Reviews - A Most Puzzling Murder

123 reviews for:

A Most Puzzling Murder

Bianca Marais

3.7 AVERAGE

afaita's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nini23's review

3.0

I don't like birth secrets and this murder mystery puzzle is chock full of them. It's funny how frequently the family tree chart has to be amended.

I also did not appreciate the short passage that implied killing old people was okay but not children. This sort of assigning value based on age and ageism has to stop, I've been seeing a fair bit of this inexplicable 'reasoning' especially in fantasy books.

Content Warnings

wchou5's review

3.5

medium-paced

I liked the book, but jumping around pages on an ebook is a bit annoying. I kinda wished the answers were just written on the page as she works through them instead of having to flip to the back to check them. Also, slightly annoyed at the conundrum chapters because they all lead to the same ending anyways, but I ended up reading both because I didn't want to be missing anything. The two endings was entertaining though.

dukefn99's review

4.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

When I agreed to review A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais, I’ll admit to jumping in pretty much blind. I read the blurb but mostly saw the tagline of the email that stated it was a Choose Your Own Adventure, and I said, ‘Sign me up!’

In A Most Puzzling Murder, the reader follows Destiny as she is drawn into a mystery. It begins when she receives a letter informing her that she is on a shortlist for a job she never applied for, but then she spots a hidden message within the letter. The author then has the reader attempt to find the hidden message, offering the option to send an email for hints before providing the answer at the end of the book. And thus, this goes on throughout the book.

As I was reading this on my e-reader, which was an advanced reader copy, I found it a little hard to view the images within the text. However, I then went back to read the forward and found that a “workbook” was available on the author’s website with all the puzzles. That made this interactive story a little easier.

The story jumps around between several characters’ points of view, which can get a little exhausting. However, it was also interesting to see all the scheming that was going on around Destiny. Thankfully, the new point of view is always the start of a new chapter, and the reader gets a warning that it’s changing. It’s just not something that I’m used to.

I enjoyed the few chapters that ultimately became the “choose your own adventure” part of the mystery. It only happens a few times, and up until the last one, I only read the option that I took and didn’t see how the other path unfolded. However, from the one I read, I imagine that the paths were relatively polar opposites. It would be interesting to revisit those small changes. However, those few divergent points don’t significantly alter the story as a whole, as the plotline eventually converges after a few pages.

I will admit that I was expecting something more cozy than I got, and that’s entirely my fault for not researching the book more thoroughly before picking it up. It was a bit darker and fantastical than I usually read, so I often felt out of my comfort zone, which isn’t a bad thing.

I ended up reading most of this book in one sitting. I was pulled in, even though I felt a bit uncomfortable, but that’s probably the point since none of the characters were exactly comfortable either. I needed to see where the story was going and how everything would turn out, and having fun puzzles to try to solve alongside Destiny was a nice perk.

If you like a good mystery and don’t mind a bit of fantasy mixed in, A Most Puzzling Murder might be for you.

prettyamy1's review

3.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

bmaniel97's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sjanedoe's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 11%

Loved the idea of the puzzles, hated the fantasy setting and didn't love the writing either. Seemed like an attempt to include all of the current trends in fiction in one book. 🙄