The Strange Curse of Breda – Steven Arnett

AUTHOR:  Steven Arnett

REVIEW:

The Strange Curse of Breda is a Murder Mystery, based in the fictional town of Breda in Michigan. Arnett succeeds once again with another novel keeping you glued to every page. I am new to Steven Arnett’s work and was mesmerized with his writing. My favorite kind of novels are Murder Mysteries, and this one does not disappoint. On February 9, 1889, a man by the name of Obadiah Kurtz is accused of a murder he did not commit and is sentenced to die by hanging, after proclaiming his innocence many times.

Obadiah, right before he is hung, declares a curse on Breda and all of its descendants that they will pay for this murder he did not commit. The book then jumps to 1971, and the beginnings of this curse being carried out by one of Obadiah’s descendants. However, the townsfolk have no idea why all the murders that are happening are being carried out. They only know one strange fact about the killings: The letters ZOSO are carved on every corpse that the investigators find.

You can’t help, with Steven Arnett’s writing, but get close to each character in the book. The main characters who solve these murders are the county Sheriff, Jack Booth, and Jim Leiden, a young gentleman who runs the general store in the heart of Breda. Law enforcement, however, is thrown off the track by the letters ZOSO, which seem to point toward the murderer being from the commune located on the outskirts of town, although Booth doubts the commune has anything to do with the murders.ZOSO is also painted on the side of the building where the commune is set up.

Jim Leiden, however, overhearing the town gossip, finds a valuable clue and begins to form a theory that maybe these murders have nothing to do with the band, Led Zeppelin at all or the commune.

This book is a cat and mouse game of murder after murder, and Jim Leiden, independently works feverishly to prove his theory to the FBI, state police and Jack Booth, Even though Booth is not convinced of the commune theory.

Meanwhile, as these murders take place, a diabolical man, a distant descendant of Obadiah, Hinton Kurtz, has worked his way slowly into the community as one of their own, is plotting these murders. 

Once Jim Leiden has proof, he shares his theory with Jack Both, and the hunt is on. Leiden fears that Hinton Kurtz is after the love of Jim Leiden’s life, Julie Veere. It is a race against time to see what comes first: the murder of Julie, who is one of the direct descendants, or the sheriff and Leiden getting to her first, to save her life. 

I couldn’t help but go into detail with this book review, because the mystery is that good, and it is a must read to fill in my blanks. Your cheating yourself from an incredible Murder Mystery if you don’t read this book!  Order through Amazon now!!