West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman (2023)
I'm at a complete loss as to whom this book would appeal to beyond graduate students or doctoral candidates seeking M.F.A.'s or PhD's in literature.
Yes, there's a murder mystery that sporadically wanders and in and out of the book, but about 75 per cent of "West Heart Kill" is devoted to an exhaustive academic treatise on the murder mystery as a literary art form.......origins, beginnings, histories, the breakdown of all the sub-genres and their individual tropes. And the author uses the actual plot he's concocted as a sort of a slide-show visual aid for his 'Murder Mystery 101' college course lectures.
While I admire the ambitious intent here, it makes for a tedious, annoying read. And I really began to run out of patience with the book as it swung back and forth from its whodunit storyline to the author's meticulous analysis of the characters and events as they apply to his literally forensic research into mystery genres.
The story used to illustrate the lectures involves a private eye who managed an invite to an uppercrust hunting lodge on the July 4th weekend of 1976. The vast upstate New York club's membership consists, naturally of ultra-wealthy families afflicted with endless dysfunctions and secrets........infidelities, shady finances, dark histories, and tragic accidents that maybe weren't accidental. So with such a toxic collection of individuals, more dead bodies don't come as a big surprise.
Once I realized the author's pushing these obnoxious characters around like chess pieces to illustrate his points, I lost all interest in who did what to whom. All the academia stuff does display some sharp wit from time to time, as do the P.I.'s interrogations of the various suspects.... and halfway through the book, Dann McDorman gives up on prose altogether, reducing the mystery sections to simple Q. & A's or in the form of stage play excerpts.
Just as well, since the plot's only used for the author's power point presentation anyway. English majors who read mysteries may get some overall entertainment out of this, but as for me....... sorry, but I didn't sign on for a college course. 2 stars (**). And I'm being generous here......
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