cover image Painting with Fire

Painting with Fire

K.B. Jensen. Crimson Cloud Media, $9.99 trade paper (209p) ISBN 978-0-615967-58-5

Jensen doesn’t master the challenge she sets for herself: to sustain tension about whether someone is guilty of murder. Chicago resident Claudia Wilson has an ambiguous relationship with her roommate, Tom, a cashier with artistic ambitions, whom she met at a bar. Claudia, who’s unemployed, finds him attractive, but resists getting involved with him romantically. Their routines are shattered after they find a corpse in the snow outside their apartment building. Claudia later learns the victim was bludgeoned to death after an encounter with some drug dealers. From the start, Claudia suspects that Tom might be responsible, and, unsettled by the possibility and with plenty of time on her hands, begins playing amateur sleuth. Other possible suspects in her building include a violent married couple, but her focus remains on Tom, especially after learning that he has a criminal record he’s concealed from her. The plot unfolds without any significant surprises, and the characters lack depth. [em](BookLife)] [/em]