Review by CJ

Page count:
238

ISBN:
9781683990734

Jack Stratton is headed to Florida for fun in the sun and to introduce girlfriend Alice to his parents. What he doesn’t expect is to be nominated by his mother to help her book club solve the mystery of the garden ornament thief. When the mystery takes a deadly turn, will Jack be able to protect his family or will he have to fold?

I loved the story to Jack of Hearts. It combines Murder She Wrote style “retirees solving crimes” with a dash of crime thriller and does it all with a generous helping of humour.

Jack Stratton is quickly becoming one of my favourite literary protagonists and this is only the second novel I have read that features him. Stratton is funny, brave and intelligent, but he is also flawed and makes mistakes. There’s something about an imperfect character that brings them to life so much more than a perfectly perfect golden boy/girl — likely because the latter rarely exists in reality.

I found myself loving Jack’s parents even more in Jack of Hearts, who have a much larger role than they did in And Then She Was Gone.

I’m looking forward to diving into my TBR pile and hitting the first five books in the Detective Jack Stratton series. So far everything I’ve experienced of the character has been fun, fast and very funny, so I can’t wait to see what came before it. However, I didn’t feel that I was missing out on too much by reading Jack of Hearts without having read most of its predecessors in the series.

Jack of Hearts is well paced for a book of 238 pages. It’s neither too long nor does it feel rushed or unfinished.

If you enjoy novels that involve mystery, drama and a smidge of romance, all while tickling your funny bone, then Jack of Hearts is an enjoyable read.

Rating: