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Review title: great set-up for a mystery....
Product review: The story has one of the most entertaining original premises I've ever read. Throw in the game of chess and all of its possibilities both as an allegory and a device for solving the mystery and you have a very entertaining set-up. However, the payoff was not in line with the premise and that's where I downgrade the book. The ending was not consistent with the characterization, and, to me, there was something icky (for lack of a better word) about one of the key relationships. While that did not take away from the mystery, it did distract from the read.I did like the chess player, and thought he was a great character. The book would have been much better had he been the protagonist rather than Julia. Still, the plot in itself makes the story worth the read, and its originality eases the let down of the ending.
