Reviews

• The delight of Little Indiscretions is not so much the unfolding of a quirky mystery, perfect to a T. It is also the charmingly improbable characters shaped to fascinate and confound. Never before in a cozy heave I encountered such a kooky, satisfying assortment of oddballs.

• delighted

• Nestor Chaffino, a pointy-moustachioed pastry chef who was privy to too many secrets, found himself standing in the dark at 4:00 in the morning among the frozen carcasses in Ernesto Teldi's 1980-s model Westinghouse cool room, the door having swung shut behind him with a click and, oddly enough, a laugh. At twenty degrees below zero, Nestor didn't manage to live until morning, when a Häagen Dazs-seeking employee finally opened the door, but he did have time to come to an imperfect understanding of the circumstances of his death. The fortune teller he had seen two weeks before had given him enough information to figure out some of it. In Little Indiscretions Carmen Posadas pieces together the coincidences and peccadilloes that surrounded Nestor's demise--not his own failings, as he was a discreet confidant, and a loyal friend, and he ran a clean kitchen, but those of his acquaintances: from his friend Carlos's love affair with a picturesque woman to the skeletons in the Teldis' separate bedroom closets to the unwelcome longings of widower Serafin Tous. Posadas's story is a good one, and the reader is eager, nearing the end, to discover which--if any--of the indiscretions uncovered in its course has culminated in Nestor's death by freezing. But I found the solution to Nestor's puzzle, the reason, finally, that the freezer door closed behind him, hard to believe. The story was also more difficult to follow than it might have been because the author tells it in disconnected chunks, going backward in time from Nestor's death, then forward, and incorporating memories of much older, yet still haunting, events.

• Every event in this story is, and is not, what it seems. Is it a murder, a tragic accident, Karmic justice, or insanity - or all of these combined? While the suspects fear the victim, or what each thinks he knows, they hold equal damaging information about others; plus hiding their own dark secrets. That they all end up at this house, on this weekend, proves the world is a very small place. Interesting story, where less is revealed than expected.

• Quick Overview Although the writer (and/or translator) does demonstrate an engaging style of writing, at times, this is not a book to fall in love with. For me, anyway. With well-drawn characters and an engaging opening chapter, I would normally be expecting to give Little Indiscretions a four or five star rating. Yet, two stars is all I can muster… Read on to learn what I liked and what I didn’t like. Length: Print, 320 pages. Q - Target Audience/Genre and is it marketed as Nonfiction or Fiction: A – A Mystery.novel. Q - How was this book obtained? A – Bought on Amazon. Q – If this is fiction, is it a plot-driven or a character-driven story? A – Plot driven. Q - Is this a book that I can read without having to read others first? A – Yes. Q – If this is a recurring character or a series, does it have a cliffhanger ending? A – No cliffhanger ending. Q - Are there a lot of typos/misspellings, grammatical errors or other editing failures? A – No. Q - Is this a fast, easy read or is it more of a leisure read? A – A leisure read. Q - What sort of language does this writer use to amplify the points made? A – Adult English with a high density of f-bombs – far more numerous than needed for the story or the characters. Q – What age group is this suitable for? A – If this were a film it likely would be rate R for language. Q - My biggest pleasure or disappointment? A – While the mechanics of the writing are professional and engaging, to a point, the story itself just seems to meander on and on and on. Almost as if the writer is so proud of being able to write clear, engaging characters that she has lost sight of what the point of the story is. The twisted ending just comes after too much fluff and a dozen f-bombs too late. Two stars out of five. I simply had to struggle too hard and for too long to finish the story. Having stated that, I still would be open to buying this author's next book. Comments regarding your opinion of this book or of my review, whether favorable or unfavorable, are always welcome. If you buy the book based on my review and become disappointed, especially, I do want to know that and I want to understand how I can improve as a book reviewer. Just please be polite. Thank you.

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