Cyanide Wells

Rating:
Summary: Love Sharon McCone, Hated This Book
Review: This book was really weak. The concept of the plot sounded good at the start --- lost woman reappears after 14 years, why did she run, what ghosts haunted her -- but the book never goes anywhere. Even more frustrating, all sorts of things never are resolved, including insights into Gwen and why she ran, what was her problem or what were her ghosts, what was the motivation for the call to Lindstrom (this was partially explained, although it was always left as a dangling assumption). The principal characters were likable enough, but that alone couldn't carry the plot. Very very disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Not a great start
Review: This is my first Muller book and it was not a great start. I was engaged at first and read rapidly making mental notes of the characters and locales so I could absorb the details and emerse myself in the story. Halfway through the book it occurred to me that things were not coming together. The secondary characters never moved to the forefront. But most disappointing was the ending. The book just stopped. There was not a final wrap-up where the police and the surviving characters reflect on the past or project the future. This is not a spoiler, but be aware that it is never explained why Ardis acted like she does. She has no personality beyond the way Carly, her lesbian partner, and Matt, her ex-husband, see her. Even her daughter has remarkably little to say about her. The book would have been so much better if the focus had been the complex Gwen/Ardis and included her thoughts and point of view. Why was she so restless and uncomfortable to the point that she rearranged the lives of other people? What made Ardis so endearing that others wanted to protect and keep her - except her parents? Was it her sexual orientation, her sexual confusion, or, as I suspect, did sex have nothing to do with it?

What was the deal with the mayor and the developer about the gold? That subplot was never fully developed and not resolved, and in the end the fate of the property was not discussed. It made no sense and added nothing to the story, although it could it could have if done differently. What was the point of the focus on the gay couple? I thought the book was going to be about gays and pro-gay life, but I got little insight into the lives of rich gay couples and their children. Whatever sensitivity the character Ardis brought to her articles about gays was certainly missing from Muller's book.

In conclusion, I would have to say that this book was like the character Matt, spying on Ardis and Carly through the lens of his camemra. We saw bits and pieces of various characters lives, stepped in and then out, but without knowledge and understanding. Hollow observation. Shallow read. Provocative only if you have a vivid imagination.