Alexandra James usually finds herself chasing after the story, after stumbling upon leads having to do with the death of Thom Carlyle, she is the one being chased after. Alexandra relunctantly answers the call to check out a scene where a young man has fallen off of a roof on the prestigious Harvard University campus. Alexandra finds the identity of the deceased in none other than the President's lawyer's son. As more information is being unveiled, there is a lot to suggest that Thom Carlyle's death was not an accident but premeditated murder. Alexandra's investigation leads her to England to uncover what Carlyle's life was like before returning home to Boston. Eventually, her investigation puts her in the scope of some very dangerous people and her life hangs in the balance.
Mary Louise Kelly draws from her experience as a journalist to create a very interesting debut mystery/thriller. The novel is very smartly paced and is easy to follow. Anonymous Sources alternates between Alexandra James primarily narrating to then giving glimpses into the minds and actions of other peripheral characters. These transistions are seemless and don't slow the reader down. Towards the end there is a lot more action whereas in the beginning, a lot of the suspense was kept offstage.
The few gripes I do have with Anonymous Sources is that I didn't really care for Alexander James. She's described as being pretty, smart, a real go-getter. But all I could think of most of the time she was narrating was why does she care so much about shoes. And does every woman she come in contact with only care about shoes. I found her to be very materialistic and in need of compensation. Maybe it stems from her loss which is referenced in the book... I don't know. I just wish she had more character depth in the sense of being a better person that I could really rally behind.
Overall, Mary Louise Kelly's debut Anonymous Sources was a fun journey with insight into the investigative journalist world. Kelly is definitely one to look out for. I appreciate Kelly for writing this story and I can't wait to see what's next for her. ***
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