Crime Beat Girl a book assumed published, copyright and written by Geri L. Dreiling.
Debbie, daughter of highly respected and successful Bradley and Beth Hughes, has left her position as a Washing, D.C. reporter and returned to St Louis because her mother, now several years widowed, has been diagnosed and is facing surgery that may expand beyond this initiating session. Thus, she is not sure how long her stay will be. Furthermore, she is unhappy with her love life as it had developed in Washington. It seems that her fiancé always avoided her attempts to agree upon a wedding date so, when offered a job following the ‘Crime Beat’ by her college mentor Sam Hitchens while in St. Louis, she accepts. Sam, an old-time traditional newspaper guy well aware of the gradual slowing of newspaper publishing, had accepted the position of Editor of a new well-funded trendy magazine. He believed she would be a natural for what he had in mind. Debbie was a young woman full of drive who loved to craft sentences and be creative but also to get away from her desk and ‘be where the action was’. Thus she felt that the job would fit perfectly with her burning desire to expose corruption and injustice. He offered the job. She accepted. From this point, the story blooms into a fast paced thriller/mystery involving numerous multi-faceted individuals as the reader follows Debbie’s often foolishly irrational decisions.
Discussion: The author has provided a credible picture of a somewhat naïve but determined young woman’s attempts to extend her career in investigative reporting. The pace is excellent and the story line exhibits knowledge of pertinent aspects of the law. A considerable number of supporting characters are included. They are complex both within themselves and in their interrelationships. As the tale progresses, this reader at least, would have liked to see certain ones ‘fleshed-out’ a little more. She has presented an interesting story and done a commendable job with the development of the mother-grown daughter relationship. The final twists involving some of the characters providing the climax appear for this reviewer to be a little tenebrous but acceptable. Overall, this is a pleasant, fast moving mystery/thriller that should satisfy devotees of the genre
4* 5* Fast-paced, mystery/thriller that should be satisfying to devotees; -1* as noted