Review | Promise You won't Tell?, John Locke

Promise You won't Tell? by John Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads description:

“I think something might have happened to me Saturday night. Something bad.”

Private Investigator Dani Ripper’s client list is nuttier than the Looney Tunes conga line, but she diligently solves one crazy case after another, waiting for a game-changer. Enter Riley Freeman, 17-year-old honor student. Saturday afternoon Riley quietly placed a little strawberry sticker on her private area and pretended it was a tattoo. She didn’t tell anyone about it. That night she went to a slumber party that featured drinking and boys. Riley fell asleep, woke up the next day with no reason to think anything happened…Until Monday, at school, when a classmate called her Strawberry. Coincidence or crime? Dani agrees to investigate. And the roller coaster ride begins.


My Review:

Fast and funny mystery:

This is one of those speed-read books, as the plot drives forward with a furious intensity. Stephen King once said [paraphrasing] `anything that isn't plot I throw overboard'....and this excellent comedy/mystery couldn't be better described.

The mystery (while not styled like a King book - just to make that clear) is cleverly interwoven and (another simile) is in the best tradition of an Agatha Christie Whodunnit. So many guessing games running through my head about what happened in this quite simple but exhilarating plotline. But as the story opens up, I found myself thinking I had it all figured out, only to find I was nowhere close!

The narrative is stripped down bare - no wasted dragging detail and no fussy foreshadowing - along with a snappy dialogue between characters, and within the main character's commentary.

Danni Ripper is a fascinating woman, funny and intelligent. Her mission in this case is to find out what happened to a drunk teenage girl at a house party, whilst having to wrestle with those powers-that-be who would bury secrets.

The ending had a 'wicked' twist, leaving me surprised and smiling. Loved it!

Great read. Just what I needed. I am now definitely a fan of the enigmatic private detective, Danni Ripper.

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