Dead Time (The Murder Notebooks, #1)

Apr 16, 2012 Katy rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't get it. I just spent the last couple of hours reading this book, and by the end, i don't feel like I got anywhere. I didn't get any further with the mystery behind Rose's mom and Joshua's dad, and I didn't get any further with Rose and Joshua. And the police will probably never get any further with Henry's murder. At least the other murder was solved.

I wasn't particularly crazy about the characters in this book. I couldn't sympathize with Rose at all. She purposely made herself a recluse...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Suspense Magazine added it

“Dead Time” is the first of the Murder Notebook series by Anne Cassidy. Cassidy has penned over thirty books during her career and her latest series follows two teenagers, Rose Smith and Joshua Johnson.

Twelve-year-old Rose’s mother and fourteen-year-old Joshua’s father live together happily until one night the kids’ parents go out to dinner and never come back. Nothing is heard of them again and the two are sent to live with different relatives.
Five years later, Rose and Joshua are due to meet...more

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Jul 31, 2012 ~+-+Vanora+-+~ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Score: 3/5 stars

Mum picked this book off the new arrival shelves in the public library and I finally got around to read it today.

Premise is interesting but writing was a bit flat. With such a premise, by right, I should be kept right on the edge of the seat, wanting to know what will happen next but I didn't feel the strong urge to do so as I do for some other books.

That being said, it was still interesting enough for me to keep reading. Clearly first book of The Murder Notebooks series, this bo...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review by Madison

Rose is a witness to a brutal attack on one of her classmates and is unwillingly dragged into the whole messy business. the attack coincides with a visit from Joshua who Rose hadn't seen for 5 years. The 5 years since their parents went missing. Rose finds herself wondering if the recent events are some how connected to Joshua's investigation into the disappearance of their parents.

When Rose is witness to another attack; she quickly realises that she has to take action to end i...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Laura added it

This is the 1st book in The Murder Notebooks series. I can't say that I enjoyed it all that much, but the plot was very compelling.

The main character, Rose, is sent to live with her grandmother after her mother and her mom's boyfriend disappear after a dinner date. She still feels a powerful attraction to her almost-stepbrother Josh and makes efforts to connect with him again now that she's 17 and back from the boarding school her grandmother sent her to after the event.

Rose is an impulsive cha...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Joe Humphreys rated it 3 of 5 stars

Crime fiction for young adults is a genre that's in thankfully good health, and I've often considered the prolific (thirty novels in twenty years!) Anne Cassidy to be at the vanguard of the movement. She made a big splash with the truly outstanding Looking for JJ, and her output has been consistently good since.

Dead Time is the first in a new series of books entitled, aptly enough, 'The Murder Notebooks'. It follows the fortunes of Rose and Joshua, a stepbrother and sister whose parents (Rose's...more Crime fiction for young adults is a genre that's in thankfully good health, and I've often considered the prolific (thirty novels in twenty years!) Anne Cassidy to be at the vanguard of the movement. She made a big splash with the truly outstanding Looking for JJ, and her output has been consistently good since.

Dead Time is the first in a new series of books entitled, aptly enough, 'The Murder Notebooks'. It follows the fortunes of Rose and Joshua, a stepbrother and sister whose parents (Rose's mother, Joshua's father) both disappeared five years ago. Joshua is determined to find them, refusing to accept they're dead, whilst Rose, fresh out of a priveliged life at boarding school, feels she has enough on her plate trying to fit in with her peers at sixth form college. But when two students from her college are murdered in two separate incidents that may or may not be related, Rose finds herself caught up in mysteries of the past and the present. Are the two somehow connected?

As ever, Cassidy spins an engaging enough tale, filled with the right amounts of suspense to keep the pages turning and the reader guessing as Rose gradually pieces the mystery together. Rose, a 'posh girl' out of her comfort zone, is an appealingly vulnerable but determined protagonist. She makes lots of mistakes (and without wanting to give too much away, a rather huge one towards the end of the book), but this only serves to make her more empathetic.

Where perhaps Dead Time struggles a bit is in its attempts to marry together the mystery of the missing parents with the suspense in the present day. The latter is foregrounded at the expense of the former a little too often. In fairness, it is the parental subplot that keeps Joshua in the story, and the complex relationship between Rose and Joshua provides Dead Time's emotional core. Yet the scenes where Rose and Joshua investigate their parents' disappearance lack the urgency of the present day murders, which is a shame. Again, without wanting to give the story away, it does feel like both storylines are connected somehow: but we are left to do perhaps a bit too much guesswork in this regard.

A good read, then, but falling a little short of the lofty peaks scaled by Cassidy's very best work. Killing Rachel, the sequel, follows in the near future, and Dead Time does leave enough intriguing loose ends to make the reader want to read that book. Presumably, the missing parents storyline will be developed further, although it will do so alongside the mystery of Rachel's death (hence the title). It remains to be seen if Cassidy can pull off the tricky skill of juggling two seemingly disparate storylines in one novel with more success next time around.
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Jul 18, 2012 Reading Vacation's Mom added it

Dead Time was a book all about the mysteries. Rose, the main character, was first involved with a murder mystery three years prior to the story where her mother and her mother’s boyfriend disappeared. No one has seen them since and a lot has changed since then. Then, Rose is witness to two murders of students at her school. All three murders were intriguing and different. As the novel progressed, all three murders get tied up as new evidence is discovered. The author did a good job of spreading...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Hayden rated it 3 of 5 stars

SLJ: Gr 7-10-At 17, Rose Smith still wonders what happened to her mom and stepdad, who disappeared when she was 12. She lives in London with her grandmother, and her stepbrother, Joshua Jackson, has just come there to study and lives with an uncle. One evening, Rose runs into her tormenter, Ricky Harris, who insults her andÅis murdered minutes later. After the investigation is underway, Rose goes to meet a friend, but she has been killed as well. With two mysterious deaths and Rose's missing par...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Stephanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.

One day, after school, a group of my school friends and I were waiting for the train at Camberwell station. The girls from my school were huddled together, gigglingly pretending not to notice the boys from the local high school. But it was hard not to notice when one of them nonchalantly pulled out a knife and began jokingly waving it about. We were fortunate that the boy in question was more interested in big-noting himself than ac...more This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.

One day, after school, a group of my school friends and I were waiting for the train at Camberwell station. The girls from my school were huddled together, gigglingly pretending not to notice the boys from the local high school. But it was hard not to notice when one of them nonchalantly pulled out a knife and began jokingly waving it about. We were fortunate that the boy in question was more interested in big-noting himself than actually getting violent, but I still recall that moment with striking clarity.

Like I was, Rose Smith, protagonist of Anne Cassidy's Dead Time, is a private school girl unused to the jostling ways and posturing toughness of the local co-ed school. Unlike me, however, Rose has been thrust into its midst as a transfer student, and the dissimilarities continue from there. While my parents are merely separated, Rose's have disappeared entirely. And where all I saw on the train station that day was a kid fancying himself as a hard man, Rose has witnessed a murder.

Rose, however, is no stranger to death: the likely death of her mother and step-father, who have been missing for years, has long been playing on her mind. Since then, Rose has utterly closed herself off to the idea of loss, seeing such things as a personal weakness: she's affected a tough, almost callously cool image. But there is one weakness in Rose's armour, and that's her step-brother Joshua, who's recently come back on the scene and who is determined to finally uncover the truth behind the disappearance of their parents. And so Rose finds herself attempting to deal with Joshua's decision to reopen the wound that Rose has been avoiding all of these years, but worse, she finds herself a suspect in the murders of two of the students at her new high school.

Dead Time is one of the few young adult mysteries I've come across in some time that doesn't have a paranormal element to it, although for some reason I was expecting one--perhaps the slightly ghostly looking cover led me astray. It's also a strangely circuitous read, and I can't say that I was satisfied by what transpires. Rose is painted as an unlikeable character, something that of course affects a reader's enjoyment of a book, but her prickly, taciturn character also results in the book becoming almost tiresomely circumspect. Her propensity to ignore people or avoid discussing things with them means that there's an ongoing repetition of the interrogative elements--and to be honest, for the majority of the book it feels that things are inching along at the pace of a particularly slow, unpersonable snail. Random note: this is also the second book I've read this week that's used the trope of butterfly tattoos.

The plot, too, is circuitous, but in a way that's more unfocused than intriguing. The murder Rose witnesses, for example, quickly sinks into the background as we become privy to additional layers of mystery and intrigue involving cover-ups, assumed identities, and convenient emails and bits of evident cropping up from the past, and by the end of the book it's difficult to say what the intended main focus of the book. I was dissatisfied with the resolution of the murders of Rose's school peers, and with the resolution of the book overall: it's hard to see this book as much more than a springboard into the rest of the series.

Cassidy's characterisation, however, helps salvage what is otherwise a flat, dull read, and Rose, while difficult to like, is well fleshed-out and believable. Even the minor characters are given the space they need to become more than names on a page, and the reader does get a good sense of the class divide that's part of what separates Rose from those around her. Still, unless Rose grows to be a more sympathetic character, I can't see myself enjoying further books in this series.
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Apr 06, 2012 Ally rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, netgalley, young-adult, imports, fiction, series

As a librarian, the most-requested genre in my young adult collection is mystery. My patrons love it and can't get enough. So I jumped at the chance to read this one. Set in modern London, Rose's mother and stepfather disappeared without a trace five years ago. She hasn't been quite the same since, and she hasn't seen her beloved stepbrother Joshua in all of that time, either. Finally, finally, they're going to reunite, and maybe make some sense of what happened to their parents. But before that...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Char rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anne-cassidy, read-in-2013, set-in-uk, mystery, young-adult, the-murder-notebooks

For the rest of this review please visit my blog :)

I’m in two minds about this to be honest. It was a quick, easy read but I never really felt engaged with the story. This could be because this story felt like it was laying the foundations of the rest of the series. There are 2 stories in this one. There’s the story arc of the disappearance of Rose’s mum and Joshua’s dad and then there’s the one book story which is the action. I did enjoy the writing, it kept me reading without me having to for...more For the rest of this review please visit my blog :)

I’m in two minds about this to be honest. It was a quick, easy read but I never really felt engaged with the story. This could be because this story felt like it was laying the foundations of the rest of the series. There are 2 stories in this one. There’s the story arc of the disappearance of Rose’s mum and Joshua’s dad and then there’s the one book story which is the action. I did enjoy the writing, it kept me reading without me having to force myself to sit there and read. I also loved the murder aspects because I got to play detective although I appear to be better at TV crimes. There was a nice twist at the end of the book and I’m hoping it leads somewhere in ‘Killing Rachel’.

Rose – She’s a difficult character to analyse because of the way the book’s written but I feel she has this wall and that makes it so hard to like her. I do understand some aspects of her character though and relating to a character makes it easier to read a book. She’s developing a crush on her “stepbrother” and I don’t think that’s needed. I’d much prefer if they were just amateur sleuth types.

Joshua – He’s Rose’s mum’s boyfriend’s son. Confused yet? I know, I was too. Which is probably why he’s referred to as Rose’s stepbrother. Maybe I should’ve said that. Anyway off topic. I thought he was very self centred and didn’t really care about what Rose was going through.

Skeggsie – Skeggsie is weird but nice. I actually think I liked him best. I’d have liked to see more of him because he’s a bit of a geek and a hacker and he could really add to the hunt for Brendan and Kathy. You don’t really get to know much about him but I feel like he might have a soft spot for Rose.

Overall this is a good start to a four part story even though it doesn’t really sell you on it. I feel like it’ll improve as the characters get closer to their goal of finding Rose’s mum and Joshua’s dad. This book was more about setting things in motion and that makes me wonder if people will actually pay attention to ‘Killing Rachel’.(less)

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Apr 12, 2013 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars

A BIG disappointment. I adore reading Anne Cassidy's books and this one started off really well. It was tense, atmospheric and drew you in, but by the last fifty pages I couldn't wait for it to end. I began to get irritated with Rose and Joshua - their relationship very confusing and wavering. Also, I'm confused as to why Cassidy felt the need to have a second murder, which in the end had nothing to do with the story itself. "The Murder Notebooks" aren't introduced until the last couple of chapt...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, 100-books-in-a-year-challenge-2012

This book followed Rose, a lonely and quiet girl, who experienced a great tragedy when her mother and (kinda) stepfather disappeared five years ago. This takes place in the present time. Rose has just started communicating with her estranged-stepbrother, Joshua. He is desperate to know what happened to their parents. But Rose is hesitant, especially after seeing two of her classmates get murdered.

So my feelings toward this book are mixed. There were parts that I really liked, but moments when I...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Jaskiran Matharu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: murder, mystery, romance

The concept of Dead Time is not very original in my opinion. Two kids looking for their missing parents. That's quite a common plot. But putting that aside, this book was.....ok. It wasn't going anywhere. Then there was the two murders that Rose was involved in. That's very unlikely. (view spoiler)...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Rhea rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 28, 2012 Samantha Weck rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-willing-to-swap

This book didn't do anything for me. I had trouble reading it and staying focused. The book took place in London but it didn't feel like that. I didn't understand some of the sayings and just kept getting lost. I actually started skimming some pages. I couldn't muster up any emotion. I think there was too much going on at once. Rose was definitely an ice queen. She is a little rude and mean, has no friends, and I just didn't like her character at all. Joshua was my favorite character. He is nice...more

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May 03, 2012 Miss Amby rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was another Mara Dyer for me. I read the whole thing, and at the end, I didn't feel like a single question had been answered. I know this is the start of a series, but when authors do this, it makes me not want to continue a series. The main plot didn't seem to advance at all. I felt like I ran in a giant circle for a few hours. Not fun. At least answer the major question posed by the book, you know? It's frustrating, and it turns readers off. It turned this reader off, anyway. Also, t...more This book was another Mara Dyer for me. I read the whole thing, and at the end, I didn't feel like a single question had been answered. I know this is the start of a series, but when authors do this, it makes me not want to continue a series. The main plot didn't seem to advance at all. I felt like I ran in a giant circle for a few hours. Not fun. At least answer the major question posed by the book, you know? It's frustrating, and it turns readers off. It turned this reader off, anyway. Also, the use of British colloquial phrases threw me since I'm not British. It's best to keep the colloquialisms to a minimum when writing a novel if you plan on having an international audience. Furthermore, I really didn't like Rose. She just wasn't that bright, and that bothered me. It's hard for me to get into a book when I don't like the main character.

There were things I liked about this book, however. First off, the characters were well-developed, even if some of them weren't likable *coughRosecough*. Furthermore, the mystery kept me intrigued even if the plot didn't really advance. It was a suspenseful read, and I couldn't put the book down until I finished. The pacing was pretty spot on, and the book didn't drag in many places. The idea is a bit unique and intriguing. I feel that this series has a lot of potential, and I *may* check out the next book from the library just to see what happens next, if I get over my bitterness about the inconclusive ending by then. Also, there were two sub-plots, and the author did an excellent job of keeping everything straight. But I don't feel like we advanced any with Josh and Rose's relationship, either.

Basically, I feel that there is a lot of room for improvement in this book, but the series does have potential. As I stated, I may check the next installment out from the library first to see how I feel about it. Overall, I'd recommend this book to lovers of mystery. I'd also recommend checking it out from the library first to make sure this book is for you. If you don't mind really open-ended cliffhangers for endings, then you should like this book just fine. (less)

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Jul 03, 2012 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-contemporary, thriller, mystery

As soon as I received a copy of this book for review, I was intrigued by the concept.

Rose Smith was twelve, and Joshua Johnson was fourteen, the night their parents--Rose's mother and Joshua's father--went out to dinner and never came home. Rose was sent to her estranged grandmother in London and Joshua to his uncle in Newcastle. They haven't seen each other for five years, but for the last six months have been exchanging emails and she can't wait to see him. She still remembers the happy times...more As soon as I received a copy of this book for review, I was intrigued by the concept.

Rose Smith was twelve, and Joshua Johnson was fourteen, the night their parents--Rose's mother and Joshua's father--went out to dinner and never came home. Rose was sent to her estranged grandmother in London and Joshua to his uncle in Newcastle. They haven't seen each other for five years, but for the last six months have been exchanging emails and she can't wait to see him. She still remembers the happy times they spent together when they all lived as a family for three years.

However, the night she's going to take a train to meet with Joshua, she runs into a troublemaker from school. Ricky Harris likes to bully her and has since she left boarding school and started attending a nearby college. However, while taunting her on the platform he gets a call and takes off. The next thing she knows, she hears him arguing with someone and finds him dead on the walkway.

Now, without intending to she's gotten herself caught up in not one but two investigations. Ricky isn't the only teenager found dead, and Joshua has become obsessed with solving the mystery of what happened to his father and Rose's mother the night they disappeared.

But some secrets are meant to stay hidden for a reason, and the deeper they delve into things, the more complicated everything becomes. Putting Rose right in the middle of danger, and leading them down an unexpected road...

I really enjoyed the depth of this story. Not just the mystery side of things--which was excellent, btw--but also the characters. Both Rose and Joshua are two kids who desperately miss their parents and the life they briefly shared. There's a very strong connection between them, a bond that will no doubt keep them together as the series moves along.

Also, I have to mention that I could totally relate to Rose. While some of the kids refer to her as posh or just hard to get along with, no one truly understands how hard her life is. Not only has she accepted that her mother is dead without having any real evidence, but she's living with a woman who doesn't know how to deal with her. It's no wonder that Rose comes across as standoffish, when she's actually being cautious. After the emotional devastation she's suffered in her young life, it's understandable. She's a wonderful and very complicated character, one I can't wait to find out more about. Especially, what exactly happened with her former best friend while she was in boarding school? Can't wait to find out more about that.

Dead Time is an engrossing book. As soon as I started it, I found it hard to put down. I just had to find out where everything was going to lead. This is one of the best YA crime books I've ever read. It's an edge-of-your-seat thriller, with several mysteries running at the same time, and has several twists and turns. And the main mystery is slowly unravelling.

It's amazing and I loved it! Looking forward to reading the next book!
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May 28, 2012 Sky Fitzgerald rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not really a fan of murder mysteries to be honest. I only checked this book out because Anne Cassidy came into my school and spoke about this book and I wanted to read it for myself - without Anne's pessimistic output. She freaked me out with how negative she was!
I must admit it was very well planned out. Each different clue was strategically placed and it wasnt so long that you'd forget each clue. I couldn't believe it was Sherry! How could she do that! I also don't get how Frank (or whatever h...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! I seriously could not put it down! It was so thrilling and it had so many twists too it, it was like nothing I have read before.

I'm usually the type of girl to go for a romance book with a lot of lovey dovey stuff, so I thought I wouldn't like this book. I was so wrong!

This book taught me that I can actually read a book without all the "romance this, romance that" stuff in it. Even though it did have hints to there being a romance (god, how many times have I used the word 'roman...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Clover (Fluttering Butterflies) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sent-for-review, ya, british-reading-challenge, books-read-in-2012

This review was originally published at Fluttering Butterflies

I'm really surprised by how much I loved Dead Time by Anne Cassidy. I've never read anything by her before, and I wasn't sure how much I would like reading a YA mystery/crime novel but once I'd started, I was really sucked into this story.

I really liked how there were a few different strands to the story and Dead Time certainly felt like the first book in a series with the amount of questions still left unanswered by the end. For me,...more This review was originally published at Fluttering Butterflies

I'm really surprised by how much I loved Dead Time by Anne Cassidy. I've never read anything by her before, and I wasn't sure how much I would like reading a YA mystery/crime novel but once I'd started, I was really sucked into this story.

I really liked how there were a few different strands to the story and Dead Time certainly felt like the first book in a series with the amount of questions still left unanswered by the end. For me, I think Dead Time finished in an intriguing way and I hope to get back to this series soon to see where things will lead!

I found it difficult to warm to our main character, Rose, straight away. She's a bit of a loner and she doesn't seem particularly interested in being socialable or friendly in anyway. But I kind of got that about her. She had it great for a little while ... Years ago when it was Rose and her mother and her mother's boyfriend and his son, Joshua. They had three years living together as a family but Rose's life changes entirely when her mom and her boyfriend disappear, she isn't allowed to see Joshua anymore and she's shipped off to live with her cold and distant grandmother. I can see why the experiences Rose has gone through has made her into the person she is at the start of this book.

Now it is years later, and as Rose is off to meet Joshua again for the first time. On her way there, Rose witnesses a brutal attack on a schoolmate which pulls Rose into some deadly business. As she continues to ask more questions and other people end up getting hurt, Rose begins to wonder if these murders have anything to do with the investigations that Joshua is doing into the disappearance of his father and Rose's mother.

This book is all rather tense and fast-paced. I had no idea where things were going or who the murderer was until it was revealed in the book, which is always fantastic. The third person narrative helped keep things a mystery but I really hope there is more answers in the next book in the series. I found the growing romantic feelings between Rose and Joshua to be rather sweet but very tentative. I'd like to see more of my favourite characters - Henry, the police offer and Skeggsie, Joshua's computer hacker mate. All in all, I thought this was a great first book in the series and I can't wait to read more!(less)

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Apr 14, 2013 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, tag-nominees-2012-13

Returning to London after five years at a boarding school, Rose reunites with her "step brother" Josh. Their parents (not married) were police officers whose disappearance remains unsolved. Rose lives with her aloof, wealthy grandmother who she never knew about until her mother disappeared. There is little affection between them. Josh spends his free time trying to figure out what happened to their parents. Rose attends school and acts surly and unfriendly most of the time, alluding to some inci...more

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May 16, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, crime, contemporary, mystery-thriller, netgalley, young-adult

Anne Cassidy's Dead Time has been an odd sort of beast for me to review. I had a lot of different problems with it -- a few were a matter of taste, some are writing-style, others are problems with plot...suffice it to say they are many and varied. However, I read it ages ago and still occasionally think about the mystery and what is going to come next. Obviously, it wasn't all bad. Since I've been struggled for so long with this review, I'm going to do it in lists:

The Bad:

- I get that the book i...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book quite intriguing. The character I Rose I thought was a little irritating and dull. The storyline of the 'who dunnit' murder scenario was brilliantly played out making you want to read on. Personally my about it's character was Joshua. He is more open with his emotions and has an amazing determination to find out what ha happens with his parents. Rose on the other hand is a little preoccupied with the fact that she has managed to find to dead bodies in the course of a week. She...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Luna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I finished Dead Time my first thought was: I’m missing something. So many of the reviewers I follow really loved this book and I can’t muster the same feelings.

Dead Time starts with Rose witnessing the murder of one of the boys who attends her colleague. The boy in question apparently had gang associations and a large of Dead Time deal with this murder and the events that follow. At the same time the reader also has the mystery of Rose and Josh’s disappearing parents. That particular storyl...more

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May 23, 2012 Pam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read

GoodReads Synopsis: When Rose was twelve, her mother and stepfather went out for dinner and never came back. Now seventeen, she lives with her grandmother and goes to school in London. She’s always wondered about her stepbrother, Joshua, whom she only lived with briefly and who was also relocated after their parents’ disappearance. When Rose and Joshua meet again, they find they have much in common, including a desire to uncover the mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance . . . and a mu...more GoodReads Synopsis: When Rose was twelve, her mother and stepfather went out for dinner and never came back. Now seventeen, she lives with her grandmother and goes to school in London. She’s always wondered about her stepbrother, Joshua, whom she only lived with briefly and who was also relocated after their parents’ disappearance. When Rose and Joshua meet again, they find they have much in common, including a desire to uncover the mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance . . . and a mutual attraction to each other. But when Rose witnesses the murders of not one but two of her classmates, she must uncover who is behind these violent crimes. And when she and Joshua discover that a much larger conspiracy is underway, both of their lives will be in danger. From international bestseller Anne Cassidy, this first in a fastpaced and romantic new mystery series will keep readers guessing.

My Thoughts: This book was different…not quite sure how to describe it.

Rose is stuck dealing with the murders of two classmates. Because she is the seemingly common denominator in both cases, she feels reluctantly forced into finding answers. At the same time her “step-brother” Joshua enters the picture.

Joshua’s Dad and Rose’s Mom were never married even though all four of them lived together as a family. Joshua’s Dad, Brendan, and Rose’s Mom, Kathy, disappeared one night five years earlier leaving no trace. While Rose has moved on, Joshua has not. Joshua has and is doing anything and everything to find any hint of what happened to Brendan and Kathy.

So, we, the reader, are stuck in the midst of 3 mysteries. One is solved and closed by the police, one is not, and there are clues pointing toward the trail of the third. This book has a lot going on, least of which is romance! But the references, above, to romance are a bit misleading. We get the feeling like Rose might be attracted to Joshua but that’s about all we get. Plus the seeming interest of a couple of other characters in Rose.

We learn so little about Rose and Joshua. They don’t seem to be fully formed. We see tiny glimpses of them before the parents disappeared, but really don’t know anything about them. We know they were miserable while they were apart, but why didn’t they keep in touch? Joshua was able to contact Rose when he moved to London, why not sooner? It was the little things about this book that bothered me.

There is a rather large cliffhanger that will bring me back for more…I’m just hoping that story will be a bit more concise and the characters will be more developed.
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Mar 14, 2013 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I decided to read this book because the title looked interesting and I had heard that Anne Cassidy was a good author. It fits into the female main character category on the bingo board. My favourite quote from the book was, "It would scab over. Then, in days, she would see it come to life on her arm. A blue Morpho. Her favourite butterfly". This is my favourite quote from the book because I could imagine the blue butterfly as I read the text. It was an interesting read because it was about a gir...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: blog-reviews, provided-by-publisher, arc-are

Book One of a new young adult mystery series, Dead Time is set in London featuring common law step siblings Rose and Joshua. Five years ago, Rose's mother and Josh's went out to dinner and never returned. Separated, Rose and Joshua have had little contact in that time but now Josh is in London attending university where Rose lives with her grandmother and attends college but renewing their relationship is proving complicated. While Rose accepted the official explanation for her mothers death, Jo...more Book One of a new young adult mystery series, Dead Time is set in London featuring common law step siblings Rose and Joshua. Five years ago, Rose's mother and Josh's went out to dinner and never returned. Separated, Rose and Joshua have had little contact in that time but now Josh is in London attending university where Rose lives with her grandmother and attends college but renewing their relationship is proving complicated. While Rose accepted the official explanation for her mothers death, Josh has never stopped trying to trace their last movements and his continued investigation opens old wounds for Rose. When Rose unknowingly witnesses the murder of a college classmate she becomes embroiled in a mystery that only deepens when another murder occurs. Lacking confidence in the police after her own experiences Rose is determined to find the killer of her classmates, only to discover a link to the mystery of her own parents disappearance.

Tagged The Murder Files, Dead Time features two murders in which Rose becomes involved first as a witness and then as an amateur sleuth as she grows frustrated with the lack of progress by police. I really liked how Cassidy handled these two separate but related cases, there are interesting misdirects and twists that are credible and they resolve satisfactorily. With the help of Joshua and his flat mate Skeggsie, Rose slowly puts the pieces together to solve the murder of Emma but not without making some foolish mistakes that may allow the murderer to get away with it.
The fate of Kathy, Rose's mother, and Brendan, Joshua's father will obviously be the mystery that runs through the series. It's an interesting one and some progress is made throughout the book but its clear there won't be answers any time soon.
While I thought the plot of Dead Time strong and intriguing, I am not very fond of Rose and it impacted on my enjoyment of the novel. Her history affords he some leeway but her manner is abrupt, she is antagonist towards everyone and I had to keep reminding myself she is seventeen because her behaviour is more like a petulant and spoiled fourteen year old. I wasn't entirely convinced that Rose would care enough to involve herself in Emma's murder and her choice to not share major evidence with the police was frustrating. Though Rose does suffer some consequences for her decision, which I was glad of, when she chose to do the same thing a second time I lost patience with her.
Luckily I found Joshua much more likeable, he is far more easygoing than Rose, despite his obsession with his fathers disappearance. I hope that he has a larger role in upcoming sequels. Josh's flatmate Skeggsie also is a surprisingly strong character. I liked that he refused to put up with Rose's attitude and that he has a practical and supportive role throughout the story rather than be relegated to a convenience.

Apart from the likes of Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew, I don't remember any young adult mysteries being available when I was a teenager so I appreciate that the mystery genre is finding a place in today's market. While I didn't enjoy Dead Time as much as I hoped, mainly because of Rose's abrasive character, the series does have potential and I hope Anne Cassidy builds it successfully.

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Sep 06, 2012 Ashlie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved this plot idea. There were some execution flaws and things that were annoying, like the characters alternating their doubts about finding their parents, but overall I liked it. Sometimes the writing was a little flat, but an emotional connection with Rose was possible, so I am really looking forward to book 2. The biggest struggle I think i saw with this book is the telling of two story lines that still seem (to me) to be disconnected. With rose being involved in both, there is somewhat...more I loved this plot idea. There were some execution flaws and things that were annoying, like the characters alternating their doubts about finding their parents, but overall I liked it. Sometimes the writing was a little flat, but an emotional connection with Rose was possible, so I am really looking forward to book 2. The biggest struggle I think i saw with this book is the telling of two story lines that still seem (to me) to be disconnected. With rose being involved in both, there is somewhat of a connection, but I don't know yet, and won't know until book two how deeply intertwined they are. I hope it turns out to be dramatic. *giggles like a school girl*

Looking back, some people may have found the (semi) conclusion of the book to have been predictable, but I really didn't see it coming. As far as Rose & Josh's parents fate, I may have thought that was the answer, but I never allowed myself to buy it completely, so that answer was a bit of a shock as well.

I enjoyed that this book wasn't about the romance. There are smidgeons of it in there, but every so often I feel the need to have a romance-axed read to keep my brain from drowning in estrogen. You can tell that Anne Cassidy allowed Rose's character to unfold instead of forcing her into this mold of female YA MCs. Even though Rose is a loner, you can tell she's just kind of lost in her life and that her intentions are good. She's misunderstood but she is also a poor communicator, which could be the source of her being misread. She can act pretty irrational, but she always takes the reprimand dished out to her willingly, as long as she gets to do the right thing in the big picture. She's vulnerable, but seems to be pretty stern with herself.

I think this was a pretty good setup boo for the rest of the series and I really am expecting book two to up the ante. I really think Cassidy can pull it off, so I'm definitely rooting for her. I want to know what happens and how these characters will continue to evolve, both personally and in their relationships with each other.

This is my first exposure to Anne Cassidy's writing, but I've heard amazing things about some of her other work. I've definitely got to check it out.

I'm rating Dead Time 3 STARS. I think it's worth a read if you're stumped with where to go next on your TBR pile.

Thank you for making me part of your day today! (less)

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May 16, 2012 Jennifer Leigh rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received an E-ARC of this via Netgalley. It sounded really interesting, so I picked it up to read. I get about 1/3 of the way through and have ZERO idea what the main plot line is. Oh, this person gets murdered, oh, my parents are missing, oh, he is my kind of step-brother who I haven't seen in 5 years, oh, this is my grandmother who I never knew. Please tell me where this story goes.

Maybe I would have finished it, if that were the only problem. But the writing is just poor. The dialogue betwe...more

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Dead Time (The Murder Notebooks #1)

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