I read a lot of books in several genres, and one of the most important things for me is characterization. I want to believe in, and like, the main characters in the story. After all, if I'm giving up a few hours of my time, I want to enjoy the company of the people with whom I'm spending it.
A Match Made in Hell is a bit short on characterization, which isn't particularly unusual, but suffers from an overall more significant flaw: I didn't like the heroine. I'm not sure what it
is about Nicki Styx that so annoyed me - perhaps her egocentric view of the world, her lack of care for those around her
(including her newly-discovered twin sister) or her apparent disregard of people's feelings at difficult times - such as choosing funeral items. Her love interest, Joe Bascombe,
is indistinct - nice, handsome, a doctor, but I couldn't say much else about him
- except that he was previously married to Nicki's twin sister.
The action (not that there is much) in this story shifts from Little Five Points in Georgia to Savannah. This is the second book in a series;
not having read the first, I had to catch up on some plot aspects initially. Nicki had a near-death experience
that resulted in her ability to see ghosts who haven't yet crossed over to The Light. Her
responsibility is to help them cross over and to do good to people, but I couldn't help thinking the deity should have picked a nicer woman to do it.
When Nicki discovers her sister can also see dead people and that Kelly may be dabbling in dangerous waters, she tries to take charge. As they begin to uncover some of their relatives, they find that their talents may run in the family
- as may a dangerous adversary.
At the halfway point in A Match Made in Hell, I
began skim-reading as I rapidly lost interest. The premise of the book shows some originality, but there
was neither enough plot nor characterization to hold my attention, and I found myself overall disappointed.