Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Fortune Favours the Dead

I just love a good mystery book. This book gives it all. The old vintage vibes you just love from the second you start reading. It feels as if you were walking down a street at night with a good friend and he tells you a story, one that every generation gets told at some point. That loveable duo that just works so good together. I always loved Sherlock Holmes and I never thought a duo like Holmes and Watson could be beat but Will and Pentecost work so good together, that Sherlock should be anxious. They are really a great duo. Also the plot twists that are build from the beginning are on point. Some things are maybe predictable to some readers but others wouldn’t see it coming from a mile away. In general can be said that the characters are great, the story is interesting and it’s something special. (I will let you discover this one on your own) I am excited to read some other work by this author. In the end I want to ask every reader to ask themselves. If you finish a book and you’re not crying at least a little bit, was it even good?Because if you’re looking to cry happy and sad tears at the last page. You should give this book a try.
I recommend :)

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mar's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

a fun murder mystery with some effortlessly witty writing, really easy to read. also, as sb with chronic pain, it was really cool seeing a disabled woman as the sherlock holmes of the story :')

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stubbornjerk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I don't even know how I found this one but when I recommended it, I didn't think I'd like it so much. I've never really been much for noir, a bit too gritty, a little too hopeless. The funny thing about putting a mindful queer eye on the proceedings is that it tends to bashing all the hopelessness out of things, which is pretty amazing.

This book did that, with Detective Willowjean Parker assisting Detective Lillian Pentecost on the case of Abigail Collins' murder. It covered topics like violence against women, homophobia during the 50s, poverty, and a lot more. It's not a hard book to read, but definitely not for the faint of heart.

It was definitely worth the read. Not as pulpy as I thought it'd be, but definitely a little cartoonish on some fronts. I mean, c'mon, a traveling ex-carnie bisexual detective? Think about it.

Though, I do think more thought put towards POC could have been considered, since this tackled a lot of things that touches on the lives of POC at the time. I pointed this out in my notes but I'm pretty sure that at the time the case is set in, Japanese people were in internment camps and the most we get of mentions of non-White American goings-on was mostly to point out that this was post-World War II.

I would have hated seeing anything mishandled, but to say that these things weren't relevant during the time this was set in, especially in a city like New York, it will have been impossible to miss it even in passing. I was reading along to the audiobook (Kirsten Potter's reading was fantastic despite minor hiccups), so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any indicators that any of the cast of characters were POC. Almost all of them were some shade of white, though I'd love to imagine that Graham Hollis wasn't.

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