#80- The Abortionist's Daughter

Book No: 80
Title: The Abortionists Daughter
Author: Elisabeth Hyde
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2008/Audible
Completed: 10/25/08
No. of Pages: N/A
Rating: 3/5*****

The Abortionist’s Daughter is Megan Duprey, a 19 year old college student; Megan’s mother is Diane Duprey a well known abortion doctor in their Colorado town. One evening Megan gets a phone call from her father Frank who is the local DA. Diana has been found dead in her swimming pool at home. When it becomes clear that Diana has been murdered the suspect list is long: fanatical anti-abortionists; Megan herself, who quarreled with her mother that fatal morning; Frank; who was often heard having loud fights with Diana; Rev. Steven O’Connell, the local leader of an anti-abortion coalition. Then there is Megan’s slightly unhinged former boyfriend, who is claiming that Diana was a meth addict. So who killed Diana Duprey?

Although this is a murder mystery, it is also a view of marriage, family relationships and the abortion issue - presented fairly equally from both sides. The best parts of the book are the prickly relationship between Diana and Megan - the dialogue between them seems very real. The problems with the book, for me, were I didn’t much like anyone in the book. With the exception of Huck Berlin, the detective investigating the case, I didn’t really care about anyone. Even Huck does some bonehead things that had me rolling my eyes. I figured out who did the dirty deed fairly early in the book, and the actual revelation was completely anti-climatic. There were several side stories that were distracting, and there was one major clue introduced at the start that was never resolved nor brought up again and that really annoyed me.

So for me this was not such a good book. Some parts were interesting but for the most part I just felt much uninvolved, almost as if I were watching a play from a distance.