OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of ""Minister's Shoes"" by Celine Rose Mariotti.]
I am a sucker for a great mystery novel, which led me to read “The Minister’s Shoes” by Celine Rose Mariotti. This mystery, while written with a great story line, seemed to fall just a bit short of my expectations. I rated this novel a 2 out of 4 stars.

Set in a small town in Alabama, “The Minister’s Shoes” follows a young pastor as he acts as a detective, friend, and leader to help solve a mystery involving a church member’s missing husband. The pastor is very close to the Lord, and the Lord actively helps this young man solve the case. There are many characters throughout the novel who travel along with the young pastor to aid him also in solving the case. A twist in the middle of the story leads to an even bigger case for the pastor/detective to solve.

This story, “The Minister’s Shoes”, while a wonderful plot and theme, seems to lack on the detail part of the manuscript. The story did not flow, but instead seemed choppy and broken. Perhaps the author was writing the story for a different audience, but nevertheless, the story needed more detail to fill it out and paint a more vivid picture for the target audience, which is the readers.

I rated “The Minister’s Shoes” a 2 out of 4 stars because I was simply left wanting more. There were times when I needed more action, and other times when I enjoyed the simplicity of the novel. I would not recommend “The Minister’s Shoes” to young teens. The story is not well laid out for younger readers since the content contains an affair, gambling, and alcohol abuse. The novel is geared more for adults.

My only complaint about the book was the lack of detail. This is not to be confused with absolutely no detail at all. There were details throughout the book; however, there just weren’t enough to paint the pictures needed with words to draw the reader into the mystery. The details that were in the novel just simply were not strong enough to carry the novel along. The moments with no detail seemed to make the story feel choppy and unbalanced. This is also not to say that I did not enjoy the book, because I did enjoy the book. I merely would like to have seen a few more details to deepen the story. All in all, “The Minister’s Shoes”, with a few more details added, would be right up there beside some of the great mystery novels.

If you are a fan of small town, missing person’s mysteries, well I recommend “The Minister’s Shoes”. Be prepared for a few small twists and turns throughout the novel. I hope all of the readers enjoy the plot and theme of the book as I did.

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Good review. You're quite right that the details are what separate great books from average books. This sounds like a promising author who needs more writing experience.

Nicely done missdaniellerhudy! I agree with both of you regarding the details in a story line. I do like having the details though there have been a few books that have too many. I'm going to read this one because I do like a good mystery.