Wow, people on this site will really read noir and then complain that bad things happen to the characters, huh?

Scorched Grace came to me via a recommendation from someone in my book club, who had me at “this gay nun book made me think of you.” It’s a character-driven, voicey, stylized whodunnit set against the sweltering backdrop of New Orleans. All of that sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, I feel that the potential here outstrips the execution. The mystery doesn’t hold together that well, the reveal seemed to drop out of nowhere, and there’s not much sleuthing. Some important elements, especially the setting, feel superficial. I kept reading because it’s not bad, but it also wasn’t as good as I expected.

It kept me reading during some stressful hours in the hospital, though, so points for an engaging first hundred pages!