The Cape May Murders

by Christopher Michael Blake

Five days before Halloween, retiring Chief of Police Clyde Browning has two separate mysteries to try and solve, the appearance of an amnesic woman who disappeared over twenty-eight years ago and the murders of prominent stakeholders in the community by a figure described by eyewitnesses as someone dressed like the Grim Reaper. Set on the beautiful Cape May, New Jersey shoreline, Browning must solve the murders of the present while coming to grips with the past before becoming the Grim Reaper's next victim.

Genres: Mystery

197 pages, Paperback

Published October 24, 2022

Reviews

[Ashley ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads and Christopher Michael Blake for this giveaway!

I really enjoyed this novella. I will caution, it is filled with gore.

When a woman with no memory wanders into Cape May, Chief of Police Browning finds himself facing the biggest collection of cases in his career. As tensions rise and the bodies pile up, Browning finds himself going off the straight and narrow to find answers. When he starts to see a connection, he knows that he must do everything he can to stop the murderer in his tracks.

As Browning finds himself closing in on retirement, it seems that dream is out of reach. Ripped right from under him.

A chilling novella with intense characters, great humor, and plenty of darkness - this is a great thriller to enjoy if you love fast pace and mystery.

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 24%

[Donna Lundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A missing girl returns and some local community members get killed. A great story and a fun twist. Some editing issues but overall a good read.

[Andrew Kibe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally picked this book up because I vacation in Stone Harbor which is next to Cape May NJ. The plot kept me sucked in and was a page turner.

There were times were I found the writing a little tough. For example there were numerous times where I felt like the character names were overused. Like it was missing some transitions of "he" or "she".

On a random note I'm glad that the character Brown was not a major character and was not in many scenes. It could be difficult to follow when the Brown and Browning were in the same scene together and everyone was referring to them by their last names.

[Aristotle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Painfully bad.
Amateurish storytelling.
Slow down. Lets get to know the characters. The only thing I know about the main character Chief of Police Clyde Browning is he's retiring in a month. Ok. And?
The whole police procedural was a complete joke.
The police are that incompetent? No. Even Barney Fife could have done a better job.
The ending? Bwaaaaahahahahaha!
The Grim Reaper costume reminded of the movie 'Scream' Ghostface.

Indie authors should rely heavily on an editor.

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read is an understatement! Think it took a total of 4 hours and I'm not a fast reader! I hated to put it down! Once started, had to finish it. Even read it at a long traffic light while repeatedly peaking at the crosswalk countdown! LOL!

The twists and turns kept me guessing.
The way things happened had me shaking my head.
And when I found out who did it? Think I guessed half of the duo about 1/4 of the way through it. (Sorry for the spoiler)
Great read that makes me wonder if there will be another one in the future!

[Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some good elements here, but needs some work. There could be faster events, more cliffhangers, and less of a lackluster ending. However, the killer grim creeper concept is simple, yet creepy enough much like ghostkiller in scream. It’s not bad for a novice writer and a book I bought at a local fair. I could actually see them doing a blumhouse horror movie on the book because it had the right components needed.

[Tracie Barone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read


It was a quick read. General 'who done it' overall storyline was good. The detailed murders were a bit macabre and over the top. Maybe because it was near Halloween? Ending wasn't what I expected. Its not typical to read about a character who gives up without a fight and commits their own suicide.

[Melissa Santora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chief Browning is ready to retire from the Cape May police department. But then a missing girl shows up, his replacement arrives early to “learn on the job” and his friends are being murdered. This book was a page-turner! The story was fast-paced and I did not see that ending coming. (Impressive since I figured the ending out to the last three books, I read by chapter 2.).

[Erin Corley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason I read this book so fast was to get it over with. The plot had potential, but there were wayyy too many unnecessary details for me to follow it well. And don’t even get me started on all the typos and grammatical errors on almost every page. Some sentences weren’t even complete. It made it hard for me to stay focused and understand the story.

[MORTICA B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met you, and I was really hoping it would be a good read, but it was like the Thanksgiving moive, and Ghostfaced collided and made this book I'm sorry but that doesn't mean I wont try another book of yours

[Jennifer Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book and storyline. Kept my interest from the first page. Looking forward to the next book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining thriller mystery. Enjoyed the Cape May references as well.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll give this book a generous 1.5 stars considering it was self published. What I’d recommend for this author is to hire a copy editor or at least join a writing group to help catch those typos, cliches and misused phrases. One example, people don’t run at “just under eleven miles a minute” but they might run an eleven minute mile pace. (Pg 80)

Another issue I had with this book was the attack on 50- year olds! Yup. Routinely the author referred to a 56 year old character named Linda as being old aged. “The memory loss was a side effect of old age…” (pg 176)

I’m over fifty and while I occasionally forget little things here and there, I do remember what good writing is … and is not.

Don’t know if I’ll run out and grab another Blake book but I wish him well as he continues to develop as a writer.