Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke’s days can flip from macabre to comical with a beep of her police scanner. Then an ordinary accident story turns extraordinary when evidence goes missing, a prosecutor vanishes, and a sexy Mafia boss shows up with the headline tip of a lifetime. As Nichelle gets closer to the truth, her story gets more dangerous. Armed with a notebook, a hunch, and her favorite stilettos, Nichelle races to splash these shady dealings across the front page before this deadline becomes her last.
I had purchased Front Page Fatality at the Mystery Writer’s Festival in Suffolk, VA last year. I wanted to try it out.
I’m a bit on the fence with the book. Though I didn’t know who the main baddie was, I didn’t feel like Nichelle Clarke was much of a sleuth. Her detection skills were mostly interviews, which make sense given that she is a reporter. The reporter life was interesting and I could see it happening in real life. I mean, a reporter can’t really get evidence or anything concrete unless he/she steals something. And then the evidence is contaminated and not good for court. In that respect, it made sense.
However, I just didn’t feel Nichelle had a strong idea of what was going on or a good enough suspect under her view. I did like her motivations of solving the case. It wasn’t just to get the story before a rival, though that was a big motivator. Her motivations were also personal. I could see her growing to be a good sleuth.
That said, I’m not sure I personally would want to pursue the series. It wasn’t a bad book, but I didn’t feel anything while reading. The writing is easy to get into and the story is a quick one. I just didn’t have a strong attatchment to the main character. It was a decent book, just not one for me.
Casia's Corner 