Darker Than Any Shadow

Tina Whittle's novel Darker Than Any Shadow a character is asked; "So your visit to the homeless shelter was some made-up story?" The guy says, "It was not. I went. Twice."

A homeless man who lives in a camouflage put tent, says, "It's better than those places in the city. They'll rob you blind there." Could mean the shelters or places where homeless camp out in the city. Tai, the main character, wants info from the homeless guy so goes out to buy him two dozen donuts at his request. She grabs a handful of napkins because she "...figured homeless guys could always use napkins."

Another character was probably living in his van.

This mystery was a struggle to read. Did not care for Tai. She tells her boyfriend she needs money to shop for a little, red dress and he opens his wallet. She has stacks of unpaid bills and at one point her water is turned off due to non-payment. Her conversations sound childish, such as when she complains to her guy, "But, you promised..." She also does not want to call her brother who is in Australia that she found a dead body. Seems she found a dead body earlier in the year; that story in the first novel of the series.

What, is her brother going to yell at her because she stumbled upon a body, as if it were her fault? If they are not close enough to call or e-mail on a regular basis why does she have to tell him at all? Reason for my curiosity, people keep asking her if she called her brother, yet it does not seem to have any bearing on the story at all.

I did finish reading the book because the plot was interesting  even if the story itself bored.