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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book! I thought Jo was great, she felt very real to me and that is always important. I loved the plot, the set up and how there was more than one mystery unfolding and being solved. I thought it was quirky and clever and was really fun to go through this tale! I would recommend it but probably not re-read it!
Would probably be a higher score if the audio book had a different voice for the different narrators - with the same narrator it made it really difficult to follow at times!
I love a good murder mystery. The neurodivergent main character was really likable and well rounded. The investigation and clues take a lot of interesting turns and wrap up in a satisfying way.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A strange mish-mash of two genre's stapled together, with a cover and description that doesn't fit the book at all. I really was expecting a gothic story about Jo and her journey of self-discovery about her past and instead got a Midsomer Murder (complete with the secretly gay couple storyline because gay men can't exist openly in England in this year of our Lord), cobbled together with a genealogy story.
The book did best when following Jo and the addition of Gwilym really perked it up halfway through. However, the country cop McAdams who was like an Inspector Frost/incompetent Columbo that didn't work for me. I didn't break a sweat solving both mysteries halfway through.
The story just had too much that was unbelievable. If the house was of historical interest it would be listed as a heritage building - and any work on it - including the repair of a roof would need to go through planning stages with an architect and planning permission obtained. Since the ending has this makes what I wrote about planning permits to get a roof fixed rather to the point of the whole messy story.
Renovation permits take months - even years to get done. Anyone watching ANY Brit show about home remodeling would know this (see Great British Home Restoration; The Great House Revival; The Restoration Man; Restoration Home; Grand Design etc etc... ) These shows are not hard to find so I can't just ignore the big glaring elephant in the room. Lack of research? Definitely.
Other things completely non-believable:
Jo being able to bring in Mace to England. First, it is also illegal in many US States. The idea she could have boarded a plan in Chicago with this in her bag is laughable (9-11, anyone?) but of course it is needed in the book at a key point so logic is overlooked.
How much stuff did Jo bring over from the US? Have you looked at the carry on fees for luggage? Did she have this stuff shipped? All the furniture she bought, how did she afford that?
How is Jo going to pay for this roof? How did she get roofers to show up the next day? That only happens in the US after a tornado takes your roof off. LOL. Replacing a roof takes a permit (see above).
Jo turns on the electricity in a house that has had its walls saturated with water. The house should have burned down like the one in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. But can we seriously talk about Black Mold here?
I applaud the author bringing a neurodivergent character as a main character, and if the story had followed Jo it would have caught my interest. As it was, it was like a Frankenstein monster of a book with no rhyme or reason. There were too many leaps of faith that I had to take and the story wasn't interesting enough for me to take them.
What's really sad to me is this is listed as an Editor's pick and Best Books of 2024 so far. Really? Really? Is this how far we've fallen in looking for good reads?
UPDATED: This is a Harlequin press - so now a lot of this comes clear. They usually publish sub-par books in plots. Oh well, at least there wasn't a r^pe in it which is typically what Harlequin demands their authors put into their stories.
The book did best when following Jo and the addition of Gwilym really perked it up halfway through. However, the country cop McAdams who was like an Inspector Frost/incompetent Columbo that didn't work for me. I didn't break a sweat solving both mysteries halfway through.
The story just had too much that was unbelievable. If the house was of historical interest it would be listed as a heritage building - and any work on it - including the repair of a roof would need to go through planning stages with an architect and planning permission obtained. Since the ending has
Spoiler
surprise! the house and garden is of interest of the National Trust and they immediately take it over.Renovation permits take months - even years to get done. Anyone watching ANY Brit show about home remodeling would know this (see Great British Home Restoration; The Great House Revival; The Restoration Man; Restoration Home; Grand Design etc etc... ) These shows are not hard to find so I can't just ignore the big glaring elephant in the room. Lack of research? Definitely.
Other things completely non-believable:
Jo being able to bring in Mace to England. First, it is also illegal in many US States. The idea she could have boarded a plan in Chicago with this in her bag is laughable (9-11, anyone?) but of course it is needed in the book at a key point so logic is overlooked.
How much stuff did Jo bring over from the US? Have you looked at the carry on fees for luggage? Did she have this stuff shipped? All the furniture she bought, how did she afford that?
How is Jo going to pay for this roof? How did she get roofers to show up the next day? That only happens in the US after a tornado takes your roof off. LOL. Replacing a roof takes a permit (see above).
Jo turns on the electricity in a house that has had its walls saturated with water. The house should have burned down like the one in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. But can we seriously talk about Black Mold here?
I applaud the author bringing a neurodivergent character as a main character, and if the story had followed Jo it would have caught my interest. As it was, it was like a Frankenstein monster of a book with no rhyme or reason. There were too many leaps of faith that I had to take and the story wasn't interesting enough for me to take them.
What's really sad to me is this is listed as an Editor's pick and Best Books of 2024 so far. Really? Really? Is this how far we've fallen in looking for good reads?
UPDATED: This is a Harlequin press - so now a lot of this comes clear. They usually publish sub-par books in plots. Oh well, at least there wasn't a r^pe in it which is typically what Harlequin demands their authors put into their stories.
adventurous
lighthearted
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
Based on the title, I was hoping for quite a bit more focus on the women who lived at Ardemore House and the home itself. The book mainly follows the murder of a local groundskeeper and ends in a pretty tangled explanation. There seems like some possibility of a second book based on how it ends, so perhaps more to come.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No