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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Great mystery story with an ending that managed to surprise me! I'll definitely continue with this series.
I was hesitantly on board with this book until a scene where the MC realized suddenly that some other characters were having sex by the way they looked at each other, rather than the fact that they'd been dating for a year? And then got uncomfortably detailed/opinionated about it. Also the randomly inserted kissing scenes were just rape-y and heavy handed. Just, like, why. We can have a cheesy cozy mystery without terribly inserted romance.
Real Murders was a really boring read. I kept putting it down, reading something else, then trying to finish it again. All of the characters were so one dimensional and just....there was something off about Aurora but I can't figure out what exactly it was. She was so strange, but I don't know why. There was no reason for her to be so odd, and I just couldn't figure her out. I didn't care about her at all. I got to the point where I was just like I wish someone would kill her or do something so that maybe something exciting would happen. Yes, there are many murders in the book but it was just not good.
Aurora is in the real murders club. People start being murdered like old murders so she tries to figure out who it might be. But not really. She kind of plays with the idea, but doesn't really accomplish much. She is also dating Robin, the strange author who just moved to town, and Arthur, the cop who is also in the real murders club. Those parts were strange as well as it never even seemed like Aurora liked them or they her. It was just like well there is no one else so...I couldn't figure out Robin either. He was so strange in a way that didn't make sense to me. I didn't get him. I wish the characters would have been flushed out more so the way they acted would have made sense.
So Aurora and Robin end up discovering a lot of the bodies/evidence. They always seem to be on the scene, and it seems like Robin is just hanging around Aurora for someone to talk to about what is happening. The ending, who did it, was just confusing. Really Aurora was incredibly stupid and I just thought I don't really care what happens to her, or anyone. You don't really find out why the killer killed everyone or anything. It is just a quick hey here is the killer! The end. It was just not good. After reading the authors Lily Bard series and really enjoying it I was quite disappointed. I feel like this was like a rough draft for that series. It had a similar feel, but nowhere near as good. This book couldn't hold my attention and I won't be reading any more of the series.
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
Aurora is in the real murders club. People start being murdered like old murders so she tries to figure out who it might be. But not really. She kind of plays with the idea, but doesn't really accomplish much. She is also dating Robin, the strange author who just moved to town, and Arthur, the cop who is also in the real murders club. Those parts were strange as well as it never even seemed like Aurora liked them or they her. It was just like well there is no one else so...I couldn't figure out Robin either. He was so strange in a way that didn't make sense to me. I didn't get him. I wish the characters would have been flushed out more so the way they acted would have made sense.
So Aurora and Robin end up discovering a lot of the bodies/evidence. They always seem to be on the scene, and it seems like Robin is just hanging around Aurora for someone to talk to about what is happening. The ending, who did it, was just confusing. Really Aurora was incredibly stupid and I just thought I don't really care what happens to her, or anyone. You don't really find out why the killer killed everyone or anything. It is just a quick hey here is the killer! The end. It was just not good. After reading the authors Lily Bard series and really enjoying it I was quite disappointed. I feel like this was like a rough draft for that series. It had a similar feel, but nowhere near as good. This book couldn't hold my attention and I won't be reading any more of the series.
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Cute & cozy
So this came out in 1990, and some of the things said unrelated to the actual murder mystery were so problematic that I had a hard time enjoying it as the fluffy murder mystery I wanted it to be. There was a point there it championed that there were no minorities running for mayor and how great it was that there wouldn't be that tension in an already contested race. Really?
Caveat: this could be considered a cozy mystery, but at some points it's quite graphic and disturbing. However, overall it was entertaining, not too taxing, and enjoyable. The organizing conceit is that someone is stalking and offing members of a club who take turns giving lectures on famous murders in history. The protagonist and narrator, Aurora, is funny and snarky, not overly concerned with being kind of prickly and off-putting.
It's sort of like And Then There Were None but set in the 1990s in the Southern US. I didn't figure out whodunit for quite some time. I liked the audiobook reader for this book, too. She was expressive but not melodramatic.
It's sort of like And Then There Were None but set in the 1990s in the Southern US. I didn't figure out whodunit for quite some time. I liked the audiobook reader for this book, too. She was expressive but not melodramatic.
Honestly, I couldn’t get through it. The language is dated and I just couldn’t get through the story.