LaCour’s Destiny by Robert Downs

3 Stars

238 Pages
Publisher: Oak Tree Press, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Titles
Release Date: August 31, 2015

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Thriller

Samantha “Sam” LaCour is an accountant at Wiley Consulting. While working over the weekend, she talked with Norma, a co-worker. Norma asks if she knows what happened to Dana Wilson, Frankie Kensington’s secretary. Apparently, she is missing an no one knows where she is. Sa decides to do some detective work into the disappearance. She found Dana’s bank records which showed large deposits from Gate Marketing, a client of Wiley Consulting.

Sam buys a lock pick set and decides to break into Grate Marketing. She enlists the help of Don Stader, a friend with excellent computer skills to investigate Dana’s background. She also gets unexpected help from a police officer but threats from another one. Meanwhile, her sister, Felecia, is constantly setting her up with disastrous dates.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. Sam is the amateur detective that thinks she knows what she is doing but in reality, doesn’t. If you like amateur sleuths, you may enjoy reading this book.

I found it hard to engage with Sam LaCour but I did enjoy the wit in the story. The story was a little slow for me but overall it was a good read.
Many thanks to Oak Tree Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

No longer interested in reading this. Clearing out old galleys.

I AM SO EMBARRASSED ... JUST NOW FINDING THIS ONE ON MY KINDLE/AMAZON. WAS NEVER READ SO NO REVIEW COMING AT THIS LATE DATE. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES. BOOK HAS BEEN ARCHIVED.

An accountant investigates some shady money stuff at her company, which leads her to search for a disappearing employee. Things get dangerous.
Early on it had the feeling of a romantic comedy about to explode, but it never really settled into a particular genre. That’s not necessarily bad, but it made this story feel unfocused. For someone who claimed never to have done anything worse than walking out on a few blind dates, she sure took to lockpicking, and breaking and entering, easily; no moral qualms at all. She also recovered awfully quickly after almost being killed. And wow, she maced herself. Butt monkey much?
The mystery was too convoluted, and I hate it when the protagonist doesn’t figure it out. Kinda cheap to have the killer go off the deep end and basically confess. Felt like it was longer than it needed to be. Enjoyed the main character most of the time—though it was hard to get past her choice for favorite football player—but the plot and the large amount of suspects was confusing.
2.5 pushed up to 3/5