Death Goes Shopping

Michael Nolan is a professor of English at the Memorial University of
Newfoundland.

The central incident in Jessica Burton’s first novel is a mall food
court shooting that results in two deaths and one serious injury. The
narrator, Jenny Turnbull, is the mall’s promotion director. She is
naturally concerned and involved, especially as her housemate is
security chief and her boyfriend is the local weekly’s editor.
Unfortunately, the expected adventure of amateur sleuthing does not
ensue, as the book details primarily the mundane nature of Jenny’s
job—troubles and confusions involving boyfriends, store Santas,
colleagues, and customers.

The problems don’t end there. The characters have quirks rather than
qualities and serve merely as functions (disgruntled customer, taciturn
police, etc.). There are no insights into small-town life or even the
inner workings of a large mall. Death Goes Shopping also fails as a
mystery; the murders are more gossiped about than scrutinized, and they
are solved on the basis of inspiration rather than logic. Finally, the
novel is cliché-ridden and pervaded by a blandness that makes it feel
as hollow as an after-hours mall.