Book Review - Martin Misunderstood by Karin Slaughter

Beware spoilers!

This is a novella of about 150 pages and quite easily readable in an hour or so, but an enjoyable hour!  It is different from her other books as it centres around the sad and unfortunate Martin Reed, an accountant at a toilet supply company, the butt of everyone jokes and pranks at work and the long suffering son of a cranky and foul-mouthed mother.  The book is fast paced, funny at times (not laugh out loud but amusing), well written and you can fully understand Martin's frustrations with his life.

The changes in his life come when one of his work colleagues is murdered and he is the main suspect.  It is through this that Martin meets Detective Anther Albada.  Martin is an avid reader of crime thrillers and in the book Karin Slaughter gives a nod to all of her main 'literary rivals' - Cornwell, Reichs, Evanovich etc and it is from reading these books that Martin uses as the basis for his actions when arrested.  Det Albada sees something in Martin which reminds her of herself, she has a fantasy life where her 'lesbian partner' (although she is not actually gay - just awkward and lonely) died of breast cancer which gave her kudos amongst her work colleagues and she had kept up the pretence for many years.  Martin is released from custody and another of his work colleagues dies, is Martin the killer - well he ends up on death row for the murders.  

Once there he and Albada come to an arrangement and they 'marry', is Martin the killer well we do find out, we find out why the killer committed the crimes and we also realise that Martin has a better life on death row than he did in the outside world.  As a serial killer (?), he has respect in jail, he works in the prison offices as an accountant and has Albada and she herself seems content with her lot, and his mother, well I'll let you read the book.

Ciao
Sue
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Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (not off my reading challenge)