Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"Dying To Ski," a legal mystery written by a lawyer, has much to recommend it.
One, the mystery is twisty enough to keep readers in suspense till the final pages. I'll confess that I personally could not have guessed the outcome -- and yet, it's perfectly plausible.
Two, the legal maneuverings, complex as they are, are rendered with unimpeachable authority. And the legalese never gets too thick for the layman to pick through.
Three, the author does a fine job of detailing the mechanics of business malfeasance. As with the legal machinations, she makes the reader feel like an expert in these subjects alongside her, with makes for a pleasing reading experience.
Four, several interesting, memorable, multi-dimensional characters come to life. Defendant Michael O'Connor, victim's wife Kelly Parker, victim's mistress Nyomi Janger and a host of others are rich in complications that keep the reader itching to find out which facets of their personalities -- good, bad and ugly -- are ultimately the prevailing ones.
Five, the setting of Jackson Hole, Wyoming is used to strong affect. The city's unique cultural rhythms and the surrounding mountainsides stand out as their own characters.
There are some problems, however. The book's pace is plodding, buried in several chapters under endless and unnecessary dialogue that could and should have been paraphrased. And too much of the book is dialogue -- there's very little action, very few heroine-in-peril passages, very few tense moments. Also, the prose is often flat and unaffected, reading often like a dry lawyer's brief. A brewing romance between the main character, attorney Mary MacIntosh, and a CNN cameraman, lacks intrigue and feels tacked on.
Nonetheless, the parts of this self-published book that work, work well enough to keep me reading the next volumes in the series. In all, "Dying To Ski" is a rough but promising debut.
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When Michael O'Connor, the co-founder of a pharmaceutical giant, is indicted for the murder of his business partner, he hires Mary MacIntosh to defend him in what Michael claims to be a skiing accident on the slopes of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. When the autopsy report reveals that Preston Parker was intentionally poisoned, Mac risks her life trying to prove Michael's innocence, but when she learns that Michael was secretly in love with Preston's wife and that Michael's wife mysteriously died a few years earlier, Mac starts to question her convictions regarding her client's story.Complicating matters, Preston was having an affair with an exotic Balinese beauty and his wife forced Preston to end the affair, leaving two scorned women who may have wanted Preston dead."This newest read is a page turner and extremely provocative in its theme....all this guarantees that the reader will not be disappointed. Once again, author/lawyer Aplin shows the kind of imagination and savvy that is sure to delight readers."Attorney Steve Womack, reviewing Powder River Poison, a Mary MacIntosh novel, Amazon.com"This book is one of the few gems that you look for when you want a good read. Once you pick this book up, you simply can't put it down. I have read many thriller & horror novels, but this one is unique in so many ways! The author adds so many elements that our society is used to gobbling down - the depravity of orphanages & the atrocities in some international ones, the soul-lessness of abused children & what they sometimes grow up into, the concerns of terrorism by toxic means . . ." Attorney Margaret Lopez Erpenbeck, reviewing Pandemic Predator, a Mary MacIntosh novel, Amazon.com
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