Sweet Jiminy by Kristin Gore

Synopsis :


From New York Times bestselling author Kristin Gore, comes a suspenseful new novel set in Mississippi that deftly explores race, family, and an unsolved murder.

In the throes of a quarter-life crisis, Jiminy Davis abruptly quits law school and flees Chicago for her grandmother Willa's farm in rural Mississippi. In search of peace and quiet, Jiminy instead stumbles upon more trouble and turmoil than she ever knew existed.

She is shocked to discover there was once another Jiminy - the daughter of her grandmother's long time housekeeper, Lyn - who was murdered along with Lyn's husband four decades earlier in a civil rights-era hate crime. With the help of Lyn's nephew Bo, Jiminy sets out to solve the long-ago murder, to the dismay of those who would prefer to let sleeping dogs lie.

In Sweet Jiminy, readers will find a lively and compelling story filled with authentic and genuine Southern characters.

My review :

Sweet Jiminy explores a well know prejudice and the realisation that even though it’s 40 years after the very tragic murder of a father and daughter, this prejudice is still very much alive in rural Mississippi. Jiminy, herself faced such discrimination when she befriends Lyn’s nephew Bo. The author further illustrated this issue by bringing in a side story of a Mexican couple with a baby who tried to open a tortilla restaurant in town.

I enjoyed this book and managed to read it in two days since it is only 240+ pages long. While the plot is interesting and very well developed with a hidden surprise to the identity of one of the characters, I feel that the characters were not well developed. I wanted to know much more about the first Jiminy, what she thinks and how she felt. I was also keen to read more about Margaret, Jiminy Davis’s mum as I am sure she has a story to contribute too in whole scheme of things as it was mentioned that she overheard a conversation between her parents when she was young that perhaps turned her into who she is today. Unfortunately, their voices were not heard much of.

I read an e-version courtesy of Netgalley.com. Sweet Jiminy will be published in April 2011 by Hyperion.

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