I was pretty disappointed in this book. I didn't realize when I purchased it that it was part of the Oak Knoll series because I really didn't like the first one. I wasn't drawn to any of the characters and there were so many red herrings that I ended the book not really caring who did it but longing for the book to be over.
I don't know a lot about crime and how police departments work when there is a crime, but some of the paths and steps taken by the main people didn't seem like steps I'd seen in other crime fiction. I'm sure Hoag researched and by this point knows pretty well how the process works, but this just didn't seem right to me.
Anne is a very dull character. I didn't like her in the first book and I didn't like her in the second. She doesn't really seem to change or develop; she just remains this dull, flat character. I know we are supposed to feel sad for her and Vince as they struggle to conceive, but that topic is just hardly grazed and then never brought up again. As one who has struggled with reproducing, I find this disappointing. If it's major enough to write about throughout the book, write about it. However, if it's not that big of a deal (as it feels in this book) leave it out. It just took away from the story-line and left me confused and disappointed at the lack of time spent on that "major" problem of Anne and Vince. Maybe this will be talked about more in the third?
I have the same complaints about the trial with Peter Crane and Anne. This is mentioned two or three times in the book, but it isn't really ever talked about and again it just detracts from the story. I'm assuming both of these will be talked more about in the third book? I'm not sure that I'll continue reading to the third book. I like Hoag a lot, and have loved several of her novels, but this one, this series, is a no-go for me.
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