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Title: Overly complicated
Review: Being both a U.S. history buff and a mystery fan, I expected to love this book. I gave up after slogging through 150 pages. New characters (many with similar names) are introduced about every other page, making the story very difficult to keep straight. Benjamin January also brings a multi-layered backstory to the proceedings, adding additional layers of complexity (and does anybody else think a musician-surgeon-classically educated sensitive widower is a bit too good to be true?).Add a setting unfamiliar to most readers (an 1830s Creole sugar cane plantation), and the density of details overwhelms both plot and characterization. Casual readers will find this book tough sledding.
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