REVIEW: The Body in the Attic

The Body in the Attic
Author: Judi Lynn

I enjoy discovering authors who are new to me so I jumped at the chance to read this first mystery novel by Judi Lynn, a romance novelist. I don't usually read the romance genre at all....but decided to give this a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The Body in the Attic is the first book in the "Body in the.....'' mystery series. Judi Lynn is the author of several romance books including the Mill Pond Romances series.

The basics: Jasmine "Jazzi'' Zanders flips houses along with her cousin Jerod. After four years they are pretty good at it. Most of the time they make good money. This time, their project is a home of a recently deceased family friend. In fact, the man was engaged to Jazzi's Aunt Lynda before she ran off to New York more than 25 years ago and never came back. Lynda was a bit of a wild, free spirit having been engaged multiple times, breaking it off with each man when she found someone more interesting. Jazzi and Jerod are both completely shocked when they begin cleaning out the attic and find a stained cedar trunk. Inside is a skeleton, red hair still clinging to the skull and a silver locket around its neck.   Aunt Lynda.....she never ran off to New York after all.....

When I request review copies of books, I promise to give an honest review. I carefully read each book....and then I give my honest opinion. And I'm going to do that with this book just like all the others. That being said.....

I really wanted to like this book. I tried....but it really felt like a formula romance novel with a bit of mystery sprinkled on top. A lot of fluff and little substance. The plot of a long-time missing family member being discovered dead is one that has been used so many times, it just fell flat for me. The minute I read the first chapter and learned about the missing aunt, I knew they would find the body in the house.  There is very little character or setting/background theme development. The writing style is choppy, and the mystery is just too simple with very little suspense or investigation. I knew the identity of the killer before I even reached the half-way point of the story.

This book just isn't for me. That doesn't mean that others won't read it and absolutely love it.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**