Review: Dead Time

Dead Time by Anne Cassidy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



GoodReads Synopsis: When Rose was twelve, her mother and stepfather went out for dinner and never came back. Now seventeen, she lives with her grandmother and goes to school in London. She’s always wondered about her stepbrother, Joshua, whom she only lived with briefly and who was also relocated after their parents’ disappearance. When Rose and Joshua meet again, they find they have much in common, including a desire to uncover the mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance . . . and a mutual attraction to each other. But when Rose witnesses the murders of not one but two of her classmates, she must uncover who is behind these violent crimes. And when she and Joshua discover that a much larger conspiracy is underway, both of their lives will be in danger. From international bestseller Anne Cassidy, this first in a fastpaced and romantic new mystery series will keep readers guessing.

My Thoughts: This book was different…not quite sure how to describe it.

Rose is stuck dealing with the murders of two classmates. Because she is the seemingly common denominator in both cases, she feels reluctantly forced into finding answers. At the same time her “step-brother” Joshua enters the picture.

Joshua’s Dad and Rose’s Mom were never married even though all four of them lived together as a family. Joshua’s Dad, Brendan, and Rose’s Mom, Kathy, disappeared one night five years earlier leaving no trace. While Rose has moved on, Joshua has not. Joshua has and is doing anything and everything to find any hint of what happened to Brendan and Kathy.

So, we, the reader, are stuck in the midst of 3 mysteries. One is solved and closed by the police, one is not, and there are clues pointing toward the trail of the third. This book has a lot going on, least of which is romance! But the references, above, to romance are a bit misleading. We get the feeling like Rose might be attracted to Joshua but that’s about all we get. Plus the seeming interest of a couple of other characters in Rose.

We learn so little about Rose and Joshua. They don’t seem to be fully formed. We see tiny glimpses of them before the parents disappeared, but really don’t know anything about them. We know they were miserable while they were apart, but why didn’t they keep in touch? Joshua was able to contact Rose when he moved to London, why not sooner? It was the little things about this book that bothered me.

There is a rather large cliffhanger that will bring me back for more…I’m just hoping that story will be a bit more concise and the characters will be more developed.




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