Dark Path (A Bodhi King Novel Book 1)

This crime fiction is a lite-mystery—which reads like a cosy rather than a forensic thriller—and features serial deaths of healthy retirees in an assisted living facility. The cause of deaths is undetermined, but the victims’ faces are contorted by a rictus grin. In this book, a cluster of sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) requires an expert on SUD—no matter that the “expert” solved only one other SUD case.SUD expert, Dr. Bodhi King, is a practicing Buddhist and ex-forensic pathologist, who has “a scientist’s analytical mind for creating patterns.” Two months ago, I read about a character who was an ex-FBI-agent, astrophysics professor, and polymath with preternatural pattern recognition abilities. I hope there’s not a third detective with a similar talent.As a reader interested in EAsian religions and philosophies, Buddhism seems to be the default choice of Western literature and its literati. Yes, there’s a lot of religion in this book. Many local Christians belong to a prosperity gospel church, which owns a franchise of assisted care facilities. Subtle pressure is exerted on members to invest in the franchise.Many secondary characters are older, Catholic Cuban-Americans, who also practice Santería—the syncretist Yoruba-Catholicism founded in Cuba. There’s a lot of info about Santaría, including differences between Santería and a similar but darker religion from Cuba. This second religion, Palo Mayombe, requires blood sacrifices, human remains, and black magic.The storyline is neither supernatural nor paranormal, but is cleverly told with appropriate characters and cultural/religious beliefs. I thought of “cui bono” whilst reading and solved the whodunnit. I was amused that—like some, high-profile villains in the 2020s—the culprit(s) beseech others to pay for their legal fees.3.5-4.0 stars

Not my cup of tea. I just don't understand a lot of what was going on. I have enough dificulty in understand standingmy own religion feeling. I don't expect. I will read any other book by this author.

Easy to follow stand-alone. No editing errors, gratuitous violence or drag-you-down drama.Compelling storyline with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing. Descriptive and informative writing that draws the reader into each scene. Flexible procedures, actions and reactions. Believable characters with distinct personalities and thought-provoking dialogue.Three things shine before the world and cannot be hidden. They are the moon, the sun, and the truth[.] POKALA LAKSHMI NARASU, THE ESSENCE OF BUDDHISM (1907)For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.LUKE 8:17No desire to re-read this story. I always look forward to works by this author.

Bohdi is a retired forensic pathologist who has decided to live the reminder of his days away from the public eye after becoming a near-instant celebrity after solving a SUD cluster while unearthing a political scandal. That being said when the healthy elderly start dropping like flies at a retirement home he is asked to step in and see if he can help. He agrees, but only as long as the church isn't paying for him. There is a mix of a lot of religions in this book including Catholicism, Buddhism, and Santerianism. I was hesitant on this book at first due to all of the religions, but I can honestly say that it played out nicely. I was skeptical of the cause of all of the deaths from the beginning and in a way I am glad I was right. Some things are just meant not to be liked. Within these pages lay a story that has mystery, drama, religion, and even a bit of flirting. As with any book I have a favorite character. For once it was not one of the main characters. Instead it was Mr. Santiago. The older gentleman had a love of reading and a fear of dying. But, of course, who could blame him when all of his friends were dying around him at night with a look of abject horror on their faces? If you can keep an open mind about religions and love a good mystery to curl up with then you should get this book. Who knows, you might even learn some things. I learned about the possibility of dying due to consuming too much copper. Makes me want to rethink some of my copper pans in my kitchen.

So happy to make Melissa Miller's acquaintance! Definitely an author I will follow. The story kept me engaged and the ending did not disappoint. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars is I would have liked a little more character background. I'm guessing (hoping) that we will learn more about Mr. King in future books.FYI: No foul language, gratitutious/explicit sex, or cliffhanger. Thank you!

This is a very good read set in an interesting location. The characters are varied and terrific, dealing with unusual mystery.

Another will written mystery adventure thriller novel by Melissa F. Miller the Bodhi King Book One. Murders are happening in the senior center in the Keys of Florida. Bodhi King is asked to help with the investigation leading to 👍 to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this novel and author to readers looking for something new. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye damage and issues. 🏡🔰👒⏰ 2022

I am only 71% of the way through this book but I am frustrated, irritated and confused. Surely normal people do not behave the way that the characters in this book behave. They seem to have no personality and I have to keep reminding myself as to who is who. Their actions and behaviours are not of this world, unless America has gone further down the road of nonsense than even I had thought. I don't know why I have read so far, perhaps I was waiting for something sensible to happen. Perhaps I thought that no book could be this badly written and was giving the author the benefit of the doubt. I cannot tell you whether the story was a good one as so far there is no story. Even the baddie is a non person with no personality. Sorry Author, you lost me very early on and failed to recover me.

Although I liked Bodhi King, the ex-forensic pathologist, as a character, I felt there was too little actionin the book to award more than 3 stars. Bodhi is drawn out of early retirement to solve the mystery ofwhy so many old folks (all Cuban-Americans) are dying in a care home. This was owned by a money grabbing"church" run by Pastor Scott, who tried to convert all the old people to his weird religion, despite some of thembeing Catholics and/or "saint worshippers". I have never understood how intelligent people could let themselvesbe taken in by these sort of supposedly religious people, but that was the story so .....The victims all died with a terrible look on their faces, so I would have thought it was obvious what they died from,but Bodhi and the local forensic pathologist have to work through all the other theories. I did learn a bit more aboutCuban religions, so that was interesting, but I felt the book lacked something. I would try another book with thischaracter though.

Forensic Pathologist Bodhi King first made an appearance in “Improper Influence” - the fifth book in the Sasha McCandless series. The quiet, reflective Buddhist pathologist brought an interesting element to the novel and clearly made an impact because he is now back and has his own series, of which “Dark Path” is the first instalment.We find Bodhi meditating on plants among Buddhist monks: the media exposure ensuing from the case he solved in “Improper Influence” has driven him away from the profession and into a life of travelling, house sitting and volunteering.But when a series of unexplained deaths hits Golden Island, a retirement community based off of the Florida keys, Bodhi is contacted by an old acquaintance because of his specific expertise on cluster deaths. Realising that a refusal to help would be no different than taking a life and therefore contrary to his buddhist principles, Bodhi accepts and travels to Florida.Central theme to the plot of this novel is the power of religious beliefs. Different religions are heavily featured in the story: there’s the wealth-focused ‘prosperity gospel’ preached at Golden Island by Pastor Bryce; the superstition-heavy Santería that many of the residents practice under the guise of Catholicism, and the darker, more disturbing presence of Yoruba, a complex belief system originating from Nigeria. Who, then, better than buddhist forensic pathologist to find out the truth?“Dark Path” is a very enjoyable read - a forensic thriller crossed with cozy mystery, with a cast of entertaining characters confined in a remote location - a kind of ‘and then there were none’ scenario. But in Miller’s books there are always interesting themes alongside the thrill of a fast-paced plot, and “Dark Path” is no exception: for instance, at the start of every chapter we find quotes from both Buddhist and Christian scriptures that are pertinent to the story. The similarities between the two belief systems are fascinating, and I am amazed at how well this author is able to weave Buddhism and Christianity into a crime novel.Once again after reading one of Melissa F. Miller’s novels, I feel that, while she entertained me with a story about murders and unsavoury characters, I learnt something new (confession: I didn’t know the meaning of ‘syncretization’ until I read it in this book). I can’t wait to find out what the reluctant pathologist will be up to next. Luckily, the next instalment, ‘Lonely Path’, will be out in a few days.

I'd only rate it as OK as (and it's hard to explain) - but it's kind of quite naively written. Almost like it's aimed at children. The characters are not very 3 dimensional and they are mostly pretty much clichés.I got through to the end - but wouldn't read any more in the series, unless they were free. Which isn't much of a recommendation.But, if you can get hold of a free copy of this book, it might appeal to you more than it did me. Give it a go.

Only three stars because this novel draws you in with intrigue , then speeds up and cascades to the finish with too little detail and story telling. Supporting cast sound almost like zealots with a strong but warped belief system until the p ok ice question them and they cave instantly. In the end its all a bit too convenient a write to get 4 stars