This is an easy to read murder mystery set in Adelaide.
Jerry McGee lives in a suburban street in Adelaide and is a social worker in an inner-city welfare centre. One late summer day as she is leaving work, her life takes a U-turn. Jerry’s car is almost hit by Detective Inspector O’Leary as he speeds into her work car park, then her ex-husband who walked out on her and her three children, returns after an absence of 20 years. And to make matters worse she witnesses a murder on Port Road. From then on, her life is taken out of her control. Jerry has seen too much and those who committed the murder need to solve this small problem.
Miss Me Tonight is an enjoyable read. As a murder mystery, it is not as tense and heart-stopping as some are wont to be, and I did guess the ending quite early in the book, but it has a nice flow with interesting, well-developed characters and a plot with twists and turns.
Shee has used Adelaide references throughout the book, from suburb names to streets, pubs, and beaches. As someone who has lived in Adelaide their whole life, it was nice to be able to picture exactly where the story was taking place. Shee moves her characters around the city and suburbs describing them in great detail. I am undecided as to whether there are too many local references, making the story too colloquial for interstate or overseas readers. Throughout the story, there are lovely descriptive passages but not too many so that the story becomes lost.
Denise Shee uses song lyrics as an addition to the story. They are used to emphasise how Jerry is feeling at different times. A song lyric might come into her head or be heard on the radio. There are many of them, dotted throughout the book.
Miss Me Tonight has a few editorial problems with punctuation, specifically full stops being in odd places, but generally the story is well written and flows smoothly.
I enjoyed reading Miss Me Tonight and was able to read it in one day. It is well worth a read, especially for those who like a lighter murder mystery.
Reviewed by Sue Mauger
Distributed by: Elephant House Press
Released: October 2019
RRP: $27.99
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