About Still Life
Still Life book description via Amazon.com
Blacklisted in the photography business over a controversial shot, Avery Tate answered an ad for a crime scene photographer. She expected to be laughed at, but crime scene analyst Parker Mitchell hired her outright–and changed her life. But six months ago, when her feelings for Parker became too strong, she left his employ to sort out her heart.
Now, for the first time, Avery is facing the world that rejected her to attend the gallery opening of a photography exhibit and support her best friend, who modeled for the show. But the only image of her friend is a chilling photo of her posing as if dead–and the photographer insists he didn’t take the shot. Worse, her friend can’t be found. She immediately calls Parker for help. As Avery, Parker, and his friends in law enforcement dig into the mystery, they find themselves face-to-face with a relentless and deadly threat.
My Review of Still Life
The saga continues in my reading a series’ Book 2 prior to Book 1! I will remedy that in the near future; Still Life is a gripping read that kept me guessing until the very end. I admit that I am somewhat clueless when it comes to mysteries and figuring out “whodunit”. My excitement at picking up clues approaching the denouement was palpable!
Still Life‘s subject matter certainly fell on the moribund end of the spectrum; certainly understandable given the genre. Read Still Life in broad daylight, or at least not much past twilight; its vivid descriptions and engrossing plot will keep you up later than you anticipate, and you may need to wind down a bit prior to actually pursuing sleep!
I don’t know if the complimentary copy I received was final or an eARC; I guess the former, as the release date came and went. With that, I found multiple grammatical errors (most notably around apostrophes) and the occasional homonym error that proved distracting through the climax and denouement.
I also wonder at Parker’s sudden switch from grieving a past love to suddenly being “all in” with Avery. Pettrey spent so much time regurgitating Parker’s old relationship and what a hard time he’d been through, that the switch felt forced and fast. It would have been more believable had some of the reiterations been left out or condensed.
And finally, I struggled keeping all of the characters straight. Many of the names could be used for boys or girls, or typically for one gender and then surprisingly used for another in this series, and I took a good 2/3 of the book to get them all straight.
Still, I enjoyed Still Life and would happily pick up Books 1 and 3 in the series. I appreciated the clean romance, faith elements, quick pacing, hidden clues, and final wrap-up.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Still Life from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are, as always, my own.
About the Author
Author pic via DaniPettrey.com. Author bio via Amazon.com
Dani Pettrey is the bestselling author of the Alaskan Courage series and winner of the 2014 Daphne du Maurier award for Inspirational Novel, the 2014 Christian Retailing’s Best Award for Suspense, and the 2013 Holt Medallion for First Novel. She and her husband reside in the D.C. Metro area. She can be found online at www.danipettrey.com.
She Reads Wherever She Goes 