The Craigslist Murders

by Brenda Cullerton

http://www.brendacullerton.com/

Plot

Charlotte Wolfe: New York interior decorator dealing with the demands of the very wealthy while searching for her 'victims' through the popular Craigslist. She contacts young trophy wives who are selling items owned by previous wives. Then she kills them. However, Wolfe's life is in turmoil and about to get much worse. She suffers the psychosomatic pains of childhood neglect from a mother who only wanted to rise to the top of wealth and society. She endures the indignity of her mother's constant presence and nitpicking in her adult life. The friendship with her college chum is eroding quickly. Bills are piling up. Her clients are driving her mad with their insane ideas. Plus, the cops may be closing in on the killer of young wealthy wives in the New York area.

The premise is very interesting. I really liked the concept when I first picked up the book. There is a lot here to contemplate and enjoy.

Characters

Really only one needs to be mentioned. Charlotte Wolfe: 37. Neglected as a child. Suffering humiliation from her mother as an adult. Although she enjoys, somewhat, her profession, she doesn't enjoy the clients.

Yes, there are other people in the book, supporting characters. A friend of Charlotte's who spouts philosophy. A college girlfriend who is turning into the type of rich twits Charlotte despises. A homeless man who provides a nice irony to the wealthy. A Russian client Charlotte falls for. However, Charlotte is the only one you really need to be concerned about.

Dialogue

Very good. Cullerton has got the rich wives’ voices down. Charlotte's conversations are very on edge because SHE is on edge most of the time.

Writing

Okay, here's where I have problems. Most of the book deals with flashbacks or memories. I also was disappointed because I thought the first chapter portended a humorous nutty killer and her frustrations with the rich.

However, it quickly turned dark and depressing as it delved into Wolfe's back story. It's a short book, only 219 pages. Cullerton is very knowledgeable about interior design and some of the wealthy 'sicknesses'.

She provides very good insight to the haughtiness and selfishness and conceit of the wealthy. However I just got distracted by too many flashbacks. I mention this because recently I've had discussions concerning the proper place and need for flashbacks and memories. Also, the story needed better editing as many sentences were difficult to read because of missing or added words.

My ranking:

Purple Belt