Official Review: Homicide Chart by V.S. Kemanis

[Katherine E Wall]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Homicide Chart" by V.S. Kemanis.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In Homicide Chart, the second instalment of the Dana Hargrove series, author, V.S. Kemanis, weaves three separate plots lines into a compelling tale. It follows the protagonist, Dana Hargrove, assistant district attorney, as she first pursues a guilty verdict in a case which, at first, does not seem to have much bearing on the overall story. However, it does allow the reader to see the lawyer in action, and her professional demeanour. This contrasts with her personal and loving relationships with her son and husband. More so, it establishes the connection with the defense attorney. This proves to be important when the main plot emerges. In addition, the initial trial has some subtle parallels. Dana's husband, Evan, has a case of his own, as a lawyer representing a publishing house, and that as well has an underlying theme which is relevant to the main theme, underscoring and supporting the premise. Finally, there is the story of their au pair, a wonderful, caring young woman who harbors a secret which will affect the entire household. When Dana serves her time on the homicide chart, she is exposed to a horrifying and tragic murder site, little does she know, at the time, how personal it will become.

While, at times, the author gives the reader an overwhelming amount of information, and some of it could be cut to make a faster-paced story, her characters are so well-defined that we can forgive her the indulgence of legal discussions, heavy description, and forays into aspects which are not directly linked to the plot. Still, as this is a series, we may find that the apparently redundant information will be pertinent in future novels and/or relate to the previous one. At the very least, some of the details add to the very authentic characters. Even relatively minor characters, the doormen of Dana's building, for instance, are painted with a deft hand.

In fact, this is Ms. Kemanis' real talent. She makes us care for the characters. Even when the murderer is revealed, she paints the character with a well-rounded and colourful brush. While we hate him for the deed, we feel for him, as well, and his motivations make sense. For that matter, all the motivations suit the characters, and they are appropriate for their personality traits. The reactions and attitudes appear to develop organically rather than being planned by the author. This makes it easy to slip into the world the author has created.

That being said, I do think that the story would benefit from culling the excessive and sometimes repetitive descriptions and unnecessary information. If the author did this, the strong plot points would not be buried under the verbiage.

So, given those points, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4. For the characters alone, I would love to give the author a four. They are some of the best characters I have read in a long time, and I look forward to reading more of their adventures in the future. I am sure this author will continue to hone her skills and her future books will be even better than this one. Something to look forward too, indeed.

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[Skillian]

hmmmmm. I'm not so sure about this one. I am having mixed feelings over the "indulgence of legal discussions, heavy description, and forays into aspects which are not directly linked to the plot." Will keep it in mind though. Thanks for the review!

[bookowlie]

Excellent review. Sometimes I wish there were categories with the review rating, as often I will find the characters in a book are well-drawn, but the plot is thin, or vice versa.

[Katherine E Wall]

hmmmmm. I'm not so sure about this one. I am having mixed feelings over the "indulgence of legal discussions, heavy description, and forays into aspects which are not directly linked to the plot." Will keep it in mind though. Thanks for the review!

I think it depends on how much you value character over action. Keep the author in mind though, even if you pass on this book, as I think there is solid talent and if the skills continue to be honed with each book, I think we will see some of these issues ironed out in the future.

-- 07 Jan 2015, 12:17 --

Excellent review. Sometimes I wish there were categories with the review rating, as often I will find the characters in a book are well-drawn, but the plot is thin, or vice versa.

Thank you. I think the categories would be great. There are often books I have reviewed which have a solid aspect in one area and require some growth (at least in my opinion) in others. This would help the readers identify how important certain categories are to them, as well, perhaps helping the author to build on strengths and address weaknesses. In this case, I am hoping the author does fine-tune the skill set, because I believe there is a solid start here which can only get better.

[ananya92]

Thanks for the review, the novel seems interesting to me since I'm interested in legal discussions though the excessive descriptions sounds suspicious. Will look out for this one.