The Challenge Factory discussion

Kay & Denise - Death on a Deadline

When would you like to start? And how fast do you like to read? :)
(I have the book on my Kindle, so I'm ready to start whenever you like and I can easily adapt to your preferred reading speed - I read a lot every day, but I'm usually switching back and forth between 3-4 different books...)

I read really fast too, so we can start whenever you want to. I usually read a book straight through, but if we are going to discuss it, do you want to read a chapter or 2 at a time and then discuss? I'm not sure what is the usual way this is done, but as a former Lit teacher, I can work with whatever you prefer. i have a couple of books I'm reading for the Dusty bookshelf challenge as well, but I have all month to do those as well. Just let me know what you would like to do and I'm good with that. I usually check in here once a day, usually in the mornings/early pm...

BTW, I have it on Kindle too, so we're good whenever.

Ready to start this one when you are...

So sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, I've had a couple of really busy days.

Let's get started today then! I don't know how long the chapters are (or how many there are), but I guess we could read maybe 4-5 each day and then share whatever is on our minds about them? There's not really a "usual" way, it's entirely up to us. :)

Sounds good. I can go for that!

Ok, I read the first 5 chapters... stopping after five was kind of hard to do, as I think I'm going to enjoy this one, but there are a few things bugging me. I thought this was the first in a series, but there seems to be a lot of backstory missing... like why is her family and everyone else so concerned that she's going to want to investigate (as if she's done it before and gotten into trouble over it)? Also, Why did she leave teaching and return home (in her mind) as a failure? And Clayton (I think that was his name), who was he and why does his memory seem to be a part of why she doesn't have a relationship with a man? This is all kind of confusing, especially in light of this Alex, who was her first love showing up now and maybe going to play as her love interest... kind if convoluted at this point. Any thoughts, Denise?

I agree that there's apparently a lot of backstory that's only been hinted at, but not explained so far... hopefully we'll learn a bit more about what happened to Jenna before she moved back home. But didn't that guy (Clayton? Colton? Something -ton, anyway.) die? I think something like that was mentioned, which might explain a little why she can't seem to be able to invest in a relationship if she hasn't gotten over that yet...

Regarding the murder, I really hope the killer doesn't turn out to be that Brendan guy - it would be far too easy, considering that he's pretty much being served up on a silver platter as a suspect right now, what with lying about having a meeting with the victim and insisting it must have been Zac to Jenna's face.

Well... on to the next 5!

I've done the next 5 and it looks to me like Brandon is going to be the killer... grrr. not even halfway through and I can already see the set-up for the finish... And the backstory is still not been explained enough... maybe the author should spend a bit more time telling us what happened before now so that we understand better what's driving the protagonist to want to solve the murder herself (nephew isn't really enough of a impetus as it is really obvious that he didn't do it)... And at the same time hold off on some of the major clues until we are a tad bit further invested in reading the whole thing? At this point, I am ready to just finish the whole thing because I can already see how it's going to end, and I'm ready to move on to something else, but will just set this aside until you have a chance to catch up to me. That way, I can maybe let go of some of the frustration I am feeling about this one.

I'm so sorry I haven't checked in (again...). I was hoping we could finish the book this weekend, but I only managed to read until ch. 11 - my weekend turned out to be unexpectedly eventful, including a spontaneous 7-hour shopping expedition that ate up most of the time I had planned to spend reading. :)

I think the lack of backstory explanation wouldn't bother me quite so much if it didn't keep getting referenced all the time... I'd buy just morbid curiosity as a motive for her trying to solve the murder on her own, but with the way her never explained past keeps coming up one can't help but feeling there must be more to it. I also have to say, sometimes she's so clumsy when questioning people it makes me cringe a little bit. I'm not going to give up hope for an unexpected twist or two yet, but it does seem pretty obvious which way it's going.

I agree with you on the hope for a few twists or two, but i really don't think that this is a series I will invest more in after this book. That is, unless there is some really compelling writing that comes along between here and the end...

Same here. Another five chapters done, and no improvement on any of the issues frustrating me so far. The way Jenna jumps to conclusions, being so absolutely adamant that THIS person, no THIS person, no THIS person must undoubtedly be the killer at the tiniest little hint of a clue is becoming ridiculous, it's no wonder nobody's taking her seriously. *sigh*

I'm up to chapter 20 now. Finally we get some of that backstory that had been missing! I rather felt that the author had left it until too late in the book, though, I would've preferred to learn more of the protagonist's background at least somewhere in the first half of the story.
And it would appear there's a twist in the mystery after all! At this point, I actually have no idea who the killer is. 2 chapters left, I'll finish them tomorrow.

How about you, how far have you gotten and what do you think? :)

I've had a couple of days of real life, so I haven't read much past chapter 10. I think I will try to finish it tonight though and see how I feel when it's over. Not sure that leaving all that stuff to the end is gonna make me like this author though...

Ok, I finished the book, and while I do like it better now that I've read the whole thing, I STILL have some major issues with this book and the author's way of handling stuff. I agree - leaving the backstory so late in the book really left a bad taste in my mouth, and while I can see why it might make sense if this was only a romance, it's not just a romance but a mystery with some romance thrown in. And the twist... ok, I can see it, but nowhere does the actual character who ends up as the guilty party get more than a casual mention until the last 2 chapters! Talk about out of left field! And then they are going to let that person off because the person isn't playing with a full deck? Let's see, 4 men killed and 2 separate attempts on the protagonist's life (and one on her sister's)... sounds like a serial killer to me... that is sociopathic behavior, and while it isn't playing with a full deck, it is also not criminally insane. Not gonna be reading anymore in THIS series, no matter how much I like the protagonist's boyfriend... HE was one of the only decent characters in the whole thing!