Looks like my dyslexia kicked in – I thought Alie Dumas-Heidt’s debut novel The Myth Maker was coming out July 30, not July 3. But alas, a late review is better than no review, and what a doozy Myth Maker was! Thank you, Netgalley and Crooked Lane, for this opportunity!
From the Publisher:
Someone is killing women and staging their bodies in strange, evocative scenes in this Greek-mythology-inspired serial killer thriller perfect for fans of Alex Michaelides and Tana French.
Cassidy Cantwell has devoted her life to becoming a detective, never forgetting the cold case that has influenced her entire career: the unsolved murder of her best friend. Cassidy tries to balance her demanding job with her suffocatingly close-knit family and her increasingly clingy boyfriend, but when a strange new murder case comes across her desk, she’s determined to solve it, especially when it turns out the victim was the wife of her college ex-boyfriend.
While Cassidy’s partner, Bryan, works to prove that her ex is their suspect, Cassidy can’t shake the feeling that there’s something more to the case that they’re not seeing. After the medical examiner finds a strange ring among the victim’s personal effects that the husband insists didn’t belong to his wife, Cassidy is struck by similarly odd details from a previous crime scene–details that seem to have an uncanny connection to a Greek myth.
When another body attracts public attention and the FBI joins the hunt, the case gets increasingly complicated–and solving it seems further and further out of reach. With anonymous taunts about her best friend’s death dragging her attention away, Cassidy finds herself pulled in different directions–sacrifice her personal life for the sake of her career or put everything she has into finding years-old answers to a case that haunts her still.
And the killer behind the murders isn’t done yet.
My Take:
I am a sucker for all things Greek mythology. As a proud Greek myself and high school taker of the National Mythology (Medusa) Exam, as an adult, I am constantly seeking new ways to take in and dissect the classic myths (until your new favorite show Kaos is canceled – looking at you, Netflix!) So when The Myth Maker appeared in my potential Netgalley feed, I was immediately hooked. The idea of a mortal man killing women and staging them as though they were Greek goddesses has a lot of potential: The psyche of a murderer thinking he is above the divine, the choice of which goddess each woman represents, and ultimately, the goddess that the killer considers his “chosen one.” I loved how Dumas-Heidt sets each scene to harken back to each goddess, even if it was described in disturbing detail.
My issue was with the execution of this overarching theme and the pace. The main character Cassidy is, suffice to say, not trained in the classics, and gets all of her information / inspiration from a Classics professor. Instead of understanding the mythology and the potential psychology behind it, Cassidy is portrayed as a young yet hardboiled detective with a chip on her shoulder and a decidedly unacademic approach. Her generally unlikable character, combined with a huge cast of other characters and a slightly formulaic plot, makes The Myth Maker fall a little flat for me. It also makes me a little sad to think that any future books with Cassidy will not have the same Greek mythology theme (even though it is, of course, a positive that [spoiler!] the murderer was caught). However, it would be a very interesting take if Dumas-Heidt includes other mythologies or academic themes in her future murder mysteries.
Conclusion:
While I am disappointed that what “drew me in” didn’t pan out as well as I hoped, I think that Dumas-Heidt has shown a lot of potential for writing in the murder mystery genre. I would read another Cassidy Cantwell installation for the dramatic elements and to see her character grow. Three waves from me! Pick up this beautiful cover here (available in paperback!) for a thrilling beach read.
Books for the Beach 