In the picturesque peaceful town of Newport Beach, a
beautiful
bookkeeper of the town's wealthiest family, McGinty, is
found dead. That in itself is a very rare occurrence, but
when a power hungry DA involves herself in the case and
arrests Johnny Barnes, a wealthy philanthropist and
related to the McGinty's via marriage, she sends the
whole
town into a frenzy.
DA Janice Maitland only grabs and holds onto the
case due to its high profile nature and how it will
increase
her political standing. But in trying to achieve power,
she makes some
major blunders in arresting and continuously accusing
Johnny without solid proof. In order to save her image,
she
is willing to go to any lengths, including planting
evidence.
For Johnny and his family, the murder charge is
a shock and completely out of the blue. The public turns
against them. They are being ignored, cut direct and
socially barred by all their close friends and favourite
places. They're slandered on the internet. Added to that,
the
head of the McGinty family, Jonny's brother-in-law, has
been
gunning for them since they sued him for withholding
company information. He is also considerably more
influential than them and controls all their accounts.
With the help of his wife and
kids, Johnny must discover the real killer to prove his
innocence before the noose tightens
and he sent to jail permanently.
MONEY, FAMILY, MURDER grabbed my attention from the time
I read the blurb. The interest began to
wane as I delved further into the story. The concept and
the story hold promise and is well written. Despite
this, I
had a hard time getting into the story or caring if
Johnny got
exonerated or not. Why might be either because Timothy
Patten's
writing style is not what I am familiar with or that the
characters did not feel fully-developed. The
number of stunts Johnny pulled in the course of the
events had me wanting to knock some sense into him, and
some
of the characters and situations felt uneccessary, adding
nothing consequential to the final outcome.
MONEY, FAMILY, MURDER is a quick, fast-paced read despite
the length, once you get into it. The self-absorbed,
image-conscious Janice is the most fleshed out, well-
written character in this book. The ending and revelation
of the killer is anti-climactic and felt rushed.
What I like about MONEY, FAMILY, MURDER is how Timothy
Patten shows the corrupt system; thanks to power hungry
politicians, the influence money has over people, and how
greed and jealousy destroys everything. While this story
did not captivate my attention nor
feeling sympathy for the victim, MONEY, FAMILY, MURDER is
nonetheless a well-
written mystery where you will not be able to guess
whodunit till the time the killer is revealed.
In the picture-perfect community of Newport Beach, violent crime is virtually nonexistent - until one
sunny morning, when the beautiful bookkeeper of Newport's wealthiest family is found strangled in her
bed.
Johnny Barnes - loyal husband, dad, philanthropist, and all-around decent guy - is arrested for the
murder. Johnny has been wrongly accused. He is released on $20 million bail, but the tide of public
opinion turns rapidly against him. Everyone has competing agendas, from the power-hungry DA to a
perspicacious police detective to Johnny's influential brother-in-law.
With diminishing resources and dwindling hope, Johnny must conduct his own investigation. His journey
takes him from Montecito to North Dakota to Key Biscayne as he uncovers a dazzling web of intrigue,
self-dealing, extortion, and murder. The clock is ticking. Soon Johnny will be sent to prison for
crime he did not commit - unless he is able to identify the true murderer and clear his name in time.
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