Dying To Be Noticed by Catherine Leggitt

Dying to be Noticed is a stand-alone suspenseful murder mystery thriller by Catherine Leggitt, author of the Christine Sterling Mystery series. Heroine Avenelle Rossi Duprey is the obituary and society news writer for the weekly Marin County Journal, who lives alone with her four cats, and splits her time between collecting cat obituaries, taking part in dance classes and socialising with best friend and mystery bookshop owner, Tice Singleton. In the right place at the right time, Avenelle is given the opportunity to write the newspaper’s homicide report on local murder victim Rachel Marie Watson, shot and bludgeoned to death at Easter. The circumstances of the death ring bells for Avenelle and her quest for information with which to complete her report leads Avenelle back nearly 20 years to a similar, unsolved murder case and to secrets that someone in the present day desperately wants to keep hidden.

I really enjoyed reading Dying to be Noticed. It is a compelling and exciting mystery with lots of twists and turns and moments of genuine jeopardy. The plot is skilfully weaved, using chapters representing twin points of view, and builds the tension well, leaving clues enough for you to start to piece together the puzzle. The writing is smooth and the dialogue believable. Avenelle is a likeable lead character and the inclusion of some hints at romance adds to the thrills. However, I did find the inclusion of the cat obituaries in between some of the chapters to jar somewhat with what is otherwise quite a meaty thriller. Catherine Leggitt has created a really good thriller and I would recommend this to all fans of the genre. Reviewed by Julia for Readers’ Favorite.