Reviews for The Tarnished Eye

The average rating for The Tarnished Eye based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-07 00:00:00 Sandee Smith Judith Guest's Ordinary People is familiar to many, both as the book and the award-winning film. She clearly demonstrated sensitivity to family dynamics and to the desires and needs of individual adults and their offspring. This talent was again evinced in this mystery/ suspense novel. It is remarkable because she was able to integrate the story of the horrifying murder of a family of six with their psychosocial components and the process of the police procedural. The similarity between these two books is also viewed in the process of grief, the coping skills involved for the individual and the adolescent's moods and view of parental regard. One could almost picture these characters with her sensitive narrative. Guest was skillful at maintaining a high level of tension throughout the book, with a heightened sense of suspense during the climax. She deftly maintained the ability to keep the perpetrator of this heinous crime concealed with only minimal hints. I did enjoy reading this mystery and hesitated betwee a 3 or 4 star rating. I would give it a 3.5 with the comment that Ordinary People was definitely better, but also different.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-04-29 00:00:00 Toni Fox-corwin A family of six is brutally murdered and the bodies are not discovered for three weeks. The investigation is led by the local small-town Michigan sheriff. He tries to enlist the aid of his friend, a big-city police chief, but the friend is dealing with his own high-profile case, that of a serial killer that is targeting U of M co-eds. Supposedly inspired by a true, unsolved mystery, Ms Guest does a good job of throwing in several red herrings before the final reveal. Lacking, however, was a reason to care about the victims. We only get to see them alive in the first couple of chapters and they are not very cuddly. The answer to the mystery seems almost too pat, tieing up too many loose ends into one neat litlle package. Entertaining, but not gripping. Rather ho-hum, actually.