a person of an unknown gender. Since this person didn't see their attacker, they (← see that?) have no idea what to call the attacker other than “they”. This in NO way indicates more than one person.
It's stunning the way Alexa manages to throw her weight around. She always seems to get her own way, even if that means stepping on others, pushing her way into the case in the first place, or demeaning others. For example, though DI Horne gave an order, Alexa waded right in to override him, with every confidence she had a right to, and would be obeyed.
Alexa was allowed to go on the death notification. 1) this would never happen, no matter short staffed the department are. This is not Bones. 2) Alexa had zero qualifications to justify her being there, nor the experience or a reason to be there. 3) the moment Alexa sets eyes on the grieving widow, her first reaction is that the woman has a large nose and has she ever considered rhinoplasty. Then, she chastises herself, insisting “beauty is in the eye” after all. As if this woman was somehow loved despite being ugly in Alexa's eyes. Spare me.
There's even a point where the DI sends Alexa off to interview suspects alone. Now, 1) she shouldn't be asked, at all. She's not a part of their team or an investigator. 2) she's not qualified. 3) she never takes notes or recordings of her interviews. She doesn't know the right questions to ask, there's no proof of what their conversation entailed, and she could forget vital information that may not seem important at the time but becomes important later.
~
Overall, between the forensic inaccuracies, Alexa's abrasive personality, and the fact that there was so little progression of the investigation by page 96 that I could stop reading without caring about the outcome, there was too much I couldn't get past, to continue reading or give this a better rating. The case/plot was boring. Alexa was grating. The use of Māori felt stereotypical and unbalanced. Being used to forensics and how to conduct an investigation, the way the case was investigated was both irritating and infuriating, because of all the inconsistencies and problems. And, quite honestly, there was no reason for me to keep reading it.
Besides...all these “deep yoga breath” inserts made me want to punch someone.
If Alexa hadn't been this perfect know-it-all...if the forensics had been accurate...if there had been no obsessive romance...and if the crime was actually interesting...I might have finished or even liked the book. But, because that wasn't the case, no. This wasn't a book for me. I won't be reading the rest of the series, and probably won't be reading the author again, either.
by Sara E. Johnson
★★☆☆☆
299 Pages
POV: 3rd person, single character POV
Themes: crime, murder, forensic investigation
Triggers: mentions brain cancer; death of a friend; historic burns; violence; off-page risk of premature labour; graphic postmortem scenes
Genre: Contemporary, Crime, MF Romance, Mystery, Forensics
~
DNF'd at page 96.
This review is to explain why I stopped, and my opinions of the section I read.
~
When I began Molten Mud Murder, I was thrilled by the first chapter. I'd had a run of books that I didn't enjoy, but the first chapter was so promising I was sure this would be a great novel. I kept that opinion until around Chapter 4, then quickly became disillusioned.
It quickly became clear that it wasn't the plot itself but the main character who was the problem. And the writing. The style, the choices, and the research behind the story really lacked any strength to support the novel. At first, Alexa feels refreshing as a female MC, as she's unapologetically career focused, recovering from an incident that left her with severe burns at 14 years old. Intriguing, right? As an American, she doesn't know much about New Zealand or the Māori culture, except through her friend Mary, who is the reason she's in New Zealand. Mary recently died in a freak accident, and Alexa is now in her hometown, nosing into a recent crime.
Sounds great.
But, Alexa is the problem.
Why?
Oh, let me count the ways...
ALEXA AS A MAIN CHARACTER
Alexa is portrayed as being open, interested and approachable towards the Māori people and culture, yet calls their beliefs “crap”, and seems capable of identifying a Māori person on sight. Even when there is *nothing* to indicate their ancestry.
She's pushy, and over-confident. The way she talks to the team of New Zealand investigators is shocking. Alexa is so self-opinionated and imperious, she talks down to the entire team, inserting herself into their case and taking over. She doesn't respect their position, just treats them like bumbling hicks.
The more obvious place this happens is when she talks to DI Horne. He's a DI, yet Alexa wades in full of arrogance to tell him how to do his job. She tells him about “her” lying checklist – which she learned from a professor, and is well known by most professionals in their field – as if he's got no experience investigating cases or interrogating witnesses. Not to mention that she's wrong about most of the issues, and missed out some important notes. I can say that, because I studied forensic medicine and science, including investigative procedures, and what Alexa claims is right often isn't.
She's what I call a snowflake-princess. She's perfect, smart, wonderful. All the men want her. All women envy her or feel jealous or threatened. Sadly, this is a common trait lately – to write a female MC who is like this, but this is the kind of MC who really turns me off a book. They're not real. They're not relatable. They're generally not nice, and have huge ego problems and generally have problems meeting the expectations the author put upon them – such as Alexa being a forensic genius and being...not a forensic genius.
I get so disappointed when female authors write vapid, egoist, self-interested women who think every available, mildly attractive man fancies them, and every not-perfect woman is somehow ugly or unfortunate or lucky to be loved but not for their looks.
Alexa is obsessed with Horne from the minute she meets him. She looks him up online and seems disappointed he's married, yet she never stops harping on about how gorgeous he is, and she's always flirting with him. This quote just makes me cringe - “Flirting was safe if a man was married.” It's so backwards and self-important, presumptuous and arrogant of her.
When they discuss her lying checklist, Horne is having a perfectly normal conversation for two people who don't know each other well, but Alexa turns it into something else. She's so egotistical she thinks he's flirting, when that was never the case. There was zero indication he was flirting.
At this point, she claims she's not interested in married men, which is a LIE. Because Alexa never stops going on about how handsome he is.
My God! You have a character called Glock and she's *constantly* asked if that's the same as the gun? You don't say! *insert eye roll* Despite Alexa saying at the beginning that she has dozens of comebacks for that, she never uses even one of them.
THE WRITING ISSUES
I'm disappointed that nowhere in the entire book is Māori properly written with the diacritic above the “a”. It's not hard to do, especially for a professional publisher. If I can do it in my review, then surely the author or publisher – who are working on a book about the Māori people and culture.
I'm also getting huge stereotypical vibes from the way the Māori people and their culture are discussed and featured in the story. Right from the start, I felt they were being treated as stereotypes rather than individual people. This started with Alexa being able to “identify” a Māori person on sight, despite there being no indication of ethnicity. It was only in the next sentence that someone else was labelled as having the lip and chin tattoo of the Māori, which I could buy as an explanation for this giant leap, except that was a totally different character to the one Alexa “identified”.
I feel like the entire Māori culture – in the part I read – was used more as a plot point and pretty backdrop than having a real place within the story. What I mean by this is that it was a convenient way to show Alexa was aware of the culture, popping in Māori words and descriptions of their culture, things she'd learned from her friend Mary – BUT it was usually in a negative way. Either from the way Alexa viewed it, from the way other cops interacted with the Māori cops etc. Whenever the Māori were mentioned by Alexa, or around her really, they're shown as hard and cold (both Mary's brother and the cops) or a barbaric history of boiling heads and taking revenge on trespassers. There were very few positive portrayals.
When a Māori cop visits a lab tech who was recently injured and in hospital, Alexa instantly jumps to the conclusion they must be guilty, because Māori culture says to boil the head of betrayers and maybe a Māori cop would want to cover up the crime. There isn't a single moment when Alexa takes the sensible thought of wondering if they were friends, before jumping to the worst case scenario.
I feel like the author tries really hard to convince us that Alexa is compassionate, open and accepting of the Māori people/culture, and intrigued by it all because of her past friendship with Mary. However, none of that comes through in her words, thoughts or actions.
The second Alexa discovers Horne is divorced aka. single, Alexa invites herself to dinner. And when Horne says he knows where she lives, she's shocked. “How does he know where I live?” No, Alexa, it's not because he's infatuated with you. You told him. Twice. And you wrote it on your statement, the morning of Jenny's attack, when you needed an alibi.
She shows up at a crime scene, showing her badge and lying about her importance to gain entry and have the scene explained to her, despite being told her services weren't required. She's so brazen that she constantly disregards the warning to stay away, and shows up, lying her way in, without a single care or thought to proper procedure, proper clothing, or the fact that waltzing in will contaminate the crime scene.
She never prepares for her work. At one point, she knows the results of tests and what might be needed afterwards, then goes home to dress for a funeral. Yet, at no point does she register that she'll need more appropriate clothes and shoes for when the funeral is over. So, she bundles into a crime scene with her fancy funeral clothes, which makes no sense.
Not to mention, she's constantly not looking where she's going – for absolutely NO reason, except that it's convenient for her to “bump” into someone. First, for an alibi, and secondly so that she can find out DI Dreamy is actually single.
For some reason, there were lots of sentences that...well, weren't sentences. Such as:
“Door was locked.”
“Oxymoronic when a police station feels hazardous.”
I'm sorry, but what is wrong with “the” or “it was”? Are these somehow banned? Because, I can't understand why they're not here, when the leftover sentence is irritating and lazy without them.
INVESTIGATIVE INCONSISTENCIES
Alexa has a very thin grasp of forensics and criminal investigation. Unfortunately, this is the author's doing, and probably means they've only done surface level research. As a forensic medicine and science student, I've studied forensics, investigations, and how they're conducted, and I can say very firmly that Alexa's knowledge is partly true, but misses the depth required to do the job properly.
There's no proper, set procedure, and Alexa – the lauded professional with all the right training – constantly tramples over crime scenes with no care for the obvious contamination. She begins listing traits that prove a person is lying, but the entire list is hodgepodge. The real list is made up of natural body language and its interpretation, and a man of DI Horne's status should know that. The fact that Alexa tries to explain this to him is insulting to his position, but also condescending.
Examples of her inexperience:
Alexa removes evidence from an evidence bin – noted as being full of soil, blood, hair samples etc – and doesn't stop to question the contamination of the evidence she's about to test.
While talking to a victim, they talk about an attacker they never saw and use the term “they”. Alexa jumps on this as a suspicion that this means there was more than one attacker. 1) this is not proven by the crime scene. 2) why would 2 people be needed for the attack? 3) the most logical exception – most people will use the pronoun “they” when talking about a person of an unknown gender. Since this person didn't see their attacker, they (← see that?) have no idea what to call the attacker other than “they”. This in NO way indicates more than one person.
It's stunning the way Alexa manages to throw her weight around. She always seems to get her own way, even if that means stepping on others, pushing her way into the case in the first place, or demeaning others. For example, though DI Horne gave an order, Alexa waded right in to override him, with every confidence she had a right to, and would be obeyed.
Alexa was allowed to go on the death notification. 1) this would never happen, no matter short staffed the department are. This is not Bones. 2) Alexa had zero qualifications to justify her being there, nor the experience or a reason to be there. 3) the moment Alexa sets eyes on the grieving widow, her first reaction is that the woman has a large nose and has she ever considered rhinoplasty. Then, she chastises herself, insisting “beauty is in the eye” after all. As if this woman was somehow loved despite being ugly in Alexa's eyes. Spare me.
There's even a point where the DI sends Alexa off to interview suspects alone. Now, 1) she shouldn't be asked, at all. She's not a part of their team or an investigator. 2) she's not qualified. 3) she never takes notes or recordings of her interviews. She doesn't know the right questions to ask, there's no proof of what their conversation entailed, and she could forget vital information that may not seem important at the time but becomes important later.
~
Overall, between the forensic inaccuracies, Alexa's abrasive personality, and the fact that there was so little progression of the investigation by page 96 that I could stop reading without caring about the outcome, there was too much I couldn't get past, to continue reading or give this a better rating. The case/plot was boring. Alexa was grating. The use of Māori felt stereotypical and unbalanced. Being used to forensics and how to conduct an investigation, the way the case was investigated was both irritating and infuriating, because of all the inconsistencies and problems. And, quite honestly, there was no reason for me to keep reading it.
Besides...all these “deep yoga breath” inserts made me want to punch someone.
If Alexa hadn't been this perfect know-it-all...if the forensics had been accurate...if there had been no obsessive romance...and if the crime was actually interesting...I might have finished or even liked the book. But, because that wasn't the case, no. This wasn't a book for me. I won't be reading the rest of the series, and probably won't be reading the author again, either.
August 29, 2019
The scene for the first Alexa Glock mystery fascinates. A body discovered in a New Zealand mud pot, similar to the ones found in Yellowstone National Park, provides an opportunity for North Carolina forensics expert Alexa Glock to assist the local police with their investigation. Although the boiled corpse leaves few clues, Alexa carefully uncovers a couple which assist the investigation. Maori customs and culture plays a part in the investigation. Glock inserts herself into the investigation, over-extending her charge and possibly jeopardizing work of investigators. Glock's interest in one officer causes readers to wonder if Glock will remain in New Zealand longer to pursue a relationship, which seems "tentative" at the moment. I found the book easy to put down for the first half, but it picked up later. The ending was a little anti-climactic. With an interesting setting, I will likely read the next in the series. I received an advance electronic reader's copy through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.
August 3, 2019
The first book of the Alexa Glock series takes yoi to New Zealand and to about some the customs of the Maori people. Alexa is a forensic expert who worked for the North Carolina Investigation Bureau. She has been teaching a class about forensics in Zealand and now planning on a visit to Rotorua for a funeral of a closed friend. While there an unidentified man is found in one of the mudpots. Detective Inspector Bruce Horne hires Alexa for help in identifying the victim and forensic evidence on the mudpots murder. Alexa unfortunately breaks a Maori taboo as she send to a sacred island. There is an attack in the police station of her assistant. Alexa is determined to find an answer to the murder before she joins him in a mudpot I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.
Disclosure: Thanks to Poison Pen Press for a copy through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
Disclosure: Thanks to Poison Pen Press for a copy through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
October 26, 2019
Thank you so much to Author Marketing Experts and Sara Johnson for sending me a free copy of this book for my review.
I ended up DNFing this book at about the 180 page mark. I think I’ve finally realized that mystery books that deal with different culture’s politics and detective work just isn’t my thing. I don’t understand the names of the characters or their language and that’s one thing with these books that kind of bugs me, I like to be able to have all of the information and be able to pronounce it to enjoy it.
The plot itself was great and the main character I really enjoyed but beyond that, I just couldn’t get into it. The book did immediately intrigue me from the beginning and I found myself invested in it but unfortunately, these types of mystery books aren’t for me.
I ended up DNFing this book at about the 180 page mark. I think I’ve finally realized that mystery books that deal with different culture’s politics and detective work just isn’t my thing. I don’t understand the names of the characters or their language and that’s one thing with these books that kind of bugs me, I like to be able to have all of the information and be able to pronounce it to enjoy it.
The plot itself was great and the main character I really enjoyed but beyond that, I just couldn’t get into it. The book did immediately intrigue me from the beginning and I found myself invested in it but unfortunately, these types of mystery books aren’t for me.
October 31, 2024
Molten Mud Murder by Sara E. Johnson is the first book in the Alexa Glock Mysteries series. Forensic investigator and odontologist Alexa Glock travels to New Zealand for the funeral of a friend and offers her expertise when a body is found in Rotorua's thermal mud pools. I loved this book, mainly for the New Zealand setting. I enjoyed learning more about some of the Maori beliefs and culture and I especially loved the descriptions of the unique landscape. A fascinating mystery and interesting characters but the best part is finding a cozy mystery set in New Zealand.
June 2, 2019
Molten Mud Murder, despite the alliterative title, is not a cozy mystery, more along the lines of a police procedural. Alexa is an American Forensic Odontologist with a work visa, who finds herself between jobs in New Zealand. She becomes attached to a police department investigating a murder involving a man being murdered and dumped in boiling mud. The case needs to handled with cultural sensitivity as it involves trespasses onto protected Maori lands, the handling of remains, and the thefts of artifacts for the black market. Alexa has issues of her own from her past but doesn’t allow them to stop her from immersing herself in solving the case.
Very nicely developed sense of place, and in many parts real feelings of menace are allowed to develop as Alexa investigates or finds herself isolated or working alone. The character of Alexa is well drawn and the pacing pulls the reader along through the story. Well done mystery read. I would think it would especially appeal to fans of The Ruth Galloway Series by Elly Griffiths. Due to be published September 3rd, 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press.
Very nicely developed sense of place, and in many parts real feelings of menace are allowed to develop as Alexa investigates or finds herself isolated or working alone. The character of Alexa is well drawn and the pacing pulls the reader along through the story. Well done mystery read. I would think it would especially appeal to fans of The Ruth Galloway Series by Elly Griffiths. Due to be published September 3rd, 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press.
September 6, 2023
A good start for a series. It is mainly about Alexa working as a Forensics Inspector and with helping out the police after a person is found dead in the Molten Mud Pot. It involves some customs of the Morira people and Alexa helping to identify the victim.
November 23, 2024
I will not post a review of this book, unless you want me to post one that is not especially favorable. I noticed the publication date has moved out, so perhaps you also have decided it has problems.
The setting and concept are great; I wanted to hop on a plane and visit New Zealand, despite my strong aversion to long plane trips. I loved the New Zealand slang terms. But the book is otherwise very stereotypical. When I saw the first reference to Alexa's scars, I thought, "Uh oh, another damaged protagonist with a sad past. Give it a break!", and I got annoyed at the CONSTANT references to her scars and the accident and her mother dying when she was a little girl. The other characters were cardboard. With all the mentions of Cooper's hostility, for example, there should be some kind of resolution or exploration of her attitude. Alexa's activities as a forensic scientist are confusing. A big deal is made of the fact that she is an odontologist, but she does very little with teeth. What her skills actually are and what activity is appropriate for her to undertake and what is not is very confusing. She is chastised for going beyond what a forensic scientist should do, but in the next breath she is assigned to do things that seem equally outside her job. And the ending is also muddled to me. There was a broad conspiracy, but it is not really clear what everyone's role is, e.g., were the guys from Singapore just looking for relics, or were they also interested in land development? There is no overall summing up at the end after the case is solved; I got bits and pieces but was not able to put them together.
The setting and concept are great; I wanted to hop on a plane and visit New Zealand, despite my strong aversion to long plane trips. I loved the New Zealand slang terms. But the book is otherwise very stereotypical. When I saw the first reference to Alexa's scars, I thought, "Uh oh, another damaged protagonist with a sad past. Give it a break!", and I got annoyed at the CONSTANT references to her scars and the accident and her mother dying when she was a little girl. The other characters were cardboard. With all the mentions of Cooper's hostility, for example, there should be some kind of resolution or exploration of her attitude. Alexa's activities as a forensic scientist are confusing. A big deal is made of the fact that she is an odontologist, but she does very little with teeth. What her skills actually are and what activity is appropriate for her to undertake and what is not is very confusing. She is chastised for going beyond what a forensic scientist should do, but in the next breath she is assigned to do things that seem equally outside her job. And the ending is also muddled to me. There was a broad conspiracy, but it is not really clear what everyone's role is, e.g., were the guys from Singapore just looking for relics, or were they also interested in land development? There is no overall summing up at the end after the case is solved; I got bits and pieces but was not able to put them together.
April 16, 2024
Not for me, thanks. I'm more than tired of pushy females who insert themselves into criminal investigations. Alexa has more qualifications to investigate than the usual women who do this, but she has no boundaries. She is in New Zealand on a work visa for Pete sake! Wanting to stay longer is understandable, but announcing to the local police department that she wants to assist in the investigation is over the top. They know nothing about her but allow her to bounce right in and stick her nose into every aspect of the case - defying orders, going off on her own, endangering other team mbers
I got tired of her really fast.
Can anyone tell me why it's always female chatacters who carry on like this? I don't believe I've ever read of a man whose behavior is equally obnoxious.
I got tired of her really fast.
Can anyone tell me why it's always female chatacters who carry on like this? I don't believe I've ever read of a man whose behavior is equally obnoxious.
February 23, 2020
Engaging, interesting tale of an American in New Zealand. Not a classic mystery per se; more a procedural, but the American heroine is more than a bit reckless in her investigations. Still I enjoyed it and will look forward to the next in the series.
September 2, 2022
A good mystery, however being a NZer means that you're always looking for the factual discrepancies and there are a couple in this book. Te Rauparaha was not a South Island Māori chief for example but other than the few I could pick out it was a decent story
February 13, 2024
Book one in a series. These mysteries are set in New Zealand. I found all the info about the Māori very interesting as was the description of the area of New Zealand. The mystery was okay,the forensics expertise in this novel was on teeth,though I didn’t feel there was much on the subject of teeth.
May 20, 2024
I picked up this book before our trip to NZ, only to discover that the author lives in my town, and the main character comes from NC! What a fun coincidence. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery.
I will note, whomever chose the cover should be yelled at. That tree isn't even on the same island that the book takes place on. Sheesh.
I will note, whomever chose the cover should be yelled at. That tree isn't even on the same island that the book takes place on. Sheesh.
March 4, 2020
A NC girl, temporarily located to New Zealand, finds herself working with with the police on a murder that has Maori connections. I'm not sure I like the lead character - too pushy and know it all - but the story was enjoyable and well written.
February 7, 2020
This was fun book! I’m looking forward to more books by this author. (I want to do 3.5 stars but I don’t know how)
I really liked learning about New Zealand and there were really interesting forensic facts too.
I really liked learning about New Zealand and there were really interesting forensic facts too.
September 9, 2019
4.25 Stars
This is the first book in the Alexa Glock mystery series by Sara E. Johnson.
This story is set in New Zealand which I thought was fascinating. Alexa pretty much forces herself into the investigation in the beginning of this. A great bright spot in this book was the character of Detective Inspector Bruce Horne. He really great on me as the book progressed and honestly was the aspect that really kept me reading.
Maybe it was just me but every time they said the name “Alexa” I could hear commercials for Amazon’s Alexa voice activated service in my mind. Maybe they should nickname her Lexi just to keep the comparison at bay.
You get a lot of Maori background in this book which is a bit overwhelming considering you are at the same time trying to dive into the mystery and follow the clues. Alexa does a lot of zany things in this including going to a hot springs type of place and trying to overhear an important conversation. I am not sure I would pay $65 in order to find a few clues. This girl got into more trouble from DI Horne than anyone else due to her compromising the investigation. They had to continually remind her that she was a forensic expert and not an investigator.
I think I enjoyed the teasing of a possible romance between DI Horne and Alexa than anything else. And we were left on a cliffhanger in that regard. Of course, I will have to wait for the next book to see if anything progresses. Sigh!
Pretty good mystery, great characters that stood out and the beginning of a series that leaves promise for more in the future. Who could ask for more?
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
This is the first book in the Alexa Glock mystery series by Sara E. Johnson.
This story is set in New Zealand which I thought was fascinating. Alexa pretty much forces herself into the investigation in the beginning of this. A great bright spot in this book was the character of Detective Inspector Bruce Horne. He really great on me as the book progressed and honestly was the aspect that really kept me reading.
Maybe it was just me but every time they said the name “Alexa” I could hear commercials for Amazon’s Alexa voice activated service in my mind. Maybe they should nickname her Lexi just to keep the comparison at bay.
You get a lot of Maori background in this book which is a bit overwhelming considering you are at the same time trying to dive into the mystery and follow the clues. Alexa does a lot of zany things in this including going to a hot springs type of place and trying to overhear an important conversation. I am not sure I would pay $65 in order to find a few clues. This girl got into more trouble from DI Horne than anyone else due to her compromising the investigation. They had to continually remind her that she was a forensic expert and not an investigator.
I think I enjoyed the teasing of a possible romance between DI Horne and Alexa than anything else. And we were left on a cliffhanger in that regard. Of course, I will have to wait for the next book to see if anything progresses. Sigh!
Pretty good mystery, great characters that stood out and the beginning of a series that leaves promise for more in the future. Who could ask for more?
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
August 31, 2019
Alexa Glock is an American forensics expert specializing in odontology. Her fellowship in New Zealand has ended but she wants to extend her stay. Then Alexa reads about a man's body submerged in a molten mud pot near Lake Rotorua. Coincidentally, Alexa is going to Rotorua to attend the funeral of her friend Mary, so she offers her forensic expertise to the local police. Fortunately for Alexa, the Auckland forensic expert has to return home for a family emergency so Detective Inspector Bruce Horne reluctantly hires her on contract to work on the murder investigation. With Alexa's help, the victim is identified as real estate agent and city councilman Paul Koppel.
Who had wanted Koppel dead and why? The police learn that Koppel had trespassed on a sacred island forbidden to Pakeha, or non-Maori, and that the Maori community is incensed that the rules of tapu have been disregarded.
Then forensic technician Jenny Liang gets attacked in the police station forensic lab and Alexa is left with an unorthodox death threat in her rented cottage. The murder of the island caretaker indicates that the killer is determined to end any threats that can identify them.
This debut novel has an intriguing New Zealand setting but has several weaknesses. The main problem for me is that it is hard to believe that Alexa is allowed to work on the investigation beyond her forensic expertise and act as a detective by being present at interviews and following potential suspects.
I received an eARC via Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.
Who had wanted Koppel dead and why? The police learn that Koppel had trespassed on a sacred island forbidden to Pakeha, or non-Maori, and that the Maori community is incensed that the rules of tapu have been disregarded.
Then forensic technician Jenny Liang gets attacked in the police station forensic lab and Alexa is left with an unorthodox death threat in her rented cottage. The murder of the island caretaker indicates that the killer is determined to end any threats that can identify them.
This debut novel has an intriguing New Zealand setting but has several weaknesses. The main problem for me is that it is hard to believe that Alexa is allowed to work on the investigation beyond her forensic expertise and act as a detective by being present at interviews and following potential suspects.
I received an eARC via Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.
December 27, 2019
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
There's not a whole lot to say about this novel. The only thing that sets it apart from others of its kind is the setting, which was wonderful. I'm not sure I've ever read anything set in New Zealand, and the emphasis on Maori culture and language was very interesting. There was also a lot about the forensics involved, which surprised and entertained me. The writing was always clear and generally free from errors.
However, the central "mystery" element left a lot to be desired. There's a lot of set-up and chasing leads that don't amount to anything. Most of the fun in a mystery novel is guessing whodunnit (obviously), but there's no fun to be had here. The whodunnit-doer isn't introduced until the last 80 or so pages, and only by happenstance during a conversation with another lead. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about them, the confrontation with them is fairly bland, and there aren't really any other twists or turns to keep you interested. The truth is boring, and so is our villain.
Honestly, the heroes are kinda bland, too. For one, there are a /lot/ of cops that pop up, and it's difficult to keep track of them and differentiate them from each other. You end up just remembering Cooper (Maori cop), R-something (bumbling-maybe-guilty cop), Walker (rookie cop) and Ponytail (jerk cop). Alexa isn't a particularly compelling character, and neither is the love interest. They're just...cops.
Overall, it's a serviceable story, but not a very good mystery. If you're into New Zealand or forensics, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, give it a pass.
There's not a whole lot to say about this novel. The only thing that sets it apart from others of its kind is the setting, which was wonderful. I'm not sure I've ever read anything set in New Zealand, and the emphasis on Maori culture and language was very interesting. There was also a lot about the forensics involved, which surprised and entertained me. The writing was always clear and generally free from errors.
However, the central "mystery" element left a lot to be desired. There's a lot of set-up and chasing leads that don't amount to anything. Most of the fun in a mystery novel is guessing whodunnit (obviously), but there's no fun to be had here. The whodunnit-doer isn't introduced until the last 80 or so pages, and only by happenstance during a conversation with another lead. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about them, the confrontation with them is fairly bland, and there aren't really any other twists or turns to keep you interested. The truth is boring, and so is our villain.
Honestly, the heroes are kinda bland, too. For one, there are a /lot/ of cops that pop up, and it's difficult to keep track of them and differentiate them from each other. You end up just remembering Cooper (Maori cop), R-something (bumbling-maybe-guilty cop), Walker (rookie cop) and Ponytail (jerk cop). Alexa isn't a particularly compelling character, and neither is the love interest. They're just...cops.
Overall, it's a serviceable story, but not a very good mystery. If you're into New Zealand or forensics, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, give it a pass.
June 11, 2019
Molten Mud Murder is published by the excellent Poisoned Pen Press, a small press that is dedicated to mystery fiction. This is author Johnson's first novel and the first in a projected series.
American protagonist, Alexa, is a forensics examiner whose specialty is teeth. She has come to New Zealand on a fellowship, falls in love with the country and wants to stay longer. She manages to insert herself into the murder case involving a city counselor.
What I struggled with a little: Alexa took many risks that felt plot driven. Some mysteries, such as what happened to her friend, Mary, were not fully solved. Perhaps that is for another book.
What I liked: The setting on the North Island of New Zealand and the ways in which the landscape is brought vividly to life. The information about tribal Maori customs and rituals. That there was a back story for Alexa. The hint of romance between her and Bruce, the Senior, a term for the chief detective. The details on forensic examination.
This mystery should appeal to armchair travelers, lovers of New Zealand and those who enjoy action packed mysteries. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this proof in return for an honest review. I look forward to the author's next book.
American protagonist, Alexa, is a forensics examiner whose specialty is teeth. She has come to New Zealand on a fellowship, falls in love with the country and wants to stay longer. She manages to insert herself into the murder case involving a city counselor.
What I struggled with a little: Alexa took many risks that felt plot driven. Some mysteries, such as what happened to her friend, Mary, were not fully solved. Perhaps that is for another book.
What I liked: The setting on the North Island of New Zealand and the ways in which the landscape is brought vividly to life. The information about tribal Maori customs and rituals. That there was a back story for Alexa. The hint of romance between her and Bruce, the Senior, a term for the chief detective. The details on forensic examination.
This mystery should appeal to armchair travelers, lovers of New Zealand and those who enjoy action packed mysteries. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this proof in return for an honest review. I look forward to the author's next book.
October 10, 2019
I enjoyed this book esp as a debut outing. The author does a great job of describing dental forensics and the subject of forensics in general - and making it not only understandable to a layperson, but also interesting. She also effectively evokes New Zealand locales and cultures to readers which was fascinating in itself.
A few quibbles however: the main character Alexa Glock is an extremely intelligent and skilled investigator in her field of expertise. But there are certain situations where she acts rashly and/or without thinking things through, which is at odds with the rest of her behavior. I realize this is a tool to help propel the story line but it's a bit heavy-handed. Also, it's hard to get a read on her. Some of her character traits are obvious but she comes across as more of a superficial character. Would like to see more depth in future books. I look forward to reading more.
A few quibbles however: the main character Alexa Glock is an extremely intelligent and skilled investigator in her field of expertise. But there are certain situations where she acts rashly and/or without thinking things through, which is at odds with the rest of her behavior. I realize this is a tool to help propel the story line but it's a bit heavy-handed. Also, it's hard to get a read on her. Some of her character traits are obvious but she comes across as more of a superficial character. Would like to see more depth in future books. I look forward to reading more.
December 1, 2019
Has the potential for a good series. The main character, a forensic dentist, is needing some refining here. She's running away from North Carolina to New Zealand, escaping a boyfriend who wanted a committment...said she wasn't ready. Yet, she falls for the first blue-eyed DI she sees. She is pushy, goes way beyond the bounds of her job, and in certain circumstances, she's a bit obnoxious. The part I really didn't care for was her dis-regard for Maori customs...all the while she's mourning the death of a really good friend..who was Maori. She thinks nothing of invading their sacred places, poo-poos their warnings, yet decides New Zealand is where she wants to stay. I hope in future installments, that she develops some respect.
March 21, 2020
I was a bit surprised to learn that this was a second book in a continuing series. It had that feeling of starting in media’s res that I often get when coming to a series in mid-flow. The author gives us so many details about the protagonist’s past at the beginning that it seems strange that there’s no previous book chronicling them. Then she throttles back to little hints about important events in her past for dramatic effect, somewhat less successfully.
The book paints a pretty convincing-seeming picture of life for an American in today’s New Zealand. I felt less convinced by the portrayal of operations in the police force.
In all, this is a pretty good effort, and worth reading, but felt just a bit off-kilter throughout.
The book paints a pretty convincing-seeming picture of life for an American in today’s New Zealand. I felt less convinced by the portrayal of operations in the police force.
In all, this is a pretty good effort, and worth reading, but felt just a bit off-kilter throughout.
September 9, 2019
I chose to read this book based on the location being in Rotorua, New Zealand and the setting is definitely the highlight here. The author gives us a great sense of place and does an outstanding job sharing the Maori culture of the area. However, that was its only strength for me. I thoroughly disliked the main character, finding her pushy, arrogant and self-centered. Do this one get 5 stars for location and culture but only 2 stars for the rest of the book, giving it 3 stars overall.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 20, 2019
MOLTEN MUD MURDER is an engrossing murder mystery set in beautifully scenic New Zealand's North Island. At once a police procedural, a narrative of forensics, a romantic suspense, and an unfolding mystery set against a backdrop of divergent cultures and an often ugly history, this novel kept me riveted. Forensic odontologist Alexa Glock is a strong protagonist, despite her tragic past, determined to persevere in unraveling this puzzling case. I hope her adventures (North Carolinian temporarily transplanted to New Zealand) take root and prosper in sequels.
April 19, 2020
Interesting enough story, but Alexa was a bit too pushy and everything seemed a little too disorganised and shoddy. Some of the slang hit wrong too, which was a bit jarring at times.
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