Ornela Caudullo Caudullo itibaren La Tour-Saint-Gelin, Fransa
Exquisitely written up until the last few chapters. I had imagined the 'tragedy' described in the book jacket to be the formation of the national park, when all those people we spent the entire book getting attached to were suddenly booted out, but instead the story makes a turn for the sensational, which did little to strengthen the climax of the book. Had those last chapters come first, I probably wouldn't have finished the book at all, but I can't emphasize enough how beautifully written the first 3/4 of the book is. The chapters are almost like short stories unto themselves, they have that much plot and strength. I had hoped for at least an Author's Note on the formation of the national park, but I think I'll just have to do my own research.
I found that this was interesting and wouldn't mind if Melanie Jackson would work this into a series. Jillian has been a widow for about 3 years. She's been hit by lightning and ever since has been able to talk to cats and a bad case of TMJ. The story begins with the cat Atherton coming to Jillian to say that her closest neighbor has been murdered and that the cats want the man caught. Jillian meets with the new sheriff to tell him that Irv has been murdered and the action goes on from there....