Literarycat Review: Death Is In The Details by Heather Sunseri

Title: Death is in the Details
Authors: Heather Sunseri
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Source: Kindle eBook
Rating: 3 out of 5 Paws

Faith is a forensic photographer who is haunted by vivid memories of the night her mother and step father were murdered.  Twelve years later a string of fires are eerily similar to the one that took their lives.  Oddly enough the fires seem to correspond with the release of Faith's stepbrother from prison.  Ethan was convicted of setting the fire that killed his father and Faith's mother, but new evidence proved his innocence.  So who set the fire all those years ago and why are they trying to frame Ethan now?  FBI agent Luke Justice will not rest until he catches the serial killer who uses arson to mask his murders. What does he do when the evidence points to someone close to Faith, a woman he is growing fond of?  Can Faith and Luke find the truth behind it all before the flames eat them alive?

I keep going back and forth on what I think about this book.  There are moments when I like and other moments when I felt like it isn't a book for me. It progressed rather slowly for me and took a while for any of the action or clues to really make an impact on the feel of the novel.  I didn't feel attached to any of the characters, though the idea of Faith having a condition that makes her recall every moment that has happened to her with vivid clarity, as if it is happening at that moment.  For a good chunk of the book it wasn't as suspenseful or thrilling as I would have expected it to be, and I figured out the killer fairly early on in the novel.

I did like the motive behind the the murders.  There were some things that still didn't make sense when I finished the novel; things that were never truly explained with the big reveal.  The romantic part was unrealistic and was not needed.  Thriller/suspense novels do not need a romantic interest for them to be engaging and this was definitely a novel that would have been better without it.  It didn't feel like it added anything relevant to the story.  The main character solves everything by turning to alcohol and making really bad choices.  I simply could not connect with her as I absolutely hated her and Luke.  Luke just quickly gets into bed with her and just barely does anything to keep her safe and seems a little caustic as well.  He's a little too protective for only knowing her a short time, ready to fight for her after what a week?

Sunseri has a writing style that I could get into, but sadly it was the drull and boring story and very unlikable characters that made the novel feel like it was lacking something.  I am not sure if I would read anything else from her.