Question M

[Jonetta]

Sam never saw Melanie’s cruel ambition. Did you? If so, what were some of the clues she should have seen? Should Melanie have seen how diabolical her new boyfriend was or was she blinded by her need for career advancement?

[Lisa - (Aussie Girl)]

I twigged about half way through that Melanie wasn't what she seemed. The reader had a lot more information than Sam so I'm not surprised she didn't see it. I thought it was a bit of a plot hole that Melanie went along with John, even as bitter as she was surely there were enough red flags for her to see that John was big trouble and even the murderer!!

[Lynn]

Darn it. It's been too long since I read it to remember specifics, but I do remember starting to see Melanie's ambition as more than just the norm. Just the fact that there was a serial killer on the loose should have made her suspicious of John.

[Lauren]

Melanie's jealousy and spite and her obvious desire to replace Sam put her on my radar almost immediately.

Melanie's ambition blinded her to John's true nature and she was only too happy to "allow" him to help her undermine Sam.

[Jonetta]

As I said earlier, I was onto Melanie based on the same things Sam should have seen and heard. There wasn’t a sincere bone in her body and her defensiveness about her bad screening of the on air calls was a big red flag. It was her job and the first thing she should have done was question her own actions. Instead, she lashed out at Sam for looking to her for answers. That’s when I knew she was probably involved.

As far as seeing “John” for who he was, Melanie was so focused on “using” him for her own aims, she ignored that inner voice that was trying to alert her that something was off with him. Her final thoughts echoed as much.

Melanie had a skewed sense of her own skills. Everyone thought her performance while Sam was on vacation was subpar...except her. She had a lot of issues, IMO, ones Sam should have had some inkling of insight about.

[Anita]

Melanie fooled me for a long time. I could see she was envious of Sam, but I just couldn't see that she meant her real harm. I didn't see how Melanie couldn't tell there was something seriously off about her new boyfriend.