Review of Photofinish

[Stephen Christopher 1]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Photofinish" by Cheryl Kerr.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Photofinish by Cheyl Kerr is billed as a crime thriller set at a racing stable. The story opens with the murder of a prominent owner. The old man’s granddaughter, Rory Kind, arrives the next day and joins forces with NYPD police detective Bailey Morgan to attempt to solve the mystery.

The reader already knows who the killer is, so this is more of a ‘will they catch him’ than a ‘whodunnit.’

What I enjoyed about the story was the character development. Every character is fleshed out, and they all fit the plot. The book has a satisfactory ending, with all the questions answered. Cheryl Kerr has obviously done her research, and horse stable processes were detailed, descriptive, and informative.

That’s what I liked, here’s what I didn’t.

I grew up reading Dick Francis’ racecourse mysteries, and I was hoping this one would be in the same vein. It was close, but for me, it had a few flaws. The novel feels like two stories in one. At times, the focus is more on Rory Kind and her journey of self-discovery than on the murder investigation, which sometimes feels secondary in the story. There were a lot of flashbacks to her childhood, almost one per chapter, and I found that they broke up the flow of the current events.

I’m a fan of trying to guess who the killer is, so this approach of already knowing before the protagonist does let me down a little.

A challenge with many first-person stories is that the characters rarely introduce or describe themselves. It was three pages into Chapter One before I realized that Rory was female — as Rory could be a name for either gender — and by the end of the book, except for having button eyes, I can’t tell you what she looks like. All the other characters were described through Rory’s eyes, so it was easy to picture them. Rory often glances at herself in a mirror; if only she’d made an internal comment to herself about her appearance, the reader would have something to work with.

For some odd reason, certain words are underlined throughout the book. I’m not sure if this means they may be hyperlinks in a future edition, but for now, they serve no purpose, and I found them distracting.

The book is well-edited; however, I found five errors. That didn’t distract from my reading enjoyment, but the other reasons mentioned did, so I can’t give this book a full score. So, I’m rating it 4 out of 5 stars.

Lovers of horse racing, equine stable processes, and family sagas will enjoy this mystery the most. There’s no profanity, and there’s only one suggested sex scene with no vivid description, so young teens and up can read this book.

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Photofinish
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[Elizabeth-Tush4Christ]

"Photofinish" is a crime thriller book that I'm excited to read because I enjoy crime stories and solving mysteries. A good plot and well-developed characters are important to me, as they enhance the overall reading experience and prevent the story from feeling dragged out. However, I'm disappointed when characters aren't fully fleshed out and the plot becomes redundant or overly lengthy.

As someone who likes to try and solve murder mysteries alongside the characters, this aspect is a letdown for me. Nevertheless, I appreciate the detailed review, as it gives me a clear understanding of what to expect from the book and what to avoid in order to fully enjoy it. I've already added it to my bookshelf and plan to pick it up soon, thanks to your insightful review.

[RJ Reviews]

Ah I hate it when I find that the presumed the gender of a character wrong! That being said, I absolutely adore any story involving horses and this one seems to have added a murder mystery as a cherry on top! I definitely would be giving this one a try. It helps that it has minimal errors and no profanities. Thank you for such a beautiful review, Stephen. I always love reading your reviews.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

"Photofinish" is a crime thriller book that I'm excited to read because I enjoy crime stories and solving mysteries. A good plot and well-developed characters are important to me, as they enhance the overall reading experience and prevent the story from feeling dragged out. However, I'm disappointed when characters aren't fully fleshed out and the plot becomes redundant or overly lengthy.

As someone who likes to try and solve murder mysteries alongside the characters, this aspect is a letdown for me. Nevertheless, I appreciate the detailed review, as it gives me a clear understanding of what to expect from the book and what to avoid in order to fully enjoy it. I've already added it to my bookshelf and plan to pick it up soon, thanks to your insightful review.

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for stopping by. Yes I love being able to 'guess' the killer, so not having that component doesn't make it fit the 'murder mystery' theme as much as a general crime theme. It's an easy read and I found the horse-racing components interesting. I hope you enjoy it too.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

Ah I hate it when I find that the presumed the gender of a character wrong! That being said, I absolutely adore any story involving horses and this one seems to have added a murder mystery as a cherry on top! I definitely would be giving this one a try. It helps that it has minimal errors and no profanities. Thank you for such a beautiful review, Stephen. I always love reading your reviews.

Oh, if you're into horses, you'll love this. All the background information on how a stable works and how they prepare for races was a fascinating component of this story. hope you enjoy it, and thanks for the kind words.

[Risper Ouma Anyango]

Yup, the reader always knows who the bad guy is and, at some point, even knows how it will end. I totally root for the older man's granddaughter. I loved your review.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

Yup, the reader always knows who the bad guy is and, at some point, even knows how it will end. I totally root for the older man's granddaughter. I loved your review.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Yeah so did I, she's a great character.

[Cristiano Bellucci]

I like your approach. I also enjoy guessing who the murderer is. This is part of the fun of reading the book. The tension about hot it develops is worth too.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

I like your approach. I also enjoy guessing who the murderer is. This is part of the fun of reading the book. The tension about hot it develops is worth too.

Yes, I'm not sure where the concept of revealing the villain early in the book comes from, but I'm seeing it more often now, and I'm not a fan.

[Harshitha Nayak]

This one is depth analysis of the book and gave us good picture of what to expect from this book in the aspect of composition and narrating skills.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

This one is depth analysis of the book and gave us good picture of what to expect from this book in the aspect of composition and narrating skills.

Thanks Harshitha for your kind words.

[Amy Luman]

I’m sorry that there were problems with the book. I, too, like to be able to try and use clues to determine the killer even though I am not very good at it. I also don’t really enjoy stories centering around horses. Thanks!

[Stephen Christopher 1]

I’m sorry that there were problems with the book. I, too, like to be able to try and use clues to determine the killer even though I am not very good at it. I also don’t really enjoy stories centering around horses. Thanks!

Yes, whatever happened to the classic 'whodunnit' books? I hope they get a resurgence.

[Terry Kimble]

I'm considering giving this book a look. I, too, prefer to solve a crime along with the characters (I'm so dang good at it! ), but from your review, Stephen, it sounds like this book has just enough charm to interest me. I enjoyed this review!

[Alice Heritage]

Dick Francis - that takes me back to the 1980s, wow!

You raise an interesting point about not knowing what a character looks like when a novel is first-person. Having a character looking at themselves in the mirror is a cliche, though, so I always notice and get taken out of the story when that happens. I suppose the best way might be if they compare themselves with another character.

I enjoyed reading your comprehensive review.