Book Review & Giveaway: Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano.

Product details:
Publisher: ECW Press.
Paperback, 325 pages.
Release date: September 1st 2010.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: Adult.
Source: Received from publisher for review.

After the mayor falls down dead in the middle of a speech, a clandestine student society claims credit for his demise.

Clare Vengel is given her first undercover assignment: to pose as a student and penetrate the society. A streetwise amateur mechanic, Clare finds university a foreign land, and has trouble creating an in with the suspects. She quickly alienates a popular professor and loses the respect of police superiors.

When another politician is killed, Clare kicks herself into high gear. She forges friendships with students and makes inroads into the secret society.

As the body count rises, Clare realizes that the murderer she has to unmask is someone she has come to consider a friend. She only hopes that the friend doesn't unmask her first.

You might not know this, but along with my often documented obsession with reading about secret societies and universities, I also love a good murder mystery. With Robin Spano’s debut novel combining all of these elements, I knew this would be my kind of book. This is a fast-paced, sassy debut that will both entertain and intrigue. I loved Robin’s writing style, and the characters she created. Let’s just say I became a fan of Clare Vengel pretty early on.

That’s not to say that Clare is entirely perfect. In fact, she’s far from it. She’s an undercover cop and her first assignment is to infiltrate a prestigious secret society of students suspected of murdering some high-profile politicians. Clare settles into University life pretty well, although her early classes can be a problem due to her almost constant hangovers. Clare is not a good girl. To say that she has an edge is an understatement, and I am not going to even mention how far this girl will go to gain evidence for her undercover assignment. Clare is a complex character for sure.  She’s a cop with a chip on her shoulder and at times she seems to have a problem with authority, which makes for some interesting reading. She’s fun, she breaks the rules, and she has a complicated love life that I just loved reading about.

Robin Spano uses a multi-person viewpoint to tell the story here. Along with this the book contains a vast cast of secondary characters, and I admit that this did confuse me at first. I think this is a tricky style to get right, and it doesn’t always work. In fact, I’ve read books where this style falls flat on it’s face mainly due to a lack of contrast in tone between narrators.  However, Robin Spano  excels at this style, and it’s quite a talent. As I read on, I got to know the characters, and each had quite a distinctive personality and voice.  Also, even though I am not all that interested in reading about politics, I found the subject matter here to be appealing and very topical.  Despite the serious subject matter though, this is a quick, fun read. It’s not steeped in political jargon, and the prose flows at an exciting pace.

As an avid murder mystery fan, I will admit that I figured out the culprit here pretty early on, but with numerous plot twists throughout the book, Spano definitely kept me second guessing myself. I would recommend this one as it’s an accomplished debut with an entertaining storyline and a great heroine to boot. I know that Robin is already planning the next book in the series, which will see hard-drinking, chain-smoking Clare undercover as a trust fund princess.  Now this is going to be one funny read.  I can’t wait to check it out! 

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