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joannalouise's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Cancer, Murder, Rape, and Toxic relationship
lyonmir16's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual harassment, Cancer, Sexism, Infidelity, Drug use, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
awebofstories's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I'm torn on this one. In most ways, this book was incredibly successful...yet, I still found it disappointing.
Elly Griffiths is a talented mystery writer, and this is a strongly crafted tale. It centers around a group of school friends who meet up again at a reunion, where one winds up dead. I enjoyed the characters and found the twists and turns effective. I did guess the culprit, although that was more of a lucky shot in the dark on my part than any slip-up by Griffiths.
We once again meet up with Harbinder Kaur, who has moved to London to take a job with the Met. It did take a bit of effort to settle into this reboot of the series, but I quickly found my footing with Kaur's flatmates and co-workers. Moving the action to the big city robs it of some of its quirkiness but allows for more mystery flexibility.
So what was my problem with this? I was charmed by how Elly Griffiths added a literary element to the stories in the first two novels in this series. In <I>The Stranger Diaries</I>, we find a book within a book. In <I>The Postscript Murders</I>, Griffiths celebrates the Golden Age mystery. In this book, there is only the very faintest whiff of a literary element. When I say "faint," I mean I had to work incredibly hard to find anything that might be literary. It comes down to Shakespeare's <I>The Tempest</I> being quoted a few times, and one character wants to be a writer. That's it.
I felt robbed by this. It was like reading a book in the Ruth Galloway series that doesn't mention any archaeology. Even though I still had the main character and a top-notch mystery, I didn't get what I wanted from this. I hope this is an isolated slip and plan to read on in the series. I pray that Griffiths recaptures what made this series so special.
Elly Griffiths is a talented mystery writer, and this is a strongly crafted tale. It centers around a group of school friends who meet up again at a reunion, where one winds up dead. I enjoyed the characters and found the twists and turns effective. I did guess the culprit, although that was more of a lucky shot in the dark on my part than any slip-up by Griffiths.
We once again meet up with Harbinder Kaur, who has moved to London to take a job with the Met. It did take a bit of effort to settle into this reboot of the series, but I quickly found my footing with Kaur's flatmates and co-workers. Moving the action to the big city robs it of some of its quirkiness but allows for more mystery flexibility.
So what was my problem with this? I was charmed by how Elly Griffiths added a literary element to the stories in the first two novels in this series. In <I>The Stranger Diaries</I>, we find a book within a book. In <I>The Postscript Murders</I>, Griffiths celebrates the Golden Age mystery. In this book, there is only the very faintest whiff of a literary element. When I say "faint," I mean I had to work incredibly hard to find anything that might be literary. It comes down to Shakespeare's <I>The Tempest</I> being quoted a few times, and one character wants to be a writer. That's it.
I felt robbed by this. It was like reading a book in the Ruth Galloway series that doesn't mention any archaeology. Even though I still had the main character and a top-notch mystery, I didn't get what I wanted from this. I hope this is an isolated slip and plan to read on in the series. I pray that Griffiths recaptures what made this series so special.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, and Infidelity
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