Official Review: The Mammoth Murders, Book 2 of The Minok...

Jocelyn Eastman · Post by **Jocelyn Eastman** » 23 Mar 2020, 12:39

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Mammoth Murders, Book 2 of The Minokee Mysteries series" by Iris Chacon.]

4 out of 4 stars

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The Mammoth Murders, Book 2 of The Minokee Mysteries Series by Iris Chacon is a fictional crime and mystery novel. The main characters, Miranda Ogilvy and Shepard Krausse, are engaged to be married in the small town of Minokee. There is also a sinkhole at a nearby farm that may contain valuable prehistoric animal bones. Miranda and Shepard take a canoe ride with a group of interested scholars to the site of the sinkhole and meet David Zhang, a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. The owner of the farm, Tom Rigby, decided to donate the bones to the University of Florida where his friend Professor Clarkson was teaching. Professor Clarkson was also on this canoe ride to the sinkhole because the bones are valuable. David Zhang mysteriously disappears after the canoe ride. Miranda and Shepard are asked to help look for him. Is he still alive? Did he just go back home to China? Is anyone safe?

This book was extremely well-edited and written in easy to understand language. I thought it was an easy read. There was no profanity and there were no explicit scenes within the novel. However, there were some violent scenes. I wouldn’t say those scenes were grossly violent, but there are some, for those who are sensitive to that subject.

The thing I liked most about this book was the exposition. This is the second book in a series, and sometimes that means a person is going to be lost if this is the first book they read. I didn’t feel like that at all. Not only did this book make me want to read the first book, but it also gave me enough background information from the first book that I knew what the history of the characters was. The book also didn’t get bogged down in the details. I don’t think my review can even do the whole book justice, that is how good this book was. The book was well balanced and refreshing to read.

The thing I disliked most about this book was the main characters breaking up in the middle of the book. I try not to give away too many plot points in my book reviews, but this was the thing I didn’t like. I might be nit-picking my dislikes here by picking a plot point as my dislike, but the book was very good. In any case, I just felt that the breaking up of Miranda and Shepard in the middle of the book was a little pointless. At the beginning of the novel, we know they are together for a canoe ride that is dangerous at the end of the novel since it’s in the prologue. We know they are together in some capacity towards the end.

Overall, I loved this book. I am glad I picked it up! I think crime and mystery buffs will enjoy this read, but I also think anyone trying crime and mystery for the first time will like this one. It would make a great introduction novel into the genre. I am giving this one 4 out of 4 stars.

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The Mammoth Murders, Book 2 of The Minokee Mysteries series
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