To Coach a Killer (The Life Coach Mysteries #2) by Victoria Laurie

To Coach a Killer by Victoria Laurie

My Rating: ★★

I received a copy from Kensington Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After finally launching her new business and surviving the Angel of Death, Cat has hit a bump in the road. The problem? Her life coaching business is not taking off like she thought it would. However, things are looking up because she just got a new client who is convinced he’s cursed. Not sure how this applies to her skill set, she’s determined to help while she dives into a new murder mystery that has her two love interests staring daggers at each other.

I was pretty excited to start this book only for my excitement to die in its tracks early on. Unfortunately, Cat’s new client is convinced he was cursed by a Roma woman while he was still a fetus. The “g” slur was used as well, so it was rather disheartening to read such a prejudicial and stereotypical characterization in a book coming from an author I’ve been following for years. To top things off, this character also believes that he was born a little person because of this curse, which did not sit well with me at all. This all occurs right at the beginning of the book and it really made me not want to continue reading. However, I did agree to read this book in exchange for an honest review when I got it from netgalley, so I forged ahead and here we are.

I had a really hard time getting into the story for the above reasons on top of just being bored. After two books, I am now sure that I liked Cat much better as a supporting character because she’s just not interesting enough to keep my attention from wandering. I keep finding myself wishing that there was a different protagonist leading this story, so I don’t think this is something that will change for me however long this series runs.

I do think that the murder mystery was truly wild. It reminded me why I’ve almost always loved Victoria Laurie’s books. She’s got a way with her mystery plots that always keeps me coming back. They’re entertaining and sometimes quite complex. I truly enjoyed the mystery aspect of this cozy once it got rolling, which is also when I got into the story. At that point, I really wanted to see what was going to be revealed next. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed with how the mystery plot concluded. It was unexpected, wild, and entertaining while gut wrenching at the most crucial moments.

All in all, this is the final book in the series for me. Cat as a protagonist just does not hold my attention, so I will not continue to follow her adventures. Plus, I’m disappointed with Laurie’s usage of a prejudicial characterization for her cursed storyline.