Crush. Candy. Corpse. by Sylvia McNicoll

Title: Crush. Candy. Corpse.

Author: Sylvia McNicoll

Publish Date: February 17, 2012

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company

Pages: 224

Buy the Book: The Book Depository | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Received: NetGalley

Rating: ★★★

Paradise Manor is depressing - the smells are bad and the residents are old. Sunny would much rather be doing her volunteer hours at Salon Teo, but her teacher won't let her. Who says volunteering at a hair salon doesn't benefit the community?

But working with the Alzheimer's patients has a surprising effect on Sunny. Along with Cole, the grandson of one of the residents, she begins to see that the residents don't have much more choice about their lives than she does: what they eat, how they are treated by staff, even what they watch on television. So Sunny does what she can to make the residents happy - even if she has to sometimes break the rules to do it.

But when tragedy strikes at Paradise, Sunny's left to make the decision about whether or not to honor a promise that Cole made to his grandmother about her life and her death.

It's your turn to back a decision. Is she guilty or isn't she? Did she kill someone or was it a simple mistake? Perhaps it was a pack with the family of the patient and she was setup as the fall guy or perhaps we don't understand much of anything at all. In this book, the reader gets a chance to do something that many jurors wish they could do. We get to hear the evidence, hear the case, and get an inside look into the accused mind. My mom is addicted the murder mystery/forensic files/cold case shows so I am familiar with the whole process that takes place in a murder trial but this truly sounded interesting. It appeared to be right up my alley, although I ended up being slightly disappointed in the end with the main character and some of the story. 

There are some people in this world that just happen to rub you the wrong way and it's hard to forget, even if they change. Sunny, sadly, was one of those characters for me. Her vibrant pink hair didn't honestly bother me because it fit her rebellious spirit. However rebellion doesn't always equal bratty attitudes and disobedient behaviors that grated on my nerves. I admire characters who manage to show their true nature through their facades of brattiness, however I failed to see it. Yet she did manage to prove that she did care for the residents of the care center and her disobedient behavior became a way to try to make these patients lives better. Her attitude really did continue to bother me though, which proved to be a problem regarding the rest of the story. 

The main men of this story are Cole, the son of one of the patients in the care center and the eventual supposed murder subject, and Donovan, whom she actually claimed to be her boyfriend but seemed to lose eventual interest in him. Her parents had forbade a relationship between Donovan and Sunny after he was caught shoplifting but as any teenager and parent knows, when you say no, it only makes the opportunity seem that much better. It drives the girl into the wrong guy's arms and leads her farther away from the good influences of the people who should be closest to her. However, she eventually begins to show some form of interest in Cole but refuses to entirely admit it to even herself. This little crush has a small motive in the whole plot of the story, even if she claims that he is only a friend.

So, now it is your choice. Is this your type of book? It wasn't really mine but I understand that to each their own! Check it out and maybe share your thoughts.

**This book was received from the publisher via NetGalley. None of the review was influenced by the author or the publisher. This is a completely original review. The thoughts and feelings of the reviewer are entirely her own and have no ties to the publisher.**