I am currently reading the novel "A Superior Death" by Nevada Barr. This book is supposedly a murder mystery that takes place on Lake Superior in either Wisconsin or Minnesota, however, there has yet to be an indication of a plot to this book. I am currently on page 54 of this 300 page book and there hasn't been the slightest hint of a murder or a mystery. So far all I have done is read about the daily routines of the main character, Anna Pigeon, who is a park ranger in the area. Anna has attended the wedding of a man, Scotty, In the main plaza in the park, where other rangers and important characters were introduced.
I am disappointed by the lack of action or plot thus far in this book. Over the summer I read a different murder mystery called "Iron Lake". This book had an excellent beginning. The book opened with the discovery of the first murder victim and after that the mystery kept you emerged. I also found the main character of that book, the ex-county sheriff, who was also one quarter Native American, was much more complex and described in depth. The sheriff, Cork O'Conner was a much more likable character, as he displayed intelligence, curiosity, and a desire to solve the murders. Anna Pigeon has not really been developed at all in the story. All I know so far about her is that she cares deeply for nature, and that her husband somehow died in Texas several years ago. Perhaps the problem is that there was one book in this series before "A Superior Death", and I haven't read that book yet. Maybe reading that book next will explain more about Anna.
Lastly, although I am nowhere near finished with this book, I sincerely hope that the ending will not disappoint me the ending to "Iron Lake" had done. In that book, the main character was valiantly preparing to take down the killer with nothing but a knife as the man drove at home in a car on a frozen lake. Just as O'Conner prepared to fight the killer, his ex-wife, who had never shot a gun (or at least it was never mentioned in the book), fired a random shot with a rifle, which must have been blessed by some divine force, because it hit the gas tank of the car, drawing the book to a devastatingly anti-climactic close. I swear if "A Superior Death" ends in some similar fashion, I may have to go back to reading books I know end well, such as the works of Dr. Seuss.
I certainly hope that this story picks up soon, as I am currently finding it difficult to read through this piece, and doubt I will go much further with it if nothing exciting happens soon.
This is a good lesson to think about as a writer. What obligations do you have to develop character -- how and how fast? I hope there is a payoff or some kind of purposeful plotting that will make sense later. Keep us posted. I also like how you use the contrasts with the other novel you read this summer.
ReplyDeleteI can really agree with you when you say that it is very difficult to read a book that has an extremely slow start. But I think that since it is a murder mystery it will have to eventually pick up the pace at some point in the book. Also i've found that it is always hard to read a book when you try comparing it to other books that are in the same genre as it. I know its hard if not impossible to be unbiased when reading a book but i feel with murder mysteries you always have to at least try to keep an open mind because there are so many different ways for the author to get their story across; through flashbacks, in sequential order, working their way backward from the murder etc . Personal I tend to like the murder mysteries that give the reader action in the beginning and have the explanation of why different things occurred within the rest of the book. I also agree with you when you said that the problem might be that you skipped a book in the series, by doing this you may have missed the rising action that you think that the book you are reading may be lacking. But if i had to choose a book (murder mystery) that stuck most with me it would be chronicle of a death for told which i had to read for class sophomore year. It was one of those books where the murder was a puzzle that you had to put together and you had to figure out why it happened.
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