What the Monkey Saw by Lynn Chandler Willis #review #crimenovels

About the book:

When F.B.I. agent Emily Gayle’s partner is brutally murdered, Emily forsakes her career at the bureau and re

turns home to the North Carolina mountains to care for her disabled father. Guilt ridden over leaving her partner alone to die, Emily takes a job as an end-of-life caregiver.

Deep in Appalachia, Jude Courtland is desperate for a fast buck to pay for his grandmother’s chemotherapy. Together with his brother Crispin and cousin Devo, the trio takes to hijacking insulin delivery vans and selling the stolen drugs on the black market. When Emily is assigned to cancer patient Hazel Courtland, the line separating right and wrong begins to blur.

As the hijackings escalate and turn violent, Emily’s intuition hones in on startling evidence she can no longer ignore.
Struggling with the truth, Emily is torn between her conscience and her loyalty to a dying woman. With her own life in jeopardy, Emily’s forced to take a side. Right or wrong, the consequences are deadly.

My review:

I was initially intrigued by the title of the book, although not that great of a cover but still intrigued. However, for the most part, this book has nothing to do with a monkey which isn't even secondary to the whole story. I think just making the title "Death Doula" would have actually been better.

So, the story was intriguing in itself because who steals insulin? These guys did and for a dang good reason but the trouble they go through just to steal it is too much. The twist near the end of the book tells just how much and as the synopsis says, "turns deadly" and actually, rather heartbreaking. This reader knew it was coming but the book took forever just to get there. In other words, the book was a slow read.

I did love the compassion that was given by the character Emily for the dying patient Hazel. This part of the book was a hard read for me as it hit too close to home. I was disappointed that the character, Jude, was also compassionate throughout the entire book but gets to the end and whammo, change in personality. The love he had versus the person he supposedly was...well, again, disappointing for the two main characters. The ending like I said was not surprising but yet...

I am giving this book a 3 star. I think with a little bit less in some areas and a little bit more in others, this could be a solid 4.

Disclosure: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

Where to find the author:

Amazon * Goodreads