Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

SPOILER ALERT! I try not to include "spoilers" in my reviews but in this case I must make an exception. I was extremely disappointed to read this book and discover at the end that there is no denouement and we do not find out "whodunnit". There are also some "loose ends" which are left unresolved. I was unaware when I ordered the first book that it's only half of the story. Unfortunately the characters were not that well developed and I found that I didn't care enough about them to want to buy the second book. Too much attention was paid to extraneous matters, such as the method used to create decorative pavers, and not enough to character and plot development. I got the impression that the author knows a lot about dogs and gardening, but not much about people. On a positive note, I did appreciate a story which does not use bad language and graphic sexual content. I also liked the device used whereby the murderer's thoughts were interspersed with the story. However, the reader was left with an incomplete picture of the murderer's pysche so we don't learn enough about this person to understand them or their motivation. In view of the lack of resolution at the end, I am very surprised this book rated 4 stars. As stated by another reviewer, I too would have preferred the story to be complete in one volume, and paid more for it, than to be left hanging at the end.