Liquid Shades of Blue – James Polkinghorn

Summary

First his brother, now his mother—Jack Girard searches for the truth behind his family’s tragedies.

When hungover ex-lawyer and Key West bar owner Jack Girard groggily wakes up one morning, he’s greeted by a beautiful woman lying next to him, and a shrill, ringing telephone. Seeing the call is from his father, Claude “The Duke” Girard, Jack answers. Within seconds, he learns that his mother is dead in an apparent suicide, and Jack hits the road, heading back to his childhood home in Miami to face his tyrannical father.

The death of his mother brings up haunting memories from Jack’s past—memories of his brother Bobby’s suicide when they were in college together. Being back in Miami only continues to dredge up his family traumas, but things grow more complicated when The Duke suggests that his estranged wife’s alleged suicide may have actually been a murder.

As Jack begins to uncover the truth about his mother’s death, including the secret she had revealed to only two people—the same secret Bobby had taken with him to his grave—he finds himself in imminent danger. Can Jack reveal the true story before it’s too late? He has to act quickly, or he fears he may be the victim of the next Girard family tragedy.

Review

Beautiful cover, it definitely catches the eye, great marketing!

Written in first person past, Liquid shades of blue is fast-paced, dashed with humour and the writing style is enticing. Always great to find an author’s voice that clicks with you.

Even if you are not an experienced reader, you can guess the “twist” since very early chapters, so I think some information should have been revealed in latter parts of the book or showing it instead of telling it. I also think a lot of character background should have been cut, even though Polkinghorn’s writing makes them easy to read, these “info dumps” don’t contribute to the plot at all.

With a bit polishing, James Polkinghorn definitely looks like a promising author and, by the way the book is styled, definitely shows that he has vision and knows how to appeal to audiences.