![Natural Suspect: A Collaborative Novel [LARGE PRINT] by Lisa Scottoline](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0375432647.01._PE30_PI_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
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Natural Suspect: A Collaborative Novel [LARGE PRINT] by Lisa Scottoline
Reader Reviews Strong and weak, May 11, 2003 Reviewer: Your librarian from St. Louis Superstar author William Bernhardt here assembles a cast of fellow mystery stars to provide an entertaining legal tale that shows the positives and negatives of collaborative novels. First, the positives--Collaborative novels are hot! Few things are as intriguing as multiple popular authors under one cover. The reader is able to sample the works of authors s/he may not have read before along with old favorites. All of the authors included in this book are top-flight stars. Bernhardt starts this novel with a bang, laying out the murder mystery and primary characters in light fashion. Each subsequent author then adds to the plot and adds a new twist of his/her own. In the final chapter, Bernhardt then wraps up all the loose ends of this convulted tale, solves the whodunit, and ensures a happy ending. The plot moves along well and the book can be easily read in a day or two. The negatives?--Many of the same things that will make some people love this book. Because each author has unique style and views of where the plot should go, the tale can flow very unevenly. Characters likable in previous chapters become villainous in later chapters. Details presented in earlier chapters become inconsequential later in the story. This will disappoint readers more accustomed to a favorite author. Perhaps a previously agreed-upon plot outline may have minimized some of this confusion. Overall, however, collaborative novels are written as novelty -- fundraising for the Nature Conservancy in this case. While this novel isn't superior in its quality, it is a whole lot of fun and it has definitely introduced me to some mystery writers that I may not have sought out otherwise. This book is well worth the time. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition
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