*** Review*** Dead Time (The Murder Notebooks #1) by Anne Cassidy

On the Back of the Book

Rose and Joshua first met when Joshua and his dad came to live with Rose and her mum. Then their world turns upside down when their mother and father go out for dinner one evening and never return. With police inquiries going nowhere, Rose is dispatched to live with her chilly, unfriendly grandmother and Joshua is sent to live with his uncle. Then Joshua comes to London to study and Rose is witness to not one, but two murders. Why is this happening to Rose? Can it be anything to do with the investigations Joshua has been doing into the disappearance of their parents? A taut and pacy thriller that is the start of a stylish new series from an acclaimed writer for teens.

Pre Read Thoughts

I’m choosing this because:

I bought this specifically because I got book 2 for review off NetGalley (I didn’t know it was book 2 okay?) Saying that, this is definitely the kind of book that I’d pick up anyway if I’d seen it in the shop or on Amazon.  I love crime books, I steal borrow them off my mum and so a YA one is something I’d jump at. I don’t really see many of them .I used to read some of Anne Cassidy’s books from the 90s so I’m familiar with her but I can’t remember what her writing was like. I remember enjoying the books though so I’m excited to read this.

Judging a book by its cover:

The cover is quite gritty actually. I’d been looking at the font and thinking “pretty!” like I normally do and then I noticed that the picture is some train tracks. That intrigues me. Normally I pick up books with pretty girls on the cover. I do like it though; I don’t get how it ties into the book from the synopsis adding to the intrigue.  I feel that this is a cover that would definitely get my attention, purely because it’s so different to a lot of other book covers in the YA category.

Pricing the (possible) awesomeness:

I bought the Kindle version of the book (obviously, I’m not feeding Spencer. He’s big enough thank you very much!) which was £1.98. There’s also a paperback version for £5.24. I’m not being funny but that’s quite a big difference so if I were you I’d go ebook on this one!

Post Read Thoughts

I’m in two minds about this to be honest. It was a quick, easy read but I never really felt engaged with the story. This could be because this story felt like it was laying the foundations of the rest of the series. There are 2 stories in this one. There’s the story arc of the disappearance of Rose’s mum and Joshua’s dad and then there’s the one book story which is the action. I did enjoy the writing, it kept me reading without me having to force myself to sit there and read. I also loved the murder aspects because I got to play detective although I appear to be better at TV crimes. There was a nice twist at the end of the book and I’m hoping it leads somewhere in ‘Killing Rachel’.

Rose – She’s a difficult character to analyse because of the way the book’s written but I feel she has this wall and that makes it so hard to like her. I do understand some aspects of her character though and relating to a character makes it easier to read a book. She’s developing a crush on her “stepbrother” and I don’t think that’s needed. I’d much prefer if they were just amateur sleuth types.

Joshua – He’s Rose’s mum’s boyfriend’s son. Confused yet? I know, I was too. Which is probably why he’s referred to as Rose’s stepbrother. Maybe I should’ve said that. Anyway off topic. I thought he was very self centred and didn’t really care about what Rose was going through.

Skeggsie – Skeggsie is weird but nice. I actually think I liked him best. I’d have liked to see more of him because he’s a bit of a geek and a hacker and he could really add to the hunt for Brendan and Kathy. You don’t really get to know much about him but I feel like he might have a soft spot for Rose.

Overall this is a good start to a four part story even though it doesn’t really sell you on it. I feel like it’ll improve as the characters get closer to their goal of finding Rose’s mum and Joshua’s dad. This book was more about setting things in motion and that makes me wonder if people will actually pay attention to ‘Killing Rachel’.

My Rating

3 Stars – this is good but nowhere near excellent. An easy read that stands out in the YA category because I don’t think there are a huge amount of YA crime/thrillers. If there are they don’t sell them in my town! If you’re a fan of thrillers you might want to check this out, but I’m holding out until I’m further in the series.