Death Comes for the Deconstructionist
Ratings1
Average rating3
When Jon Mote is hired to investigate the murder of his erstwhile mentor, literary star Richard Pratt, the grad school dropout feels woefully unequal to the task. Skittering on the edge of madness, his only source of hope is the dogged love of his developmentally disabled sister, Judy, who serves as cheerleader, critic and moral compass. Soon the siblings find themselves haunting the neighbourhoods of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota – from crime scenes to the halls of academe – exposing a series of suspects along the way. When he stumbles upon Pratt’s terrible secret, Mote is prompted to discover an equally dreadful mystery in his own past – a revelation that accelerates his descent into darkness and puts both himself and Judy at grave risk. ‘Daniel Taylor’s oddly reluctant Sherlock Holmes is accompanied by the most unusual and heartwarming Watson in my reading experience.’ Paul J. Willis, author of The Alpine Tales
Series
Featured Series
2 primary booksJon Mote Mysteries
Jon Mote Mysteries is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Daniel Taylor.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Pretty good. I admit, it took a few chapters to get into it. The main character, who's perspective we're dropped into, has a certain way of thinking and narrating that feels like a shtick or a type. But once you get used to his cadence and buy into it more, you really do start to connect with and care for him. I'm
The mystery itself is so-so. The book is a lot less concerned with ramping up narrative tension than it is and using that narrative as a space to discuss philosophical and religious ideas and get to know these characters a bit. I really can't say I cared about the victim or the murder mystery at all through the entirety of the book, but I really did start to care for the characters. Judy, the main character's sister who seems to have some sort of spectrum or developmental disorder, is pretty endearing and engaging, even if she's a little flat as a character.
The prose is clear and straightforward, even in it's philosophical or theological musings. And while most of the book is a pretty casual beach read level, man, there really are some profound and stunningly beautiful lines sprinkled throughout the book—”literary”, even. There's even more than a few lines I laughed out loud at.
I like the way the author's brain seems to work. I don't know if this is his first book or not, but I can imagine future novels becoming more refined and sophisticated. So I'm excited to read more of his work.
But overall, I would say this was more of a fun book than a philosophical novel, though at times I think it was trying to be the latter. Unfortunately, it's not; but a good and interesting read nonetheless.
