Full Circle: A Haszard Narrative

Kevin E.
Hatt
Genre: 
Mystery

BLACK COMEDY:  Haszard is an anesthetic and recovery practitioner who dabbles in solving mysteries. So when his friend Suzie asks him to look into the death of her cousin, little does Haszard know that he has stumbled on a decades-old mystery of death and human sacrifice.

 

This novel was interesting reading because of the sprinklings of British cheek and humor. There was also comic relief in the form of Haszard’s friend Gracie, whose antics might remind someone of an Abbot and Costello routine. Haszard talking to people in search for clues as to the cause of the murder was interesting at first, until it became chapter upon chapter of finding people to speak to. And because of this, the tension built up, waned. This combined with incidents meant to make for interesting reading fell flat in the wake of too much telling and very little showing. This was indeed a narrative in many aspects. However, the problem is that too much narrative can lead to the reader losing interest because they are not invested in the story. 

 

Readers want to be a part of the story. They want to be involved, not to be told what happens next. Perhaps if there was more in the way of engaging the reader through the characters’ dialogues, this would have been a much better read.

 

M.P. Ceja