Burn You Twice (Montana Series #1) – Mary Burton

Mary Burton tells a good story with some interesting characters and her plotting is fine. While in Missoula Montana for college, Joan and Ann were victims of an arson that could have killed them. Now, the brilliant, handsome man convicted of the crime is out of jail. Joan leaves town and her college love behind after the fire, but she is back for a bit from her job as a police officer in Philadelphia and he is now a police chief. More arsons happen. Deaths happen. Things get resolved. The mystery is solvable but not too obvious as to irritate. So why 3 stars? Because Mary Burton’s writing needs a much better editor. She is a best selling author, perhaps because of her storytelling skill, but her writing seems amateurish, jarring grammatically and often stilted. It feels like she could do better if she spent more time rewriting with an ear for what she is saying. I bought two of these books at one time and the next one, which I am about to review, had similar issues. It would be so easy to make this book four stars with a lot more discipline and red ink.