Midnight Confessions by Candice ProctorMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.3 stars
This is romance but the murder mystery is the louder component. I didn't mind because I get to then use it for Halloween Bingo, lol. The romance is there but quieter and slow, this was very atmospheric. Set in New Orleans during the Civil War (1862), a lot of thick air, rain, Beast Butler hatred, and that languid pace.
Zach is our provost marshal, a cavalry Major finishing up healing in New Orleans. When a doctor is killed in a graveyard he is called in to solve the murder. He meets the woman who was with him, Emmanuelle, newly widowed and works at the same hospital the victim was at. We get some background on Zach, he's famous for solving a serial killer case out west, so he doesn't just take things at face value.
The murder mystery slowly unravels, was Emmanuelle the actual intended victim? The reader never really knows more than Zach and as more people around Emmanuelle wind up dead and she's not totally honest with Zach, she's a suspect, but a suspect Zach is finding himself attracted to.
This story was all atmosphere, mystery, and languid. There were creditable red-herrings for the murder mystery but towards the 60% it becomes a little clear who is responsible. Around 80% I felt like it started to drag, mostly because I was sick and tired of Emmanuelle lying or not telling the truth to Zach about certain things, like, come on, truth time. The romance is more in the subtleties and Zach's character mostly saves the romance side because he's pretty swoony.
Sept/Oct was the perfect time to read this, need time and patience to sink into the languid pace, and prepare to grow impatience with characters not being truthful and taking too long to share things with Zach.
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