Series: Misty Pines Mystery #1
Publication Date: 25th Oct 2022
Genre: Small Town Mystery, Police Procedural
3 Stars (4 stars up to 75% and 2 stars for the last 25%)
One Liner: Starts well but not my favorite trope!
Sheriff Jax Turner is on the brink of ending everything forever when he is forced to solve the case of a missing schoolgirl. Jax is determined to not lose this chance and find the fourteen-year-old Allison. However, he soon realizes that the case is a lot more complex and might be connected to a kidnapping case twenty-five years ago. He couldn’t solve it and couldn’t let go of it either.
Dealing with the loss of a daughter, broken marriage, and depression, Jax has to sort through the lies and half-truths of witnesses. With so many people unwilling to reveal even the necessary information, Jax’s attempts to save Allison become frantic.
Can he save the girl this time?
The story comes in the third-person POV of Jax Turner, with a few chapters from Elena’s.
My Thoughts:
Book one of the Misty Pines series works well as a standalone. I got this ARC last year but couldn’t read it on time. Now that I have book two waiting, I decided to tick them off the list.
The book starts with a short prologue where Allison is kidnapped. Then, we see Jax Turner deciding to end his life when the news reaches him. With no alternative, he begins to work on the case and hopes bringing Allison back safe might help with some of his demons.
The first half of the book is quite good. While the beginning is slow, the pacing gets better over time. It is a bit confusing with names like Emily and Elena, but not for long. There are quite a good number of characters, though.
Jax’s POV reads semi-frantic and suits his state of mind. He is a deeply troubled man and not that easy to like. He also tends to be fixated on suspects, some with reason and some even when not necessary. Still, all of this makes him real rather than perfect.
Trudy is my favorite character in the book. I hope she is in book two and we get to know more about her life. The other characters aren’t yet fully developed. It takes time when setting up a series, so that’s fine.
The second half starts well, but the last quarter is a mess. I know some readers will love that kind of twist, but I hate that stuff. More than 15 years ago, I was impressed by the trope when I read it the first time, but not anymore. Also, it led to a truckload of plot holes in an otherwise decent plot.
I did guess about the culprit, but only after the hints appeared in the last section. Readers do not have enough information to guess, which is not fair. Moreover, despite the details matching, the reveal doesn’t feel strong.
I like the development of Jax’s arc toward the end. It makes me eager to book two and see whether he gets better.
To summarize, Hidden Pieces starts and progresses well but falls flat at the end. Mystery writers need to stop using THAT trope. It feels amateurish.
Thank you, NetGalley and Level Best Books, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #HiddenPieces
***
TW: Suicide attempt, kidnap, death of child, mental illness, sexual assault, and mention of pedophilia
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