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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
As always the Ames do not disappoint. I have to agree they are very much like the other great murder-caper duo Nick and Nora. I thoroughly enjoy reading these mysteries. There is always an element of surprise. The humorous dialogue between husband and wife is wonderfully wicked. The description of the clothes Amor wears makes me dream of having a 1930s wardrobe. The character of Winnelda adds these little bits of situational amusement and in this book who could forget the monkey. I absolutely enjoyed reading the latest installment of this series.
The fourth in the Amory Ames cosy mystery series, which has seen many ups and downs in her marriage to rakish Milo. Unfortunately, I find it difficult to continue caring about poor Amory, hoping for Milo to support her and love her as she deserves, after this novel set in Paris. For much of the book I wanted Amory to punch him in the face for keeping secrets from her “for her own protection”, even when she called him out on his behaviour. There’s some back story as to why he is close-guarded with his feelings and for his chauvinistic need (though historically apt) to protect the women in his life. However, I just felt that Amory had to do too much emotional lifting because of “the way he is”. I’m over stories where women save or absolve emotionally broken men. Milo’s sexy charms seem to make Amory forgive him for endangering her life and his deliberate obfuscations that meant she wasted a lot of effort on investigating red herrings.
I love this series so much, especially now that I'm listening to it on audio! Amory and Milo are so delightful, and it's fun to slip into their glamorous lives as they solve a murder. In this installment they are in Paris, looking into the death of a famous parfumier. There's glitz, glamour, and intrigue, as well as a pet monkey who seems to have joined the cast of characters and played an important role in the end of the story.
A well-paced, unexpected mystery with the added bonus of intrigue! But what I’ve said about every other book stands—Milo’s blatant disregard for anything he doesn’t consider worthy of his attention and focus, including Amory’s extremely reasonable concerns and feelings, is bullshit, and her continued acceptance that this is somehow making strides just because they now sleep in the same bedroom, that this is just how he is, he can’t help but be charming and attract women, is... bullshit!
They even seemed on the cusp of an actual conversation in this book, too, about Milo never thinking about anyone but himself, but it didn’t go anywhere. Instead, we get a romantic proclamation at the end, that Milo never wanted to marry anyone other than Amory, that she knows him best in the world, which... makes up for nothing, considering how we are in Amory’s head all the time and know how she feels about this, and really, this whole series is about the turning point she has in her life to do more and demand more, especially of her marriage. I mean, she literally always thought their relationship was because Milo saw her as a prize that couldn’t be won because she was engaged! She literally still cannot tell how he feels! She continues to believe his excuses against her better judgment and give him the benefit of the doubt when he lies to her! This is not what this series started off trying to do, and it is just getting more and more frustrating by the book because everything about this series otherwise works SO WELL. Ugh!
And I will add, as I’m writing this review while also reading the next book, that I understand that recovering from this, figuring out if there is more to your relationship than mutual attraction, takes work, and maybe it is my Romance Only brain that wants this series to be moving faster toward Milo being a better partner. But I also don’t think I—not Amory—have unrealistic expectations, here. She is growing into her ability to be vulnerable and honest with Milo about her concerns, her thoughts, and her feelings, which is tremendous. I don’t—and Amory doesn’t—expect Milo to become an utterly besotted husband who will dance attendance on her. They have grown accustomed to a marriage where they both have independent lives, and that is a damn good thing, 1930s or 2019. But if a sore spot is the way women act around him, he can’t make boundaries clear? He can’t take her feelings and thoughts seriously? UGH. I’m just hoping that given the constant reminder of why their relationship was in trouble to begin with means that this fifth book will, at last, produce the conversations these two desperately need.
Also, as a last word: finally showing us a glimpse of what their childhoods were like should not be used as a shorthand for explaining precisely how they are now!! That’s not character development!!!!!
They even seemed on the cusp of an actual conversation in this book, too, about Milo never thinking about anyone but himself, but it didn’t go anywhere. Instead, we get a romantic proclamation at the end, that Milo never wanted to marry anyone other than Amory, that she knows him best in the world, which... makes up for nothing, considering how we are in Amory’s head all the time and know how she feels about this, and really, this whole series is about the turning point she has in her life to do more and demand more, especially of her marriage. I mean, she literally always thought their relationship was because Milo saw her as a prize that couldn’t be won because she was engaged! She literally still cannot tell how he feels! She continues to believe his excuses against her better judgment and give him the benefit of the doubt when he lies to her! This is not what this series started off trying to do, and it is just getting more and more frustrating by the book because everything about this series otherwise works SO WELL. Ugh!
And I will add, as I’m writing this review while also reading the next book, that I understand that recovering from this, figuring out if there is more to your relationship than mutual attraction, takes work, and maybe it is my Romance Only brain that wants this series to be moving faster toward Milo being a better partner. But I also don’t think I—not Amory—have unrealistic expectations, here. She is growing into her ability to be vulnerable and honest with Milo about her concerns, her thoughts, and her feelings, which is tremendous. I don’t—and Amory doesn’t—expect Milo to become an utterly besotted husband who will dance attendance on her. They have grown accustomed to a marriage where they both have independent lives, and that is a damn good thing, 1930s or 2019. But if a sore spot is the way women act around him, he can’t make boundaries clear? He can’t take her feelings and thoughts seriously? UGH. I’m just hoping that given the constant reminder of why their relationship was in trouble to begin with means that this fifth book will, at last, produce the conversations these two desperately need.
Also, as a last word: finally showing us a glimpse of what their childhoods were like should not be used as a shorthand for explaining precisely how they are now!! That’s not character development!!!!!
Milo is such a jerk, he makes it hard to enjoy this book.
Brilliant twist in the big reveal! Full review to follow!
Fun. I think the author is getting more confident as the series goes on. There were some role reversals in this one that kept it fresh, and a good bit of character development for Milo. The little barbs at the end of each chapter keep the pace moving right along.