Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Night in Question

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Night in Question by Liz Lawson, Kathleen Glasgow

9 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.5

“This is so Agatha Christie: a secret passage, a hidden staircase, sneaking around in the dark with a storm raging outside. A shiver of pleasure runs through me.”

➽ The Night in Question is another Agathas mystery! After helping solve the Brooke Donovan case, Alice and Iris are back for another mystery. Once again, tragedy strikes Castle Cove when a student is attacked at the Sadie Hawkins dance and falls into a coma. As the resident sleuthing duo, Alice and Iris decide to investigate the case itself, especially since it took place in the infamous Levy Castle. It's almost two cases in one, because the famous film star Mona Moody used to live there and her death in the 1940s was never solved. Iris is a big fan of her, so we get quotes from Mona for her chapters. As always, Alice is determined to use the knowledge of Agatha Christie in order to find out who hurt one of her former best friends.

➽ I liked seeing the friction the case caused between Iris and Alice. Both have formed an unlikely friendship in the last book and lead very different lives. Iris' family is struggling financially and even though her abusive father is now behind bars, the threat won't ever go away. Iris is still dealing with the aftermath of his abuse and how it makes it difficult to trust others. Meanwhile, Alice has all the money she could ever want, but feels abandoned by her parents. When they unexpectedly reappear only to take an interest in her failing grades, she's furious. I understood Alice's hurt and how her parent's absence weighed on her. It's hypocritical to her that they suddenly want to get involved again. Alice and Iris each have their own issues to deal with, but Alice's wealth and connections definitely give her an advantage. The police aren't thrilled that they're getting involved again, so it's Iris who has the most to lose if things go sideways.

➽ Sadly, the mystery didn't grip me this time and I much preferred the first book. The case didn't feel like it developed organically and felt more forced. I wish the focus hadn't been on yet another former friend of Alice's and instead someone else in town could have been the focus. For most of the book, I didn't feel intrigued and rather bored while Alice and Iris butted heads trying to solve the case. The hints of romance didn't do it for me either. Alice is obsessed with someone who's already got a girlfriend and the weird love triangle developing around Iris didn't interest me. I feel like having the case of Mona Moody alongside the main story could have been interesting, but it wasn't executed well. It felt like we were following two completely different stories. Unfortunately, I almost had to agree with the police that Alice and Iris had no right to go breaking laws and playing detective. I know the Castle Cove police sucks, but in this book, Alice's rulebreaking got on my nerves after a while. She just crossed too many lines.

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eliza_beth_23's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ieemee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The Agatha’s #1 was a 5 star for me so it was disappointing that book 2 didn’t deliver the same level of wow. This book is darker in themes and more new Adult than young adult in my opinion. Please check content warnings there are numerous.

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savanah's review against another edition

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4.0

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styxx's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It took me a while to read this book, but not because it wasn't good! Most of the times I picked it up I got really into it. It did lull at certain points.
The characters weren't as lovable in this book as in the first, their character development at least of Alice and Iris from the first book made them a bit more unlikable. I would have liked more of Spike since he seems to becoming a romantic lead but he's still only a minor character in this book.
I was glad they solved the Mona Mooney mystery and I hope they solve Remmy Jackson's murder next! I did figure out the Mona story about halfway through the book, but since I read it over so long not the current day one, if I'd read it faster I would have figured it out easily.
Overall a solid but not amazing book.

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ptaradactyl's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was fun and easy and silly at places. I think the melodrama was dialed down a little in this one, and the characters are working through their own stuff, although not a “strong” pace.

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hannahs_library_'s review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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camiclarkbooks's review against another edition

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funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I received a digital ARC of “The Night in Question” by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson have returned to Castle Cove in “The Night in Question,” the fantastic sequel to the New York Times bestseller, “The Agathas.”

Last fall, Iris Adams and Alice Ogilvie became the talk of their town when they solved the murder of their peer, Brooke Donovan. After putting Brooke’s killer behind bars, life begins to return to normal for the two teenagers…until the night of their school dance.

Following the brutal assault of another classmate, Iris and Alice get back to work to get to the bottom of this case. As they start their investigation, the two realize that the present case is connect to the past, specifically the tragic death of starlet Mona Moody in the 1940s. Following the lessons from Agatha Christie, Iris and Alice uncover a conspiracy that spans decades and race against the clock to find out what really happened—both in the 1940s and at their school dance.

I was very fortunate to be allowed to read “The Agathas” ahead of its publication and I have been dying to know what happened next to the best teen detectives since Nancy Drew! “The Night in Question” did not disappoint! Although the stakes aren’t as personal as in “The Agathas,” this book will still keep reads up past their bedtimes to learn “whodunnit.”

One of the best parts of the series are the two main characters, Iris Adams and Alice Ogilvie. The two teenage girls are distinct in their differences, which keeps it interesting for the readers. Iris is fierce and strong. She determinedly pushes through the trauma of her childhood in hopes of being able to move beyond it and live what she considers a normal life.

Alice is also fierce, but in a sharper way than Iris. She is remarkably blunt and largely apathetic towards the majority of the people she encounters in her dogged pursuit of solving the case.

I spent most of the book awed by how well Glasgow and Lawson managed to capture the nuances of being a teenage girl. Both of the female leads have a lot of personal problems that weigh heavily on them over the course of the book but neither are in a place where they want to share it with the other. This leads to frustration and snappish behavior, which is a common teenage experience and was really neat to see represented so well.

The plot of “The Night in Question” was obviously excellent. As someone who works in the history field, I loved the addition of the mystery surrounding the 1940s movie star Mona Moody’s tragic death and was enthralled by how Glasgow and Lawson managed to connect that with the modern day attack on their classmate. The book was full of twists that would make Agatha Christie proud.

In summary, Glasgow and Lawson wrote a phenomenal YA mystery that you should read as soon as possible!

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