Book Review: Say You’re Sorry by Melinda Leigh

My Thoughts On The Book ‘Say You’re Sorry’ by Melinda Leigh

Say You’re Sorry is a murder mystery and is the first book from the series ‘Morgan Dane’ written by Melinda Leigh. The series has five more books. Reading ‘Say You’re Sorry’ felt complete on its own, so I believe the books from the series can be read independently.

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Morgan Dane was a successful assistant district attorney with a loving husband John and three kids. But 2 years ago everything changes after John dies in an IED explosion, while serving in Iraq. She moves back to her home in Scarlet Falls to live with her grandfather.

Now, 2 years later after John’s death, she decides to move on. She accepts a job offer to work as an assistant prosecutor.

The very night she accepts the job offer, Morgan receives a call from her occasional babysitter Tessa’s grandmother to inform her that she has gone missing. Soon they discover that Tessa was brutally murdered. The police zeroes in on Tessa’s boyfriend Nick as the prime accused, who happens to be the son of Morgan’s neighbour.

Morgan decides to become Nick’s defence attorney even at the cost of losing her job as a prosecutor. She reaches out to her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop, to help her investigate the case. While Morgan believes Nick is innocent, but Lance isn’t completely convinced.

The book follows Morgan and Lance as they try to solve the case and find Tessa’s murderer. It also explores their personal relationship and baggage that they carry. The story also touches on Nick’s experience in the jail, and Tessa’s friends & their secrets.

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The book was an okay read.

The good part – I was not able to identify the killer until the end when it was too obvious.

The okay part – Primarily, the slow pace of the book. It didn’t keep me hooked. I took a lot of break in between readings and that’s not a good sign for a murder mystery. For a book over 300 pages, there wasn’t enough substance. The characters aren’t fleshed out (maybe the writer is saving it for the other books in the series?) and the story picks up pace only in the last 30% of the book. But you still read it because you want to find out who the killer is.

Let’s be honest, even the badly written murder mysteries offer some form of cheap thrill. And this book wasn’t bad, just strictly okay. There were a few cheesy lines, but nothing that can’t be excused. The language is simple. But I didn't feel any emotions that the writer wanted the readers to feel. In spite of all the elements of a tearjerker- a gruesome murder, losing a loved one suddenly, an innocent young man behind the bars and a budding romance between two damaged souls - I wasn't moved by any of it.

I am still indecisive about whether or not I should read the series. But I might pick it up if they are added to the Amazon Kindle Unlimited library, like Say You’re Sorry was.

You can do the same if you are looking for a book to read while waiting at the dentist or  for that long, tiresome commute to work.