Review: Sassy! By Gloria Mallette - Great Psychological Whodunit!

Sassy
By Gloria Mallette
Gemini Press
ISBN: 9780967878935
312 Pages

“For the umpteenth time, Sassy told herself she could not have made up this drama if she tried.” (p. 270)

Sassy Davenport is a romance novelist who sometimes has a little trouble writing her romantic scenes; that is, until she meets the man of her dreams. Norris Yoshito showed up at one of Sassy’s book signings and asked that she sign all ten books he was buying. Naturally, she was intrigued; her friend Kenneth wouldn’t read her books, nor even talk about them—especially since he spent most of his time talking about whether to financially support a plan for his brother or sister, expecting Sassy to listen and respond at appropriate times. It was quite easy for Sassy to be swayed by attention from Norris!

Not only was Yoshito drop-dead gorgeous, he quickly won Sassy over with his close attention, his caring ways, and, later, his wonderful lovemaking!

That is, until the night he showed up, kicked Kenneth out of her apartment and turned aggressively toward Sassy, scaring and hurting her with his nasty words and anger.

When Norris told her that he had not been at her apartment and that he didn’t know who Kenneth was, Sassy was caught between her love for him and what she knew had actually happened at her apartment. Although Norris worked hard to explain what he thought was happening, it still was hard for Sassy to accept.

Until Norris became involved in taking care of Sassy’s cousin/best friend, Bernard, who was dying from AIDS. Here too, she compared Norris with Kenneth, who refused to be around Bernard, and her love continued to grow and allowed Sassy’s trust to grow. This was difficult to do because the police were after Norris for murder! In fact, a number of people close to Norris had been murdered—and his father and stepmother were the latest!

Sassy is a great whodunit! Readers may begin to review the possibilities as to who is behind the murders. Is Norris a multiple personality (dissociative disorder) since there are so many witnesses that have seen the man believed to be the murderer (including Sassy!) and have described or named Norris? Is it his half-brother who has hated Norris since he was brought into his home as an orphan when his own mother died? Is it a childhood friend who had run the streets of Japan with him as a mixed-blood, shunned youth who now hated Norris for being able to go to America and it was payback time? The only thing Sassy knew for sure was that the murderer had come after her once and it was very possible that he would do so again! Had she married a murderer?

Aside from the wonderful exciting action for readers, the relationship between Sassy and Bernard adds greatly to this drama. The scene between Bernard’s son and him is beautifully created and the personal interactions between Bernard, Sassy, Norris and his son’s mother are extremely moving and realistic.

Gloria Mallette is a winner of the USA Best Book Award and the Indie Excellence Award. She just may have a winner in the suspense/thriller genre for Sassy! Check it out ‘cause it’s a great read!

G. A. Bixler