Review: Watch Over You by M.J. Ford
Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Avon (July 9, 2020)
From Goodreads.com: The hunt is on. And this time, it’s personal…
When DS Josie Masters is called out to a house in North Oxford to investigate a serious incident, things take a personal turn. The body is Harry’s – her friend and former colleague.Josie thought Harry lived alone, but evidence suggests he’d had a lodger – a young woman who has fled the scene.
And as more killings stun Oxford, the police discover the picture is more complicated than it appeared.
The young woman is on the run, and someone is following her – leaving a stack of bodies in their wake…
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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5
When I picked up this novel, I was unaware that it was actually the third novel in a series. And while there is some mention of people and events that I assume took place in books one and two, it wasn't done in a way that made it confusing or hard to follow.
Despite that, I still found it to be a bit of a struggle to get invested in this one. To begin with, the way the time jumped from present-day to events happening in the past (even if it was only two weeks ago) at times made it hard to follow along. There also seemed to be an over-abundance of things going on at once that took away from the plot instead of adding to it. One example involves the young female that was living with Harry - we are told time and again that she is a "certain kind of person" or she "acts a certain type of way", and yet we see no concrete evidence of this being true. If anything, I feel the opposite was proven true by a side-thread that (to me) had absolutely no bearing on the story itself but seemed like it was added to increase the shock value.
I also had a very hard time connecting with Jo and her wishy-washy personality. She goes back to work, then decides everyone was right and she went back too soon. She keeps her son's father away from them due to his drinking, then invites him to come around. She keeps telling herself its wrong to rely on her family for help, but then turns around and does just that. I get it. It's hard being a single working mother, perhaps even moreso in Jo's case as she doesn't have a typical 9-5 job. But can we at least pick a way we're going to act and stick to it?
Overall, I'm sure this story will appeal to others (especially those who have already read the other novels in this series). I may give this author another chance if they come across my radar again.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
When I picked up this novel, I was unaware that it was actually the third novel in a series. And while there is some mention of people and events that I assume took place in books one and two, it wasn't done in a way that made it confusing or hard to follow.
Despite that, I still found it to be a bit of a struggle to get invested in this one. To begin with, the way the time jumped from present-day to events happening in the past (even if it was only two weeks ago) at times made it hard to follow along. There also seemed to be an over-abundance of things going on at once that took away from the plot instead of adding to it. One example involves the young female that was living with Harry - we are told time and again that she is a "certain kind of person" or she "acts a certain type of way", and yet we see no concrete evidence of this being true. If anything, I feel the opposite was proven true by a side-thread that (to me) had absolutely no bearing on the story itself but seemed like it was added to increase the shock value.
I also had a very hard time connecting with Jo and her wishy-washy personality. She goes back to work, then decides everyone was right and she went back too soon. She keeps her son's father away from them due to his drinking, then invites him to come around. She keeps telling herself its wrong to rely on her family for help, but then turns around and does just that. I get it. It's hard being a single working mother, perhaps even moreso in Jo's case as she doesn't have a typical 9-5 job. But can we at least pick a way we're going to act and stick to it?
Overall, I'm sure this story will appeal to others (especially those who have already read the other novels in this series). I may give this author another chance if they come across my radar again.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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Watch Over You is available from Amazon.com
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