Mortom by Erik Therme

Mortom: population 986.

 

On the outskirts of town, 33-year-old Craig Moore is found drowned in the lake. A loner and town eccentric, few attend the funeral.

One week later Andy Crowl arrives in Mortom, still stunned by his cousin’s death and equally confused why everything was left to him. The two hadn’t spoken in years and shared little outside of fierce childhood competition.

But Craig hardly did him a favor. The estate amounts to little more than a drained bank account and a property overridden with junk. When Andy finds a dead rat under the refrigerator with a key in its mouth, he thinks it’s some sort of sick joke. Then he finds the letter left by Craig, written two days before his death . . . detailing the rules of “the game.”

Rating 3 fangs

This mystery/suspense/thriller is based in the very small town of Mortom where Andy has gone to settle the estate of his cousin Craig.

Craig’s death is a mystery. Was it accidental? Was it suicide? Or was it something more sinister.

Andy and his sister Kate are drawn into the mystery of their cousin’s death when they find a dead rat with a note and key in its mouth under a refrigerator. This is the beginning of a game of clues. But not a fun game of treasure hunt. This game has a time limit and a warning of what will happen if its not completed.

The premise of the story is good but the characters were just so hard to like. Andy is a jerk, plain and simple. I did not find any redeeming behavior at all through the book. He antagonizes just about everyone he comes into contact with.

His sister Kate comes across as a better person but loses me with her interactions with Andy. There is a lot of animosity between the pair at the beginning of the book, but the author does not explain why.

The secondary characters in the story were much easier to read about.

Mortom took a long time to draw me into the story. It starts off relatively slow and picks up momentum half way through.

Readers of mystery/suspense novels will like this story. You will either love or hate the characters, but if you can find your way past them, you will enjoy the plot

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1042797805
http://www.amazon.com/review/RLZAIYX8B46I3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

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