Blur

by Michelle Berry

Why does Southern California work so well as a locale for noirish mysteries? In Michelle Berry's fast-paced novel Blur, with its echoes of Sunset Boulevard, darkness once again lurks at the heart of all that brilliant sunlight. A starlet's married Canadian lover is found dead in the pool of her Hollywood mansion. The police soon discover that the apparent suicide was actually murdered and the beautiful, drug-addled actress, Emma Fine, is missing. This plot is mixed with the story of Bruce Dermott, an aging and annoying tabloid reporter, who rediscovers Emma 10 years later working as a cleaner in a church and helps unravel her story. The novel fairly zips along, with Berry keeping the reader in the dark until the last moment. Did the ditzy starlet actually surface from her cocaine and alcohol haze to commit the murder, or was it the lover's wife, or the starlet's driver (who kept a secret shrine to his employer), or perhaps the old Mexican maid who, it turns out, was stealing from the star?

Berry has a good eye for detail. Here she presents Bruce's editor: "He is chewing on the lid of a pen, chewing hard and fast and furious. A reformed-smoker kind of chew." While some of the characters' motivations don't add up and the ending is slightly disappointing, this is an engaging mystery with believable characters and a complexly constructed plot. --Mark Frutkin

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2002

Reviews

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unorthodox Mystery
Review of the Phoenix paperback edition (2003) of the Random House Canada hardcover (2002)

[Mansi Nikam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously WTF did I read, nothing was clarified by the end

[Ann Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are mysteries nestled within mysteries in this novel by Michelle Berry, which makes for a compelling read. The action kicks off with a body in a swimming pool. As new plot twists are added and additional characters are introduced, motivation and even identity come into question time and time again. This novel was intriguing enough to get me out of bed an hour earlier than I had to this morning, so I could finish the last 50 pages.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down. Complex characters and lots of mystery. It was easy to transition back and forth between the two time periods (10 years apart). I found Bruce to be a very sympathetic character and I found myself rooting for him to find some happiness in his life. The murderer isn't exactly revealed at the end but I think there are enough clues for the reader to come to their own conclusion without feeling cheated.

[Joss Leg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hooked on this suspense novel but very dissapointed with the ending!!! Guess I'm not good with clues!! But seriously, it should of been cleared up at the end...

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was amazing, I found this book at local store and thought ill give it a go, amazing purchase so happy I picked it up , brilliance is all I can say x