'Snap Shot' by Meg Chittenden
Published by Berkley : ISBN 0-425-19803-0

I much enjoyed Meg Chittenden’s Charlie Plato series, so Snap Shot is certainly a most welcome addition to my collection of this author’s work.

As she is recovering from an injury, PI Diana Gordon decides that she has had enough of the investigating business and comes to the decision that the time is right for her to move on. She relocates to the small town of Port Findlay, Washington where she not only sets herself up as a photographer but also becomes an important part of the community. She soon finds herself on a committee hosting a photography contest for both professionals and amateurs. However, when the town’s leading light is found brutally murdered, she finds herself - against her better wishes - investigating the mysterious death, along with the town’s attractive widowed chiropractor. As they try and find out who would have committed such a crime, Gordon begins to think that she may have been the intended victim, but why?

Snap Shot is much more than a crime novel. It is an interesting look at a small town and its jealousies, the problems of serving on a committee and its inherent pitfalls and a blossoming relationship between two people who are both vulnerable in their own different ways. This is more of a romantic suspense novel than a crime novel, but that should not distract you from reading it. The characters, both primary and secondary, are all drawn with humour and warmth. Snap Shot may not have the sex, violence and gore that some romantic suspense novels have, but it is a deeply fascinating and intriguing story with a twist that will certainly linger in your mind long after you have finished reading it. A deeply satisfying read.
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Ayo Onatade