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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one surprised me, but perhaps not in the ways intended. A shock ending felt thematically unnecessary, which will impact the rest of the books in the series. I thought this slow-paced bird-watching locked room mystery would be a skippable story, but it feels as if the ending was thrown in to make it an unmissable addition to the series - just not in a good way.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One small problem with these Shetland novels: Cleeves works very hard to create an atmosphere. However, like James lee Burke novels, there is way too much atmosphere. Half it and get another star. Otherwise there are better Scottish crime novels out there.
I had the major event at the end of this spoiled and have been dreading reading it, which is perhaps why I didn't enjoy this as much as the other Ann Cleeves I've read. Cheap and horrible twist! I hate it!
I liked the first half a lot and thought I was going to end up enjoying this entry in the series more than the previous one, but I really didn't like the second half. The culprit's motive wasn't very satisfying, and a lot about the ending just felt like unnecessary drama to change the characters.
Spoiler
aka she totally fridged Fran
Oh, my heart — Cleeve delivers a sucker punch. I thought Red Bones was the best of the series but that designation now goes to this one.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fast paced interesting murder mystery. It's set on Fair Isle in a birdwatching community. Jimmy Perez and his fiance Fran are visiting his parents when a body is found. The weather does not allow any access to the island so Jimmy has to take charge.