This is the second Sam Smith Mystery by Hannah Howe that I've read and the more I read of this talented author, the more I enjoy her stories. Her "hero" Samantha Smith is a character that is so easy to identify with, as a reader, whatever your gender. Her emotions and her entire life it seems has been fashioned by her experiences, which have made her very flawed and yet very relatable. Her childhood; the alcoholic mother, the abandoning father and finally the ex-husband who beat her mercilessly have all combined to create a woman so insecure in herself that she is continually battling to prove herself to the world and her own mind. As a private detective, she is a woman living in a man's world. Perhaps that's part of the reason she chose this profession - because it gives her the boost her fragile ego needs, especially when she is successful at it, which she usually is. Sam is scared to give herself emotionally and completely to another man - she truly fears she brings out the worst in people and any man in her life, no matter how well it starts, will inevitably end up acting violently towards her. It is hard not to like, admire and empathise with Sam Smith. Howe has created a wonderful character here and it is easy to see how a long-running series can be fashioned around Sam Smith. Great Job!
In Love and Bullets, we see Sam tentatively crawling around the edges of a possible relationship with Alan, a widower, and his sixteen-year-old daughter Alis. This is a compelling side to the real story in which Sam is hired to find out who has been sending threatening letters to a prominent psychiatrist, who is a proponent of the theory of "eugenics", which roughly explained is the idea of Darwin's natural selection, applied compulsorily to humans - weeding out the weak and infirm and stopping them from breeding; the creation of a "master race" of humanity through genetic selection. This whole aspect of the story as both fascinating and abhorrent and just added to my enjoyment of the mystery.
I love Howe's uncomplicated, forceful writing. There are few flowery phrases - like Sam Smith, her words are hard, clear and to the point. I rarely do this in reviews, but there was one sentence I really wanted to highlight, as for me it summed up the clarity and cleverness of Howe's narrative: "She had cried the rain,but there was still plenty of sunshine in her life and that sunshine would produce a rainbow." Cliched and trite, hmmmm....... maybe, but I loved it.
As you may have guessed by now, Love and Bullets: A Sam Smith Mystery, by Hannah Howe, was an out and out winner for me. I have no hesitation in awarding this story five great stars and can assure Ms Howe, this will not be the last Sam Smith Mystery I read. A fantastic story by a wonderful author. Thank you for the enjoyment.
In Love and Bullets, we see Sam tentatively crawling around the edges of a possible relationship with Alan, a widower, and his sixteen-year-old daughter Alis. This is a compelling side to the real story in which Sam is hired to find out who has been sending threatening letters to a prominent psychiatrist, who is a proponent of the theory of "eugenics", which roughly explained is the idea of Darwin's natural selection, applied compulsorily to humans - weeding out the weak and infirm and stopping them from breeding; the creation of a "master race" of humanity through genetic selection. This whole aspect of the story as both fascinating and abhorrent and just added to my enjoyment of the mystery.
I love Howe's uncomplicated, forceful writing. There are few flowery phrases - like Sam Smith, her words are hard, clear and to the point. I rarely do this in reviews, but there was one sentence I really wanted to highlight, as for me it summed up the clarity and cleverness of Howe's narrative: "She had cried the rain,but there was still plenty of sunshine in her life and that sunshine would produce a rainbow." Cliched and trite, hmmmm....... maybe, but I loved it.
As you may have guessed by now, Love and Bullets: A Sam Smith Mystery, by Hannah Howe, was an out and out winner for me. I have no hesitation in awarding this story five great stars and can assure Ms Howe, this will not be the last Sam Smith Mystery I read. A fantastic story by a wonderful author. Thank you for the enjoyment.
Please do go and check out all of Hannah Howe's compelling novels at Amazon
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