Book Review: Sutton's "And the Devil Laughed"

Hannah is sent undercover to a small town to try to get details on the local drug trade--if there is any truth to the rumors. She arrives in town the day one of her distant relatives turns up raped, murdered, and buried in the bottom of a grave that was expecting a different occupant. Her planned cover story is as a writer for a glossy magazine working on stories on the town's history, but the town isn't too keen to let in any kind of reporter that might be on the tails of a murder.

Hannah's willingness to fill in part time at the bar where the victim worked gives her a better in with the townspeople. Her own past baggage makes it impossible for her to resist the opportunity to look into her relative's death, so looks into both the murder and the drug issues.

And the Devil Laughed is very exciting reading and not an easy book to put down. I would have read it in one sitting even with my DH home from work in the evening if I hadn't gotten really sick partway into it and been forced to take a break. I was impatient to get back to it after I woke up this morning and put off other projects so I could read.

Because Hannah is a police officer, I don't think this book classifies as a cozy, but it is still a great read. Her past adds some hard core elements, but they fit with the story and aren't overwhelming. I think even readers who tend to want to avoid the worst violence in their reading will be comfortable with this book (like my mother and grandmother).

The characters are realistic and well-developed. I felt comfortable with the setting and could picture things even htough it is set in a country very foreign to me.

The POV is third person limited but has appropriate head-hops at scene breaks.

I really liked this book and wished I owned a copy (this one is borrowed from a friend). It is one I wouldn't mind reading multiple times.

Can't wait for Carole Sutton to come out with more books I can read! I also loved her earlier book Ferryman.

If you want more about it or to get a copy, just check out the info on www.goodreads.com -- the site that provides my bookshelf in the corner.