The Starr Sting Scale - C.S. O'Cinneide

Mystery

Rating: 8/10

It’s not often you encounter a book where a killer for hire is the prime suspect in a case she’s been asked to help solve.  And that killer, she’s a woman.  And that woman, she’s a tough talking, hard drinking smartass with a lot of ways to kill people in her repertoire.

Approached by a mother looking to “off” her daughters’ boyfriend, who is apparently sullying the undoubtedly spoiled princess, Ms. Starr discovers to her chagrin that there is a line she won’t cross.  And whacking a teenager is on the other side of it.  This proves moot however as someone else steps up to do the deed. It’s at this point she’s asked by a female cop to provide assistance in the form of her, let’s call it unique, perspective.  And this is where the fun really starts!

The authors immersion in the depiction of the characters and relationships may have the reader forgetting that there is a mystery at all here. But that distraction from the plot ensures the last few twists are all that much more captivating!

Readers will find Ms. Starr’s appealing amoral worldview and vast range of eccentric friends and family impossible to resist!

Footnote: A book that takes place in my hometown of Toronto just adds a little extra somein’ somein’.