Review of The Mexia Music Murders
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Jessica Hunt 10
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- Latest Review: The Mexia Music Murders by Steven Wilcox
Review of The Mexia Music Murders
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Mexia Music Murders" by Steven Wilcox.]
The Mexia Music Murders, written by Steven Wilcox, opens on a Parisian street with an elderly gentleman walking his dog. From the shadows, a figure emerges, and the old man is suddenly shot dead. Almost thirty years later, the story resumes with an introduction to Anthony, or “A.C.”, Mottola, a record-store owner starting a new chapter in life as he relocates from L.A. to the small town of Mexia, Texas. When he is found dead in the burnt-down remains of his newly successful storefront, Deputy Sheriff Hal Blaine digs into who could have murdered the well-liked business owner. His tenacious pursuit of the killer leads him back to that Parisian street, asking the question of how these two very different murders could be connected.
While the initial premise of this murder mystery is promising, The Mexia Music Murders is a tedious and frustrating read. The story is rife with innocuous details and descriptions that seem to be there in an effort to bring more color and life to the rather thinly fleshed-out cast of characters. The result, however, is a clunky and slow-moving text that leaves the impression that the author has no respect for his readers, as he spoon-feeds character actions and motivations almost in the style of a screenplay. For a novel promising mystery, there is almost no space left in which you can wonder how the story will progress.
While there were not many typos/grammatical errors, there were a few clear misspellings or missed words resulting in incomplete sentences that should have been caught in a read-through. My overall criticism, however, has much more to do with the overly expository style and awkward pacing of the text. I would give this book a two out of five stars. I did not enjoy it and found it a slog to get through. However, it was not unreadable and the potential for a good story was there. The text just reads closer to a first or second draft, with some serious editing needed to add depth to the characters and story and to improve the pacing issues.
Separate note – I am not sure if this would be considered a “spoiler”, so I am listing it at the bottom for easy removal if necessary. The book’s title indicates a serial killer in Mexia, Texas (or perhaps a connection to the Mexia music business as a whole). However, although there are multiple murders indicated in the book, these are dealt with quickly and in an almost off-hand way, and none of them occur in the same town. As such, I found even the title of the novel to be somewhat awkward and misleading for the reader.
******
The Mexia Music Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Mexia Music Murders, written by Steven Wilcox, opens on a Parisian street with an elderly gentleman walking his dog. From the shadows, a figure emerges, and the old man is suddenly shot dead. Almost thirty years later, the story resumes with an introduction to Anthony, or “A.C.”, Mottola, a record-store owner starting a new chapter in life as he relocates from L.A. to the small town of Mexia, Texas. When he is found dead in the burnt-down remains of his newly successful storefront, Deputy Sheriff Hal Blaine digs into who could have murdered the well-liked business owner. His tenacious pursuit of the killer leads him back to that Parisian street, asking the question of how these two very different murders could be connected.
While the initial premise of this murder mystery is promising, The Mexia Music Murders is a tedious and frustrating read. The story is rife with innocuous details and descriptions that seem to be there in an effort to bring more color and life to the rather thinly fleshed-out cast of characters. The result, however, is a clunky and slow-moving text that leaves the impression that the author has no respect for his readers, as he spoon-feeds character actions and motivations almost in the style of a screenplay. For a novel promising mystery, there is almost no space left in which you can wonder how the story will progress.
While there were not many typos/grammatical errors, there were a few clear misspellings or missed words resulting in incomplete sentences that should have been caught in a read-through. My overall criticism, however, has much more to do with the overly expository style and awkward pacing of the text. I would give this book a two out of five stars. I did not enjoy it and found it a slog to get through. However, it was not unreadable and the potential for a good story was there. The text just reads closer to a first or second draft, with some serious editing needed to add depth to the characters and story and to improve the pacing issues.
Separate note – I am not sure if this would be considered a “spoiler”, so I am listing it at the bottom for easy removal if necessary. The book’s title indicates a serial killer in Mexia, Texas (or perhaps a connection to the Mexia music business as a whole). However, although there are multiple murders indicated in the book, these are dealt with quickly and in an almost off-hand way, and none of them occur in the same town. As such, I found even the title of the novel to be somewhat awkward and misleading for the reader.
******
The Mexia Music Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Mexia Music Murders by Steven Wilcox
