| This book is part of a series called A Faith Abbey Mystery, starring Brother Bartholomew, a monk from the abbey. The abbey is located at Provincetown near Cape Cod. Mysteries keep happening at the cape and local sherriff Burke calls in Bartholomew to help. However, this has got to be one of the most bizarre plots I've ever read. Instead of focusing on the investigation or on the perpetrator the plot focuses around the victim and the main suspect. A woman goes to Antwerp to purchase some diamonds for her boss. On her way back she is run down in her car, but she is able to evade the car long enough to deposit the diamonds in a bank. But the bad guys catch up and eventually catch her, torture her to reveal the location of the diamonds, then leave her for dead when she jumps off their boat trying to escape. The woman ultimately drowns. Sherriff Burke is called in but he has health problems, so he asks Bartholomew to assist. Bartholomew asks a few questions trying to get clues. In the meantime the middle two thirds of the book talks about the victim's boss and how he is changing careers, the lives of all his daughters, the story of his failed marriage, and on and on, with very little to no relevance to the plot. Finally Bartholomew and the sheriff come back into the story because a second death happens on the boss's property. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - depressing/sad How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40% Special suspect? - best friend Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Religious overtones? Yes Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 50 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - big business leader(s) How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Water? Yes Water: - drowning Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Unusual forms of death - run over Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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