Review of "Hands on Homicide" by Sarah Hualde

Score: 89+/100 (8.9 out of 10)

Hands on Homicide is another compelling cozy mystery and whodunit by Sarah Hualde, author of the OCA winning mysteries Grounded and Bloodlines & Betrayals.

Similar to Grounded, it ventures into paranormal mystery territory, this time with the main character, Corky Hobbs, developing a magical or psychic touch. This is something that we're not sure was necessary for the plot to happen, but adds a layer of intrigue nonetheless. It's something intended to be cool and different.

At least this power sort of matches Corky as a character, with her career being in massage therapy. Her touch is already perceived as therapeutic or impactful, powers or no powers.

At its core, this is a mystery that revolves around solving the murder of Emma Woods, a beloved high school counselor who drowns in the spa’s serenity pond under suspicious circumstances. Her death shocks the community of Deadhorse Canyon because she was known as kind, supportive, and deeply trusted by students and families. What begins as a tragic accident quickly becomes a hunt for the truth, especially when Corky Hobbs--herself nearly drowned the same night--starts receiving vivid “secret-seer” visions through touch. These flashes expose hidden grudges, long-buried scandals, and a link to the earlier death of Brandon Daze, a golden boy whose supposed accident was never fully explained.

Could these two deaths be related?
And will the culprit (who is still out there) strike again?

Another interesting layer to this book is Corky’s relationships with some of its other characters. We have her two best friends, Stella and Steve ("always even Steve"), who are both nominees for Best Supporting Character. They are the kind of people you'd love to have on your side: loyal and supportive.

But then we have the darker or more gray characters like Melinda Carlie, Corky’s long-time rival and the fiancée of her ex, Brett ("butthead Brett"). Melinda is petty, venomous, and all too eager to paint Corky as guilty in the court of public opinion. Then there’s Brett Booker himself, who is neither purely villainous nor heroic. He’s a selfish, indecisive figure who drifts between careers and women, yet still tries to lean on Emma Woods as his mentor.

You also have the Hewitts, Henry and Valerie, who walk the line between trusted professionals and figures enmeshed in secrets from the past. They aren’t malicious, but their guarded nature makes them difficult allies. And of course, there’s Davis Pile, the seemingly friendly coworker whose surface charm conceals a dark truth. These characters add complexity to the story, keeping Corky (and us) guessing about who’s hiding what, and forcing her to navigate not only the mystery itself but also the messy, very human web of relationships around her.

What we found particularly interesting is how Corky's tense and awkward relationships with Melinda and Brett come into play. She must constantly contain and control her negative feelings toward them, like suspecting that Melinda might be capable of murder.

Another thing we liked about this book was Corky herself. Corky previously identified herself as "being the confident, chubby girl with a stunning boyfriend. When my confidence and boyfriend left, I became lonely, shattered, and confused."

On one hand, she seems to be a self-insert sort of character and actually very similar to Penny Nicols from Grounded. But she's still relatable and likable. She's an Everygirl sorta girl thrust into a murder mystery and given this extraordinary yet simultaneously subtle power.

One thing we couldn't get around with this book is how it often seems like nothing was happening. The book often seemed meandering and stuck. There are a lot of scenes in which characters stand around (or sit around), just talking. You often get the impression that these are just some friends having casual conversations and not friends who are in the middle of a murder investigation with a murderer still at large. It should be tense! We should be on on toes, panicked around every corner. It just doesn't feel that way. There's a lot of talking. It often sounds like high school lunchroom gossip. Yes, some information is gleamed from these discussions, but they're not as dynamic and compelling as we hoped they'd be.

This book does have some good writing. One of our favorite lines (and brace yourself for this because it's a bit stomach-upsetting), is: "My iced coffee came up as frosty as it went down."

How's that for a line?

Oh, and we have to say: we're liking the general approach that Sarah Hualde provides through these mysteries. Amateur sleuthing is, by its very nature, captivating. Heck, many of us have done it. Don't believe us? How many of you have used Google or social media to try to identify suspects in recent crime cases?

Check it out on Amazon!