Book Tour Review: Almost True Confessions by Jane O'Connor

Title: Almost True Confessions
Author: Jane O'Connor
Genre: mystery
Series: Closet Sleuth #2
Pages: 336
Published: October 1 2013
Source: TLC Book Tours for review
Rating: 3.5/5

This comic mystery set in the elite zip codes of Manhattan will leave you breathless . . . literally.

What could be more fun for a freelance copy editor than working on a juicy tell-all about one of Manhattan's most enigmatic society doyennes? But when Miranda "Rannie" Bookman arrives at Ret Sullivan's tony Upper East Side apartment, she finds more than the final draft of the reclusive author's manuscript waiting for her—there's also the half-naked body of Ret herself, tied to her bed and strangled with an Hermès scarf.

Was this merely a case, as the police believe, of rough sex that got a little too rough? Or was Ret murdered because someone wanted to make absolutely sure she didn't meet her deadline? Once again, Rannie must prove that her mind is just as sharp as her Col-Erase blue pencils—or risk getting rubbed out too.

This was a cheeky, fun, goofy read. It is by turns suspenseful and corny, but O'Connor makes the read fun and engaging. With main character Miranda "Rannie" Bookman falling into a new mystery, one that combines up-scale New Yorkers and a murdered gossip-monger, the author manages to create a fast-moving and entertaining sequel. 

Focusing on  both Rannie's personal life and her professional life, Almost True Confessions is a pleasant surprise. Rannie is an entertaining main character -- addicted to PB&J sandwiches, incurably curious, smart --  and she is a great focal point. She may get into situations that are far out of her range, but she's capable and cunning enough to keep up with the bad guys. Her habit of nitpicking conversations for grammar can be either amusing or annoying, depending on how obnoxious the other character is. It's a pet peeve of Rannie's that helps prove she is good at her job, however.

Almost True Confessions is technically a sequel (the first being Dangerous Admissions) but it holds up well as a standalone. A few explanatory mentions of what happened before are tossed into the narrative early on, but once Ret is murdered, this sequel is all about the current plot. The mystery has quite a few fun twists and turns, with more than enough false leads and red herrings to keep the outcome somewhat of a surprise. It's an even, and well-written escapist novel.

Though the author seems to wrap up all her plotlines fairly neatly, there is obvious potential for further exploration of Rannie's incidental-or-not sleuthing. If you're looking for a fast, amusing, occasionally silly mystery then this is the perfect book. It's a breeze to get through and the author creates an atmosphere that is both fun and occasionally creepy.