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Book Review of The Fifth Petal (Salem, Bk 3)

The Fifth Petal (Salem, Bk 3)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2307 more book reviews


Barry's setting of Salem, Massachusetts is absolute perfection. She brings the city and its history to life, and she makes me want to board a plane and go there immediately for at least a month so that I can explore everything.

The cold case involving the three murdered women is also fascinating. There were two witnesses to the murders, but one suffered a psychotic break from which she never recovered, and the second witness's memories are as the five-year-old girl she was at the time. This makes any information they give Rafferty difficult to interpret, and of course, the chief has to deal with a town that's ready to conduct another witch hunt.

There are several brilliant elements to this story, but I found it to be in dire need of an editor. "Too much middle" means that the pace slowed down to a crawl several times, and I began to find myself losing interest or wanting to skim. Not good. However, the good does far outweigh the bad, and Barry's mystery lingers in my mind still.