Silent Night Violent Night: a Cory Goodwin Mystery

Cory Goodwin, daughter of a famous detective from New York, finds herself snowbound in a country house at Christmas with her good friend from college whom she has not seen for fifteen years. A lot can change in fifteen years. It is soon apparent that not all the guests have good intentions towards one another, and one is apparently bent on violence.

I enjoyed the read. In fact, I found myself at work wishing that I could go home and read it, that is always a good sign! As a lover of Golden Age mysteries, I was less than satisfied with the resolution of the crime, but the writing was good. The author managed to convey a lot about the lead character by the way the character referenced things, spoke in her head and such, without describing show more it all for us. The words and the images they painted were clever and I want to know more about this woman. I would certainly read another book about Cory Goodwin.

The use of a dream to point to the solution is not my favorite, and I thought there could have been more solid clues than hunches and feelings. The reason for the solution seemed pulled out of a hat at the end. However, I can't imagine being able to craft an airtight mystery, and since the character was fun to be with, it didn't bother me like it would if the story had been poorly written and hard to read. show less