Lessons in Evil by Melinda Woodhall
Renowned criminal psychologist Bridget Bishop quit the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit after only two years on the job, exhausted and traumatized from facilitating the investigation and capture of one of the country’s most prolific serial killers. But now Bridget’s being pulled in to consult on a disturbing string of homicides that resemble a series of murders committed by a man since executed for his crimes.
Krysten’s Review
This was a quick and enjoyable read with a compelling mystery. I thought I had the killer figured out, but in the end, I was surprised.
However, I felt there were way too many POV characters for me to connect to any one. The first seven or so chapters are all from the perspectives of a different character, so you’re 15-20% into the book before you ever see the main character again. I understand some of these characters are “crossover” characters, so maybe it would be different if this wasn’t my first book by this author and I’d already met them and formed a connection with them. Perhaps they’re all included so that existing fans can see how they’re doing, but I found some of these threads (Terrance and Vivian, for example) to unnecessarily complicate the story and slow down the action.
I also found the way the author formats dialogue to be confusing. It’s more of a journalistic style than a literary one, with dialogue set apart from everything else, including the speaking character’s gestures, actions, etc. When used in place of actual “he said” and “she said” dialogue tags, they should really be set in the same paragraph as the dialogue itself so it’s clear who is speaking. An easy fix that would go a long way to improving clarity.
Although I enjoyed the book and read it within the space of a few days, I don’t feel compelled to read the next in the series.
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I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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Purchase on: Amazon
2.8Overall Score
Lessons in Evil by Melinda Woodhall
Criminal psychologist Bridget Bishop is pulled into an investigation into a disturbing string of homicides that resemble a series of murders committed by a man since executed for his crimes.