Moon Over Cape Cod by Renn Loraine is a murder mystery featuring opulent New England mansions, dancer-bodyguards, fortunes to be inherited, and sexually repressed doctors struggling to break out of their glass prisons. At times it feels like a ‘cozy mystery’— except that in a page or two you are reminded of the looming threat of the protagonist ending up convicted for murder.
The latest in a series of stand-alone novels, the story follows the 39 year-old Dr. Marion Arrondale, a rebellious daughter of a tyrannical father. Despite her family being billionaires, the conscientious Marion chose to pursue a career of some service to society, and became an ER medical doctor. She hates her greedy, self-serving father with a passion. She is smart, level-headed, exact, and indefatigable. None of these facts are in her favor in the eyes of the policemen who respond to her cry of murder after she finds her dying father in a pool of blood in his study. There is no murder weapon to be found, however, so the police don’t arrest Marion right away. But they are watching.
The Arrondales’ dead patriarch having had no scruples whatsoever, and price-gouged pediatric drugs, the family has been receiving numerous threats for some time. The gates of the Arrondale mansion grounds are besieged by a troop of protestors. Fearful for the well-being of her niece, who is staying at the house for the summer, Marion hires Sena Yoo, a 29 year-old Korean-American martial-arts expert, to keep an eye on young Cassie. Miss Yoo also happens to be a professional ballerina, which is the pretext under which she is brought by Marion. As Marion befriends her beloved niece’s new tutor, strange, long-suppressed feelings stir inside her. The dutiful doctor is further drawn by Sena’s offer to help her investigate the murder on her own. And she is so kind, so graceful…
But what dreams can she afford to have, when any minute now the doorbell might ring, and the police arrest her for the murder of her father?
Writing and Story
Moon Over Cape Cod is a quick read thanks to a smooth style and a page-turning plot. Renn Loraine did a good job of intertwining the mystery elements with the romantic ones, and lovers of either genre will not be disappointed. Like any good writer of mysteries, Loraine sets up a number of characters who could plausibly be the killer—including the protagonist herself. Loraine plays fair insofar as she puts all the clues a reader needs to make a good guess before the final revelation. Certain developments were more predictable than others, yet despite my decent knowledge of the genre’s tropes and tricks of the trade, I kept guessing as to which of the candidates for the culprit would be the one, so kudos to Loraine.
The atmosphere of the story alternates between delightfully gloomy and claustrophobic, and bright and joyful. The changes typically coincide with the prevalence of the criminal and the romantic elements of the story, respectively. At times Sena’s chill attitude and the picnic-like atmosphere of Marion’s outings with Sena and Cassie did threaten to throw the story’s tone out of balance, but I am happy to say that no whiplash occurred (even though Sena is right when she says, at the beginning, that no sane person would have accepted the job after learning about the situation). Marion, Sena, and Cassie are all layered and realistically conflicted characters. The rest of the cast varies as to their development, but they all play their parts well and contribute to this being both a decently-crafted family drama, and an engaging murder mystery.
Pros
The mystery plot, and Loraine’s ability to shift moods and erase the distance between the reader and the protagonist are certainly the highlights of Cape Cod. The budding romance is augmented by pivoting in no small part around Cassie, whom Marion sees as a sort of daughter of her own. Some of the best scenes of the novel feature the three of them, just doing normal things out and about, and they bring in some much needed sunshine (literal and figurative) after grueling, claustrophobic atmosphere that rises like mist every time the story turns towards the murder again.
Cons
While the novel is paced well and gives due attention to all its many moving parts, a small irk I had while reading it were the numerous chapter breaks, which sometimes abruptly broke off the text mid-scene and interrupted the natural flow of narration. Simple scene breaks would have been a wiser choice, but alas.
Another minor issue is the stilted nature of a good portion of the talk between Marion and Sena regarding sexuality. I understand that addressing the topic directly leaves the writer with little room as to the bluntness of words used, and not everything should be as vague about the birds and the bees as Victorian novels, but there were a few lines which I think might have been handled better, given Loraine’s otherwise polished and strong style.
The Conclusion
Moon Over Cape Cod accomplishes all it promises to do, and then adds some. It is a fine mystery novel, which will keep you turning pages and guessing right up to the end. It is also a good romance; I especially appreciated that it was centered on a middle-aged woman, and that it addressed the issues of youth and aging with regards to coming out and other queer experiences. (I’m also partial to a good age-gape romance but don’t tell anyone!). Neither genre takes away from the other, or makes the whole discordant; in fact, the two elements strengthen each other, making for a delightful read. Oh, and there’s some Matrix-like tae-kwon-do action in there, did I mention that? Delightful.
Excerpt from Moon Over Cape Cod by Renn Loraine
“Remember that night, Marion?” Cecilia forged onward. “Warren was lashing out at all of us. He called me names, and accused Cassie of being spoiled. Then he threatened to disinherit us…”
“He always said that, Cecilia. You know that,” Marion retorted. “That was nothing new. It was his favorite threat.”
“Cassie got so upset she ran to her room and slammed the door,” Cecilia continued. “Then I went to mine. But – I could still hear the two of you at the dinner table, all the way from the guest wing. Not every word, of course – but a lot of it. You two were so loud that I finally got up and closed my door, too.
“I thought it was strange, Marion – how you were that night. I’d never heard you so angry. You weren’t yourself, really. Usually, you’d let him rant. But not that night. That night, you were standing up to him.”
Marion stared at her plate. “Because he was attacking Christopher,” she murmured. “After you two left, he kept going on and on about Christopher – saying that Christopher killed himself because he was… weak. But – he knew Christopher. He knew about the depressions that Christopher had battled his entire life…” Marion swallowed hard, thinking back.
“Christopher… was one of the strongest people I know – to face that, to live with that condition, year after year. And yet Dad was… laughing at him. He was laughing at him for being… weak. His own son.”
“So? I don’t know why that upset you so much. It’s not like he could hurt Christopher anymore. Christopher was already dead.”
Marion was astonished. She looked up, her gaze sharp. “Are you serious?” she snapped back. “Are you defending my father over your own husband?”
“Your father wasn’t such a bad man, Marion. You just didn’t understand him.”
Marion tried hard to temper her words. “I think I knew him better than you did, Cecilia.”
Cecilia, unconcerned, reached for her wine glass. “Well – I don’t like to speak ill of the dead. And you can’t deny that Christopher… wasn’t the man your father was.”
Heat flushed over Marion’s face, and her reaction was instinctive– as if she could still, somehow, protect her brother. “My father was a monster, Cecilia,” she answered sharply. “He deserved every bit of what he got.”
The words had come tumbling out before she could think better of them. And Cecilia, who was about to take a drink of her wine, hesitated.
As the glass in her hand hovered in the air, mid-motion, the faintest of smiles tugged at the corners of Cecilia’s mouth. Her eyes drifted over to Sena, to confirm that she, too, had overheard the words that had escaped Marion’s lips.
Marion understood. This had been a set-up. Cecilia had lured her into a trap, and now Cecilia was making sure that Sena had been her witness.
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Series: Moon Over America
Moon Over St- Augustine
Moon Over Old Hollywood
Murder Over the Poconos
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781736004760
Publisher: Misbehaving Moon Press
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