Shafted: A Review

 Review

SHAFTED: SERENITY ACRES WHERE SECRETS BARELY STAY HIDDEN
By Crystal Quast
The Second Serenity Acres Suburban Mystery 

 

Serenity Acres looks like the perfect community. But there's a seething underbelly underneath and it's ready to erupt when a real estate company offers residents an investment opportunity of a lifetime. This too good to be true opportunity is just that and one wife is determined to outscam the scammer.

 

From the outside Serenity Acres is a pristine community where neighbors are friends. Inside it's a hellhole filled with vipers and dupes. This is not a cozy mystery and the author states that it is not a true cozy. However, I wouldn't even call it cozy adjacent. I hesitate to call it a traditional mystery and I'm not even sure I'd call it a mystery. There is a murder, more than one, but not only do we know who did it, no one is really investigating. It would best be classified as a caper, although it's not really amusing. The characters are horrible people. Most of the them are vulgar and the author indulges them with coarse language and and coarser actions. There's lying, cheating, a good dose of drugs and alcohol, rampant sex, and murder. Betty is the only really likable character...and she's a dog. A dog who's smarter than the majority of the characters. I mean who is going to invest in a company called Shafte Con? Hello? Actually there is some humor in the gullibility and downright stupidity of some of the characters, a self published book called Pickleball and Inner Peace? No wonder he fell for Shift-Namaste.

Short chapters make for a fast paced read and I enjoyed the return of one character. It was fascinating to witness the mental gymnastics of the characters. Some had intriguing motivations, one is just a psychopath.  

SHAFTED is a multilayered con with a cast of scheming characters.