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pauliiiii's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A Martin C.S. fan through and through approves this!
I love the Arkady Renko series, and I think I've read most of Cruz's books now. This one stands out because it's set in mid-19th century England - so random for him!
Anyway, this was a good read and I actually liked it because I didn't see the ending coming. The plot twist was classic Cruz and it wasn't obvious which is what I liked. Usually, these books are all the same, and mysteries can get so repetitive.
I really liked this one and if you're on the market for a very well written mystery from an author who has the confidence to not use the thesaurus in every sentence, pick this up.
janetlun's review
4.0
Martin Cruz Smith has an amazing ability to make me stay up too late reading. This isn't one of his Russian books featuring police inspector Arkady Renko (which are splendid). It's set in 1872, in a coal town in England. I found his historical setting believable. The characters may have been a bit shallow, but I was reading too fast to notice. I think his books have gotten better over time (as one would expect) and this one was published in 1996.
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