Search This Blog

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

An Inconvenient Woman by Stephanie Buelens

Claire is outraged and concerned when her ex-husband plans to marry a woman with a daughter the same age as her own daughter was when she married Simon.  She blames Simon for her daughter's death and fears for the daughter of the woman Simon plans to marry.
  
Claire's anger and behavior after her daughter's death has led to her being labeled as unhinged, but she can't let that stop her from trying to stop Simon.

from description: "Sloane Wilson left the LAPD to work as a “sin eater,” a contractor for hire who specializes in cleaning up inconvenient situations—situations which, for whatever reason, are better handled outside the law."

When Simon hires Sloane to make his problem go away, she takes a personal dislike to Claire from Simon's description.  She determines to befriend Claire, however, and through plans A, B, or C make Simon's problem disappear.

Although a little put off by the erroneous interpretation of the term "sin eater,"  I became involved with the way the novel played out and the secrets that came to light.

Historically, a sin eater was hired to take food and drink when someone died, symbolically taking on the deceased's sins.  In the novel, Sloane interprets being a sin eater as a fixer who is paid to clean up a client's mess--I see the connection, but it is so opposed to the traditional idea, which is the idea of sacrificially taking on the sins of a deceased to ease their way into heaven.  A fixer makes problems go away for convenience.

Read in April.  Blog review scheduled for Aug. 18.
  
NetGalley/ Penzler Productions
Mystery.  Sept. 1, 2020.  Print length:  288 pages.

Just for Fun

13 comments:

  1. Those statue pics are pretty funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are! Makes me want to find a good statue and give it a try. :)

      Delete
  2. Those statue pictures are funny...and a little creepy. Am I the only one who has wondered whether statues move around in the dark and when no one is watching them? LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm...not sure what I think of the book though it sounds intriguing. And the statue pics are funny!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the association was off on the novel, but there you go. The statue pics made me smile.

      Delete
  4. Haa, first those statue pics!! And second you're right, the addition of the 'sin eater' part is weirds -- take you out of a very cool premise I think

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The novel didn't need the "sin eater" association, but it was an interesting little puzzle of who did what. Claire is a fixer, but at least she has a sense of what deserves to be "fixed."

      Delete
  5. The way the author used the term "sin eater" is so different from the authentic meaning that I wonder if the author even knew or understood its real meaning. The two words, used together like that, have kind of an eerie, or spooky, feel to them. I can easily picture a whole series of "Sin Eater" books somewhere on the horizon. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I chose the book because the blurb used the term, and since I was familiar with the term from other books, I expected a more accurate portrayal. Not necessarily completely in context, but the theme of taking on another individuals sins. Oh, well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those pictures are hilarious. Now the book, sounds really good. Not sure that's what I'm in the mood for right now but definitely keeping it in mind.

    ReplyDelete