The Cinderella Murder
MARY HIGGINS CLARK
(Book 2 in the Under Suspicion series)
Synopsis:
Television producer Laurie Moran is delighted when the pilot for her reality drama, Under Suspicion, is a success. Even more, the program—a cold case series that revisits unsolved crimes by recreating them with those affected—is off to a fantastic start when it helps solve an infamous murder in the very first episode.
Now Laurie has the ideal case to feature in the next episode of Under Suspicion: the Cinderella Murder. When Susan Dempsey, a beautiful and multi-talented UCLA student, was found dead, her murder raised numerous questions. Why was her car parked miles from her body? Had she ever shown up for the acting audition she was due to attend at the home of an up-and-coming director? Why does Susan’s boyfriend want to avoid questions about their relationship? Was her disappearance connected to a controversial church that was active on campus? Was she close to her computer science professor because of her technological brilliance, or something more? And why was Susan missing one of her shoes when her body was discovered?
With the help of lawyer and Under Suspicion host Alex Buckley, Laurie knows the case will attract great ratings, especially when the former suspects include Hollywood’s elite and tech billionaires. The suspense and drama are perfect for the silver screen—but is Cinderella’s murderer ready for a close-up?
Content:
Language: Not present
Violence: The story centers around a twenty-year-old murder of a collage-aged girl. The plot investigates this murder. There is some talk of strangulation, mentions and talks of murder and gun-shot wounds, some descriptions of a brutal beating, a few brief mentions of pedophilia, and other darker subject matter one might expect from a mystery novel, but none of it is very explicit. Even descriptions of blood/wounds/etc are pretty tame, and most of the time it is just an investigation. There is one struggling scene and an attempt to escape from a murderer as well.
Sex: mentions of pedophilia (not explicit), chaste kiss, allusions to sex, some romantic feelings
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review:
This can be read as a stand-alone, without a doubt. I actually had no idea that this was the second book in the series when I picked it up. I had hoped for a bit more from this book, but overall it was a really clean and enjoyable read. I was able to guess who it was about three-fourths of the way through, so I was a little disappointed by how the reveal was handled.
I would also like to note that, despite the title, this is not a retelling! The romance factor in this book is also very small, as it is not the main focus of the book, but it might become a larger part in later books of the series.