A little far-fetched but an amusing read. A nice mix of mystery and chick-lit. ( )

I've already read the second book in this series, so it was a little weird coming at this one from that viewpoint, but all in all I still liked it. Sturman went to Harvard, and I think her writing shows that, while still managing to be breezy and fun. She can get bogged down a little in details that aren't necessary (how many times can a group of people do the dishes in one book?), but the mystery was well-crafted and the story moved quickly and easily. ( )

This was an enjoyable read. I haven't really read anything classed as "chick-lit" before, so I didn't know exactly what to expect. My pre-conceived ideas included lots of ultra-rich women in their late-twenties to early-thirties with high powered jobs and designer clothes, told first person with lots of sparkling wit and humour. The Pact includes most of these, but manages to be a nice, solid mystery story as well. It is more serious than I expected, and because of that, also a little heavier, but not necessarily in a bad way.

I liked all the characters and agreed with the narrator, Rachel, that none of them could possibly have been the murderer. Her mistakes are reasonable - except for the 'big misunderstanding' between her and the potential love interest where she jumped to a conclusion that I felt wasn't exactly warranted. Or at least, that the evidence was ambiguous enough that I could see that it would turn out to be a red herring and I felt Rachel was portrayed as smart enough to figure that out as well. Of course, then she wouldn't have called 911 on Peter and needed to make up for it afterwards.

I didn't pick the murderer, although all the clues were there in hindsight, and it was a well chosen conclusion. For me, not working it out actually means a good book as I'm too caught up in the story for my subconscious to be wasting its time trying to solve the mystery. These days I prefer to sit back and enjoy the ride rather than feeling a need to work everything out in advance.

I don't know if this book is typical of the genre or not, but I enjoyed it. Rachel is going to have another literary outing in December and I think I'll be going along for the ride. However, I still detest the Australian release cover and may have to buy in the next one from the US, just to have something pretty on my bookcase. I'm sad that way. ( )

Great debut mystery novel... I love Rachel!!! She is one of the best women sleuths! ( )