Life in Ventura, California sounds like it’d be an ideal place for many to go. However, author Bob Brill is going to take readers on a linear quest to bring a murderer to justice, and keep the citizens of this small town in, The Tattoo Murder, safe. Readers looking for that next suspense filled mystery novel will not want to miss out on this promising start to a potential new series.
The Tattoo Murder by author Bob Brill has a cover that draws the eye and piques the interest of readers who enjoy a good drama filled mystery and suspense novel. This book’s cover depicts the image of a man’s face like one taken for a driver’s license.
The face is difficult to identify with areas around the eyes and mouth strategically removed making him just an anonymous individual. Along his neck is a flowing tattoo, which gives a nod to the title of this book. Relegated to black and white, the overall image gives an air of mystery to the book.
The Tattoo Murder begins with the discovery of a body floating in the ocean. It’s difficult to guess the motive behind the individual’s death or how he was killed. Floaters tend to be like that, but at the end of the day, that is typically the point. To “muddy the waters” of evidence so that it’s more difficult to figure out where the trail leads.
While the first few pages draw the reader in with the discovery of the body, author Brill hasn’t introduced the main character of this story just yet. When one of the on-scene officers goes to make a call, that is when the story will shift to Detective John Potenza.
Shifting to across town to a lady friend’s house we meet John Potenza. Author Brill is quick to let readers know that Detective Potenza is a “ladies’ man.” He’s dedicated to his job, but he makes sure to make time for the ladies in his life whom he rotates through.
As The Tattoo Murder flows along the story shifts back to the body “patiently” waiting on the beach. Potenza arrives, and it’s in this scene that he and the coroner begin to piece together that this murder? There’s more to it than initially meets the eye. Something big is brewing and it needs to be dealt with before things get out of hand.
Author Brill drops a grenade in readers’ laps with his main character, Potenza, revealing that Ventura is about to be looking at some serious danger ahead. This murder? It’s a sign of a gang war brewing beneath the surface of everyday life, and that typically means innocents are caught in the crosshairs. What none can know is that there is more to this than meets the eye, and just how deep down the rabbit hole they will have to go to piece the entire puzzle together before it’s all said and done.
The Tattoo Murder takes a break from the cop drama and murder to introduce readers to John Potenza’s family. Author Brill takes a beat to give us some insight into John’s life, background on his family, and how he spends his days off. This gives readers some background color concerning John and his heritage. It establishes his strong family connection and how close they all are. When a family gets together for every Sunday you know either they are 1) very close, 2) it’s tradition, or 3) all of the above.
After some time with the family and leaving some clues that both us readers and Potenza will come back to later, author Brill moves the story forward. Moving in a linear fashion author Brill details where the story is heading by location, time, and exact time of the year. This specific attention to detail allows readers to see how quickly things move concerning this case and keep track of where things are specifically. It’s a nice touch in the detail department.
The first little clue that author Brill drops for readers in The Tattoo Murder starts with the detective’s sister. A small seemingly innocuous tattoo of a butterfly. The first thought that is going to spring into mind is that Potenza’s sister, Maria, has been marked by a killer. The good news? That’s not the case. The bad news? The tattoo artist is still connected to the danger brewing. Just…in a different way than we would expect at the moment.
The Tattoo Murder is not a police procedural-style novel. Author Brill tells this story from the third person perspective focusing primarily on Detective Potenza. There is the occasional shift to other characters throughout the book. We’ll get moments with his sister Maria, his partner – Vincent, and of course, one of the primary suspects – just to name a few. The primary focus of the story will be Potenza.
Piece by piece the story will come together. The elements that tie together the gang war brewing will show themselves. The bigger picture will still be in development until it’s time for the big reveal. How author Brill ties everything together will make it all worth the wait. Our minds will want to wander in one direction, but author Brill has bigger things in mind. Exercising patience is worth it because it’s something that will be jaw-dropping.
The Tattoo Murder is an overall engaging novel. It’s well-written and does an excellent job of drawing readers in from the beginning. There is sexual content, however, none of it is graphic or highly detailed so most readers shouldn’t have too complaints about it. The amount of detail written in this book is well done. The details paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind to go with the story on the page. There are also some pictures included of various sites mentioned in the story which gives it a more realistic air.
The only drawbacks of The Tattoo Murder would be some of the narrative details. These details take on the role of trying to lead readers in specific directions. They aren’t necessary when that should be left up to the characters to do. They kept taking us out of the story. While the characters come off as mostly realistic, there were times when they deviated. John is highly protective of his sister, but when she shows back up in town, he doesn’t even scold her. It was strange, especially after the lengths he took to get her out of harm’s way.
As the Tattoo Murder draws to a close author Brill gives readers hints that we could possibly be seeing more of Detective Potenza in the future. This is an intriguing thought and one that many a reader would not be adverse to. Based on this book’s close Potenza has more story to tell and we would be willing to read more.
Readers who enjoy a good murder mystery with realistic ties to real life The Tattoo Murder is a book that you’ll want to check out. It has plenty of suspense, twists and surprises that will have you looking for your next Detective John Potenza novel.
Pros:
- Engaging storyline
- Interesting characters
- Good amount of mystery
- Realistic
- Suspenseful and a nice amount of twists
Cons:
- This book has a good amount of details, but some of the narration detail was not necessary.
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