I don’t read or listen to many suspense/murder books, but when I do the same thing always happens. At first, I’m intrigued and as I read (or listen), try to figure out whodunit. After the protagonist makes some really dumb mistakes and gets into an even bigger pickle than just being framed for murder, it soon becomes obvious whodunit, and then I get bored.
Web of Evil by J.A. Jance is no different. Former Los Angeles news anchor Ali Reynolds, dumped by both her TV station employer and her philandering husband, retreats to Arizona and starts a blog. When she returns to L.A. to finalize the divorce, her husband, Paul, misses the court date because he was murdered the night before. Ali becomes the prime suspect, not only for her husband’s killing, but as the body count starts rising, for subsequent murders as well.
Since the method of Paul’s death reeks of the underworld, from the start I figured it was only a matter of time until drugs or organized crime became part of the plot. But Jance adds the drug theme only near the end, almost like an afterthought.
The blog aspect of the story almost overshadows the real plot, and I was tempted to fast-forward through the endless blog postings, reader comments and emails. Very boring. One thing about this book is true-to-life: every character has a cell phone.
Karen Ziemba, the audiobook narrator, does a good job and is easy to listen to. She uses different “voices” for the various characters, although the men (except for Dave) all sound like they are from Brooklyn instead of L.A.