Review of Photofinish

[Amy Saunders 2]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Photofinish" by Cheryl Kerr.]

---

4 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

In "Photo Finish," author Cheryl Kerr tells us the story of a young woman discovering herself during the emotional time of her grandfather's murder. Rory Kind's father died when she was just a little girl of five. She was sent to live with the grandfather she shared a name with but had never met. Rory's grandfather was a successful racehorse trainer and owner. Her grandfather was a kind and fair man. He did not have much experience raising children, having a fallout with his own kids, but he took on Rory without hesitation. He raised Rory very much like he trained his horses: with a firm yet gentle hand and lots of patience. When her grandfather was murdered after winning a race, it was up to her and the detectives to find the murderer. Looking into the murder and helping the detective led Rory back through her memories of being raised by her grandfather and a lot of self-reflection. During this time, Rory not only helped to solve the murder of her grandfather, she also discovered who she was, who she wanted to be, and where she wanted her life to take her. Throughout the story, the author includes pieces of the murderer's story. Just enough so we have some background on him and give hints of similarities between the murderer and Rory's life.

Kerr paints the picture of a young woman who is unsure of herself and lost and alone without her grandfather there to guide her. She did an excellent job of showing the emotions of the characters in this book. The reader can empathize with Rory as both a young woman and a child, with her grandfather taking on a girl in his world of racehorses, and even the murderer without giving too much detail. I enjoyed the way she wove both the horseracing world and the police world in a way that made the reader understand both.

I did find myself a little lost with the ending and how the capture of the murderer came about. I understood what happened, but not how it came to happen. I felt a few more details would have been helpful. I did find a few mistakes that another edit would have taken care of.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I would give "Photo Finish" a rating of 3 out of 4 because of my slight confusion at the end and the few errors that would have been corrected with another edit.

******
Photofinish
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon