BAFFLING BINGO MYSTERY DAY: ONCE WICKED, ALWAYS DEAD: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO

BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"BAFFLING BINGO DAY"
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS THURSDAY'S
"BAFFLING BINGO DAY"
MYSTERY BOOK CHOICE IS.....
GIVEAWAY ENDED
ONCE WICKED
ALWAYS DEAD

BY T. MARIE BENCHLEY

ABOUT THE BOOK:

What happens when a family's darkest secrets put lives in jeopardy? How far would you go for love? Molly Madison is unaware of the Sociopath who is on the loose, creating havoc with a sense of their own justice. Her life is shattered by the sudden death of her beloved parents and the revelation of her husband Phillip’s affair – with another man – Molly leaves the life of Country Clubs and the luxury of city life in Florida and heads west to Montana, resolved to run the family ranch, and to move on with her life. Her attraction to Clayton Leatherbe, the ranch foreman, is instant, but before a romance can blossom, the ranch falls prey to sabotage by wealthy land developers determined to drive Molly out, and Clayton learns of a family secret and collides with the Sociopath that could put the ranch – and Molly’s life – in jeopardy. A sharp mystery that swirls with family secrets, betrayal, love and loss, Once Wicked Always Dead is a strong debut from an author with literary blood in her veins.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

T. Marie Benchley is an author and student in life. With a family heritage of actors/writers including famed author Peter Benchley of "Jaws and The Deep", she was introduced to classic literature at an early age and remains a passionate reader. Although the only sharks on her pages are attorneys and the monsters in her plots are sociopaths, her primary desire is to entertain her readers. Though formally educated in journalism and marketing and is also an avid traveler, finding inspiration for her novels by studying people and listening to their stories. Happily married with a son and daughter, she divides her time between Florida and Montana.

MY REVIEW:

ONCE WICKED, ALWAYS DEAD is T. Marie Benchley’s debut novel. I approached this book like any other mystery and as the synopsis goes, Molly Madison lives in Florida and has a good life even though she and her attorney husband aren’t that close anymore. The catalyst to set things in motion is when her parents are killed in an accident and Molly’s life begins to fall apart. Not only does she lose her parents, but she finds out her husband is having an affair with another man.

Looking for a new start, Molly heads to Montana and the family ranch where she becomes quite taken with the foreman, Clayton Leatherbe (is that really a ranch foreman’s name?). Before they have time to connect, she must deal with a land developer who is pressuring her to sell the ranch. As Molly and Clayton deal with the dirty tactics of the developer, Clayton finds out a secret about Molly’s father. This secret could change everything.

Woven in between this story, is the narrative about a serial killer who was introduced in the prologue of the story. This sick minded individual seems to murder people who have hurt others. Perhaps the killer thinks they are doing the world a favor. But either way, the somewhat kinky killer winds up in Montana, following Molly. How all these plot lines converge and where they all settle out, along with lots of twists and turns, is how ONCE WICKED, ALWAYS DEAD concludes.

I think for a debut novel, Ms. Benchley has shown a lot of potential. The main story was interesting but there were so many sub-plots, twists and turns, that it was almost like several story ideas had been rolled up into one book. At times, it all seemed to try way too hard and came out rather contrived for me. The writing was a bit choppy and lacked an easy, natural flow but it didn’t bother me, or the story that much, and I do think Benchley’s next book will show improvement in that. If the narrative could have stayed on one part for a bit longer and not jump around so much to other characters and subplots, I believe it would have flowed much better for the reader. Lastly, the abundance of profanity was another thing that I think was overdone. I am not a prude but just like gratuitous sex in a book or movie, this kind of language can be almost laughable. Not everyone talks like that all the time, and I think it should be toned down in the future, and especially not include it in the narrator‘s words. All in all, I would say it is a good enough story to give it a chance as I do think we will hear more from this author in the future and it will be interesting to see the direction she takes.
 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO SHIRLEY AT NEWMAN

COMMUNICATIONS, I HAVE ONE COPY

OF THIS NEW MYSTERY TO GIVE

AWAY TO ONE LUCKY WINNER!

 
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+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHY YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK BY READING "ABOUT THE BOOK" ABOVE AND MY REVIEW

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BONUS ENTRIES: WATCH FOR MY AUTHOR INTERVIEW LATER TODAY AND MORE CHANCES TO WIN! HERE IS THE LINK TO IT NOW

GIVEAWAY ENDS

6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 21!

GOOD LUCK!