LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED by Jeanne Glidewell tells the tale of a woman who suspects that her new son-in-law murdered his previous wife, and who sets out to investigate before informing her daughter of her suspicions. While the plot presented an intriguing idea, the execution of that idea left much to be desired. I give it 2 stars for its slow pace, simplistic plot, and unrealistic romance.
In this first installment in the Lexie Starr series, Lexie Starr grapples with the conundrum of whether to tell her newlywed daughter, Wendy, that her new husband, Clay, may be a murderer. She takes some rather risky steps to find out the truth – leaving no stone unturned in her quest – and in the process, Lexie’s car is sabotaged, Wendy is abducted, and all of their lives are put in danger. Oh, and Lexie falls in love.
Overall, the idea behind the books is intriguing: If you thought a loved one was in a relationship with a murderer, would you tell your loved one, and if so, when would be the appropriate time? Unfortunately, there were several problems that made my interest in this novel fizzle away like helium leaving an untied balloon, the first being the pace of the novel. The beginning was too slow, and the ending was too fast. There were many pages that contained information that did nothing to advance the plot, instead causing the reader to be caught in a quagmire of minutia.
For example, the history of Wendy’s charm bracelet is detailed, as is its loss and the efforts to replace it. Also, the reader gets almost a moment by moment view of Lexie’s visits to the dentist and auto mechanic prior to leaving on her road trip. These scenes were unnecessary in their length. It is enough for the reader to know that Lexie inquired with a Stone Van Patten, who lived in South Carolina, about finding the pieces for a replacement charm bracelet, and that she went to the mechanic and had her car serviced before embarking on her trip. The number of pages devoted to those issues were wasted on me to such an extent that I nearly quit reading. The novel took entirely too long to get to the point. The pacing issue also reared its head in the end of the novel, where the resolution was so fast that I felt as if I had whiplash. The climax and resolution could have been expanded to create a more balanced novel.
There were also several opportunities to expand the plot and give it more substance and depth, but in the end, the linear plot led me exactly in the direction I expected. I won’t give anything away, but I will say that I’m always disappointed when I can guess the ending correctly at the halfway point in a mystery novel.
As for the romance, the novel depicts a more mature relationship between Lexie and Stone, which is nice departure from the typical romance novel. The book is definitely a mystery novel with romantic elements, rather than a romance with a bit of mystery, and contains no graphic scenes that would make it inappropriate for younger readers. Still, the romance was not believable given the incredibly short amount of time that passes from first meeting to the declarations of love. I could have been satisfied with the resolution of the mystery leaving a question as to whether Stone and Lexie would try to make something of their mutual affection, and then adding an epilogue wherein some months or year later they decide to get hitched because of their love for each other.
Overall, I was disappointed in LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED. The issues I raise here can certainly be addressed in any future Lexie Starr mystery novels though, and because I love mystery novels, I’m definitely willing to give the next installment in this series a chance to entertain me.
