Review: Dead Time (The Murder Notebooks #1) by Anne Cassidy

Title: Dead Time

Series: The Murder Notebooks #1

Author: Anne Cassidy

Genre: YA, mystery

Publication date: May 2012

Published by: Walker & Company

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: When Rose was twelve, her mother and stepfather went out for dinner and never came back. Now seventeen, she lives with her grandmother and goes to school in London. She’s always wondered about her stepbrother, Joshua, whom she only lived with briefly and who was also relocated after their parents’ disappearance. When Rose and Joshua meet again, they find they have much in common, including a desire to uncover the mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance... and a mutual attraction to each other. But when Rose witnesses the murders of not one but two of her classmates, she must uncover who is behind these violent crimes. And when she and Joshua discover that a much larger conspiracy is underway, both of their lives will be in danger.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

I was SO excited to read this one! I love murder mysteries and the synopsis promised me a book that would resonate with fans of The Mortal Instruments, which I AM! And after reading the synopsis, you can figure out why... stepsiblings Joshua and Rose and maybe some sexual tension? Yup 😉 However, this was NOTHING like my beloved TMI, let's just get that out of the way. The sexual tension was one-sided, if not non-existent. Very disappointed 😒 I did like the banter between them, though. It was pretty fun at times... when it wasn’t so dire.. Or when Rose wasn’t being downright bitchy, which I was not a fan of.

The mystery regarding their parents was relegated to backburner stuff. It was very disappointing because I was very curious about this and I thought this was going to be the main plot. Instead, we get a mystery surrounding the murder of one of Rose’s classmates and for whatever reason, she decides to see what’s up when she doesn't want to see what’s up with her mom and stepdad! Sigh. I don’t even know 😞

There was this character in the book, Henry, who was a cop and gave me some super weird vibes that I was not liking. Nothing came of it, so I’m really confused... unless it was set up for future books? If so, I guess I’ll never know cause I don’t plan on reading them 🙃

This book was just very slow-paced. It was not a thriller at all, so the action was very non-existent. Rose was never in any real danger, at any time. It was just no fun! The romance? Not there. The mystery? Intriguing enough to keep me going but not intriguing enough to make me continue on with the series. It was just a very meh book overall 🤷‍♀️

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊