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Tess Camillo is a charming companion. She's an older woman, a breast cancer survivor who's seen life and is still hopeful, despite the knock-backs, that Ms Right will come along. But she's got an unerring nose for trouble and in this, her third time out, tries to find out who killed a fellow visitor to an experimental lightning field exhibition in the desert. One of the problems with amateur sleuths is that authors often have to jump up and down and wave their arms a lot to persuade the reader that the lead character has a plausible reason for investigating the crime. In BLINDED BY THE LIGHT Morgan Hunt has to perform several back-flips to make Tess's involvement even vaguely plausible. And there really are several eyebrow-raising moments, particularly towards the end. But I didn't care. I like Tess. I like Hunt's exuberant story telling. And she presents us with an amiable supporting cast in the form of Tess's eccentric housemate Lana and friend Beth, who has gone into imminent motherhood meltdown. So I could forgive her the fact that the lightning field, the victim and the suspects are actually faintly dull. The mystery is fairly formulaic and a touch creaking as Tess plods round investigating each of the people involved. The writing itself definitely isn't, though. Hunt has created a vivid voice for her heroine, and intersperses the story with Tess's email correspondence with new love interest Naomi. One of the things I like about the series is how Hunt shows that women's sex lives don't stop at 40 (although be prepared for some rather overly poetic descriptions of what happens between the sheets!) I'm glad I found this series, as it's a pleasure to read a book with an older heroine who's comfortable in her skin and whom you know you'd like if you met in real life. Tess isn't perfect, but she's believable and genuine. And the more I see of her, the more I think I'd like to see Hunt give crime fiction a rest and see how she does with non-genre novels where characters would have space to breathe and grow without the hackneyed plotting restraints.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, December 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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