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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
mysterious
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A very quick holiday related read. This author has a very quirky writing style. I enjoyed this one more than his first book.
I read this book over Christmas vacation. I was curious about this series and figured that a novella would be a quick way to find out if I'd like to read more. I have decided against it.
From what I can tell, the idea for this series is that the main character uses murder mystery genre tropes to solve mysteries himself. This novella is intended to be sort of a "Christmas special", which means that all the series favorites need to make an appearance of some sort but the greater plot of the series won't really be affected. There have to be some sort of holiday allusions or decorations, puns are very much in play, but there can be no speculative elements.
So this mostly takes place in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, an escape from summertime holiday heat. I never got a huge sense of place, unfortunately. The main character's ex-wife's fiance is dead, definitely murdered, and she's in jail because she can't remember what happened. There's a magician and his motley crew who become the main suspects.
This felt like a tv episode, complete with an overdramatic and rather silly way of doing the big reveal. Nothing wrong with the writing, just nothing appealed to me to take this series any further.
From what I can tell, the idea for this series is that the main character uses murder mystery genre tropes to solve mysteries himself. This novella is intended to be sort of a "Christmas special", which means that all the series favorites need to make an appearance of some sort but the greater plot of the series won't really be affected. There have to be some sort of holiday allusions or decorations, puns are very much in play, but there can be no speculative elements.
So this mostly takes place in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, an escape from summertime holiday heat. I never got a huge sense of place, unfortunately. The main character's ex-wife's fiance is dead, definitely murdered, and she's in jail because she can't remember what happened. There's a magician and his motley crew who become the main suspects.
This felt like a tv episode, complete with an overdramatic and rather silly way of doing the big reveal. Nothing wrong with the writing, just nothing appealed to me to take this series any further.
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No