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isalaur's review
medium-paced
4.0
This series was recommended to me and I’m so glad I checked it out. It’s a clever and amusing cozy mystery that seems to have tongue firmly planted in cheek and yet still manages to be entertains and tell a clever cozy mystery story while spoofing the genre. And the idea of an American vampire in a small English village is an intriguing conceit.
All the usual cozy mystery tropes are to be found here (plus vampires!) and the only thing that held up my full enjoyment was the dismaying lack of a proofreader. The typos, misspellings, punctuation absences, formatting errors which were plentiful made it difficult in parts to easily read the book. I’m astounded they have not been corrected by this point as this is not a new series. It’s not enough to prevent reading the next book but it is truly something the author should remedy.
All the usual cozy mystery tropes are to be found here (plus vampires!) and the only thing that held up my full enjoyment was the dismaying lack of a proofreader. The typos, misspellings, punctuation absences, formatting errors which were plentiful made it difficult in parts to easily read the book. I’m astounded they have not been corrected by this point as this is not a new series. It’s not enough to prevent reading the next book but it is truly something the author should remedy.
kasaya_mt33's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
angie_spumoni's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
lasairfiona's review
3.0
I picked this up years ago (like, early '04) on a whim from the library next door. I don't remember too many details but I do remember it was super light reading and fairly fun. Probably 2.5 stars if I am going to stick to my good writing gets better ratings but as long as I understand my rating system it is okay, right? Right?
The group "What was the name of that book???" helped me refind this book as I couldn't remember the title. Kudos to them.
The group "What was the name of that book???" helped me refind this book as I couldn't remember the title. Kudos to them.
wardenred's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Could Mrs. Stevens have possibly murdered Abigail Winterton for blocking her attempts to take control of charitable affairs in the village?
I wouldn't call this book particularly memorable, but it was definitely a lot of fun. I liked how mundane a lot of the story was despite having a vampire for a MC. The inclusion of the supernatural did play a part in this cozy mystery, but the focus was on the small town community with all of its private secrets, public smiles, charity events, and so much bickering. It was a fun community to follow, and I liked how the murder wasn't the only mystery for the MC to solve. The entire investigating was pretty exciting, with enough twists to keep things unpredictable yet plausible.
I'm kind of intrigue what gruesome-yet-cozy crimes will happen in this town next, and how Simon and Giles's relationship will develop, so may as well pick up the next book at some point.
One thing that annoyed me at times was the prose; it wasn't exactly unclear, but just... needlessly complicated? It's like the author tried so hard to make everyone but the MC sound British, except I'm not sure British = "using the longest possible words in place of shorter ones."
prgchrqltma's review
3.0
I read this ages ago. Luckily for me, googling "cozy mystery gay vampire" turns it right up. It was still amusing this time around. Some of the attitudes on sexuality and gender don't stand up as time has passed, though. I'm going to try another.
angrygreycatreads's review
4.0
Posted to Death was great! Funny, well written, full of quirky characters and a very interesting take on the traditional English village mystery. I wouldn’t call it a parody, just a humorous take on the paranormal cozy genre. The big twist is that the Dr. Simon Kirby-Jones, our sleuth is a man, just like in the Cat in the Stacks mysteries and he is also gay and a vampire. The character is done so well; I really enjoyed it. It could have been over the top bordering on ridiculous but it doesn’t go there.
The other village characters are traditional examples of village life with secrets to hide and reputations to protect. Very much centered around village committee life and the small political battles that entails. That aspect reminded me of the BBC series Clatterford (US title) or Jam and Jerusalem (UK title).
I will definitely read more in the series and more by Dean James in all his incarnations.
The other village characters are traditional examples of village life with secrets to hide and reputations to protect. Very much centered around village committee life and the small political battles that entails. That aspect reminded me of the BBC series Clatterford (US title) or Jam and Jerusalem (UK title).
I will definitely read more in the series and more by Dean James in all his incarnations.
gabeisnotanangel's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book was funny at times but ....clearly written by a cis gendered gay man. How do I know? Well beyond the author blurb transness was handled clumsily. The trans character was presented as looking not quite right. Being ugly and man like. It was never made clear that the trans character was trans because they were honoring their gender. Instead it wasn't clear at all and seemed to be tied to the church not giving women jobs which made zero sense since the trans character was a woman? It got weird.