This is very meta, so it’s not for everyone. But if you’re a big fan of the mystery genre and would enjoy a book that both participates in and (on page) examines the tropes that make it up through asides, mixed media, and references to and deconstructions of other mysteries, you may like West Heart Kill.

Novel Plot Warning: dog death.
WHK promised intrigue and murder with a twist, and delivered confusion and two murders, two deaths, and unnecessary conflagration. In an effort to pay homage to all the great (and I do mean ALL) mystery writers of the late 19th/early 20th centuries, McDorman loses his own voice and story. Moments that the narrator spoke directly to the reader mocked the arm-chair sleuth for thinking ahead or attempting to solve the puzzle (with phrases amounting to "surely, you think, this is how it would play out"), instead of just letting the plot narrate and instruct. There are interesting sections on the history of the murder mystery as a play or novel, and how various authors tackled scenes, but everything was so overladen with a pretentiousness, and the sections were so randomly interspersed through the novel, that instead of truly adding to the narrative it served more as a distraction.
McDormans journalistic background is felt in those sections and I would rather have read an entire nonfiction book about the history of the mystery novel. If the plot had been more developed and only told as a third-person, I would rather have read that. The denouement was done in an interesting format but resulted in a "whomp-whomp" of "I read the whole thing... for this?"

West Heart Kill in one word: unexpected. And for a mystery novel, that’s exactly what you want. You want a narrative that subverts tropes and bends the rules (sometimes even breaking them!).

Everyone is a suspect and things get messy very quickly. The novel follows the elite members of the West Heart hunting club and as their secrets get revealed you realize no one is safe.

Anyone who reads this book will be sure to feel like an active participant in revealing the truth, which makes the book so much more enjoyable than other books that I’ve read before.

I’m not as familiar with the mystery genre, but I did appreciate the history sprinkled throughout the book. At times, it did feel overwhelming and unrelated to the plot but as a novice to the mystery genre, I really do think that it added a unique detail to the narrative.

SPOILERS

The ending was a bit of a let down, I can't lie. There are lots of things I saw coming, but the one thing I didn't see coming (and that I was a bit peeved by) was the cause of death of the detective. The author inserts himself as the ultimate villain, which could have had a powerful effect on the book, but felt cheap like some of the other reflective moments of the book. I think that the ending and some of the history bits kept me from enjoying the novel and giving it at least 4 stars. But I did appreciate that it feels like a fresh approach to writing a mystery novel. If only it had been executed more expertly, I would have loved it.

I read this book in one sitting and literally couldn't put it down until I solved the murders. West Heart Kill has a star quality and fans of sleuthing will devour this novel. 3.75 stars. 

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the ARC!