Book Review: Death on Lake Michigan by Steven Arnett

 

Book Review

 

Basic Details:

Book Title: Death on Lake Michigan

Subtitle:

Author: Steven Arnett

Genre: Thriller and Mystery

Part of a series? No

Order in series:

Best read after earlier books in series?

Available: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28231719-death-on-lake-michigan

Overall score:

I scored this book 4/5

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Short Summary of the book:

This book is a murder mystery. A journalist in a small town becomes obsessed by solving the murder despite his editor being against the idea fearing bad publicity for the town. There are some twists and turns and the book is an interesting read.

What I liked about the book:

The book is easy to read and a page-turner.

What I didn’t like about the book:

The book was nice in its entirety.

My favourite bits in the book:

I enjoyed the book.

My least favourite bits in the book:

The book was enjoyable in its entirety.

Any further books in the series? Any more planned by this author?

I understand the author has written several other books.

What books could this be compared to and why?

The book can be compared to other detective stories.

Recommendation:

In summary, I would recommend this book for the following readers:

 

Children	No
Young Adult	Possibly
Adult	Yes

 

If you like detective stories, this book may be the book for you.

Book Description by Author:

Death on Lake Michigan is a mystery set in a glamorous town on the shore of Lake Michigan in the summer of ’73. Mike O’Brien, once the crusading editor of the Michigan State News, now the assistant editor of the Gull Haven Observer, becomes obsessed with solving the murder of Rich Mallon, one of the most notorious and well-known summer citizens of Gull Haven—and finds love in the process.

 

Here’s the story: A body washes ashore late one night during the biggest party night of the year in Gull Haven, Michigan. Murders are almost unheard of in this rich and trendy town, so the story is really big news—especially when it turns out that it belongs to Rich Mallon, one of the most notorious and well-known summer citizens of Gull Haven, a man who most of the locals believe was in the drug dealing business. Mike O’Brien is as fascinated about the murder as anyone and is glad to finally have a story with some meat to it to investigate. His investigation ends up becoming almost an obsession, especially as more and more leads surface about it and it becomes known that Rich Mallon was really Richard Nearing, the prodigal son of Edward Nearing, scion of a wealthy and prominent family from Chicago. As he follows up the leads in the story, he encounters an oddball and unlikely group of suspects that only deepens the mystery rather than leading closer to a solution.

 

Who will the murderer turn out to be? Grant Fields, who rumor has it was his partner in crime but whom he had a terrible argument with on the night Rich was killed? Could it be Becky Westworth, the beautiful and sexy but notorious woman who was Rich’s girlfriend until they had a bitter breakup just a couple of weeks before the murder? Or could it be Jack Engler, a fairly respectable young business owner in Gull Haven who has never committed a crime in his life but has hated Rich since he stole his girlfriend away from him a few months before the murder and who has been heard to say he’d like to kill Rich. Another suspect is Langdon Smith, owner of the largest fruit operation in the area, whose son died of an overdose of drugs that he always believed he got from Rich. It could even be Virginia Nearing, Rich’s elegant young stepmother whom he hated so much he hadn’t visited his father in many years but who may need to get Rich out of the way if she is going to stand any chance of inheriting her husband’s millions.

 

With the help of the irascible Lt. George Dirkman of the Lake County sheriff’s department, Mike unravels the mystery and even finds love along the way. Check out Death on Lake Michigan today for one of the most interesting mysteries and one of the most interesting group of characters you will have encountered in a long time!

 

Also by Steven Arnett: The hilarious dark comedy novel Winners and Losers, which will give you lots of laughs and also has plenty of romance thrown in! Available at www.amazon.com/author/stevenarnett for Amazon Kindle readers.

About the Author:

Steven Arnett was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1951 and enjoys writing fiction and poetry. He attended Michigan State University and the University of Maine. He currently lives in Luxembourg with his wife, Delphine, and daughter, Vivienne.