Review of "Walking Dead Man," by Mary Kittredge

 Review of

Walking Dead Man, by Mary Kittredge ISBN 0312083335

Four out of five stars

Too many villains, lost track

 This book literally starts with a big bang, but then moves much slower to an end that seems sluggish. There is a major confrontation towards the end, but with so many people, it comes across as cluttered. There are no innocents in the group, all of them are guilty of crimes, the question becomes of what and which person(s) specifically committed the murders.

 Edwina Crusoe is an ex-nurse that has turned to solving crimes. She has achieved a bit of a reputation and has dealt with some unusual cases. However, she is stunned when Theresa Whitlock enters her office and wants her help. Theresa claims to have murdered a man, but now he is trying to kill her. Edwina dismisses that as a case of insanity, but the situation escalates when Theresa is murdered outside her office.

 The plot is indeed thick with thieves, there was a man murdered when his car exploded, burning his body beyond recognition as well as over $100,000 in cash. With so many seedy characters involved along with a fortune in jewels and cash at stake, it is hard for Edwina and the reader to keep them all straight. At times, I found it difficult to follow which character did what. In some cases, having a lot of criminals guilty of many things advances your level of interest. In this case, it did not.