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Title:  A Sinister Obsession

Author:  S.B. Redstone

Published:  2013 by Black Opal Books

Genre:  Mystery Thriller

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George and Ann Marr have never been able to get back their happiness after their son was found murdered over 10 years ago.  Little do they know that they are about to be killed themselves.  Their murder sets off a series of crimes that has Detective Aubrey McKenzie trying to scramble to find the killer.  Detective Aubrey is considered a ‘witch’ by her comrades; they can’t figure out how she always seems to know certain details involved in crimes she is solving.  Aubrey is also a stubborn woman, and she plans to find who this killer is no matter what.

The point of view shifts a bit in this book but it didn’t really bother me, except in the beginning when it was shifting between paragraphs a few times.  The author got it in control soon after though.  And once we are introduced to Detective Aubrey, the point of view is mostly hers; well, hers and the killers.

Something that bothered me was when a detective at one of the crime scenes says, “looks like a burglary to me.” (location 1388 of 7919 on Kindle).  When there are dead bodies around it’s a robbery.  A burglary happens without harming anyone.  A robbery uses physical force and threats.  A detective should know the difference!  He does say robbery on the next page though, so maybe it just was an editing error?  But it’s still something that caught my eye.

Let’s talk about the main character, Aubrey.  What a rich snob she is!  When someone she is interviewing is drinking a glass of wine this is what runs through Aubrey’s head,

“Chilling a red wine?  And one so inferior I wouldn’t even use it to cook with.” (location 1450 of 7919 on Kindle)

Yikes, I’m glad she’s not my friend!  But it does make the book more interesting to read, because if you think about it, it’s always the men who are rich, not the ladies.  And she definitely has a cold personality at first, (there turns out to be a reason why) but romance is found in the story and she warms up a bit.

When Aubrey meets another detective named Josh, you get to see her in a more flattering light.  She’s still cold at first, but she warms up and the reader will warm up to her at that point too.  Although still incredibly rich of course, she starts to act like a normal human being, with feelings.

Another thing that bothered me was when a couple who had a child and gave her up for adoption kept saying things like we could have had an abortion, we did the right thing.  And not only them, but others said the same thing.  (Trying to be vague here for those who will read the book.)  It was just too much, and didn’t add to the story.  It just aggravated me actually.  Obviously abortion is a touchy subject, but I just had enough with everyone saying that.  It made the conversation not feel real as well.

Okay, one last thing.  Aubrey has a paranormal ability to read people’s minds.  No one knows she has this ability, but they do wonder how she solves cases so fast and efficiently sometimes.  They actually call her a witch.  No one calls people witches these days.  Change the word ‘witch’ with ‘psychic’ and problem solved.

Despite my complaints, it was a good book.  It kept me interested throughout the whole thing.  And although some might get grossed out by the murders, it really wasn’t too bad.  (And I’m a fainter at the sight and thought of blood type of person.)  You also aren’t in the dark on who the killer is the whole time either.  The detective figures it out and then you can see through the killers eyes as well.

So if you’re into mystery and psychological thrillers, give A Sinister Obsession a try.

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

~Pam

*****I received this book free from the author, in exchange for an honest review.*****