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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was just OK.
I had seen the TV series and loved it. It was so well done. Based on that, I decided to read a book by the author upon which the TV series is based.
Usually, I have found books better than anything that makes it onto the screen. In this case, that didn't happen.
It was OK. I found the person, Sandy, who is the local cop our main character has to work with, to be extremely annoying. The man is such a wimp, such a milquetoast - I got quite irritated with him and found that this detracted quite a bit from the book.
I have a second one on hold from the library so I will see if it gets any better.
I had seen the TV series and loved it. It was so well done. Based on that, I decided to read a book by the author upon which the TV series is based.
Usually, I have found books better than anything that makes it onto the screen. In this case, that didn't happen.
It was OK. I found the person, Sandy, who is the local cop our main character has to work with, to be extremely annoying. The man is such a wimp, such a milquetoast - I got quite irritated with him and found that this detracted quite a bit from the book.
I have a second one on hold from the library so I will see if it gets any better.
The Shetland series really gives you a sense of place, love losing myself there.
Loved the ending!
Loved the ending!
It's always a pleasure to follow Inspector Perez on his investigations.
Similar to the first two in Shetland series. Still good, but didn’t really grab me. Think Sandy’s ineptitude is a bit overdone/repetitively mentioned. She does a good job of keeping you guessing though.
A great read that sweeps you up into the community of island life while keeping you guessing as to the secrets of the past that shape present events ...
I continue to love the setting of these books. There is a strange lack of action and tons of time inside Perez's head, but I find it all fascinating.
SPOILERS. This was initially my favorite of the Shetland books so far. Her books are often psychologically pretty twisty, and the fact that it’s so close to home for a main character made it even more so.
The problem with the book is that it starts with a murder in which someone is shotgunned in the dark on a croft. Initially it seems like an accident because one of the neighbors was out shooting rabbits with a shotgun, but Perez is suspicious, and he eventually concludes it’s murder, mentally wandering from suspect to suspect as he tries to figure out who did it.
The problem with this is he never asks the first guy if he heard a shotgun blast; and the question is, how the hell could two people be out with shotguns, on the same croft, and the first one not hear the other one shoot. It’s just dumb. You either have to believe it was indeed an accident, or you have conclude that the first guy is the one who did it. And of course, that’s the answer. So rather than a dog that didn’t bark, it’s the shotgun that didn’t shoot. So annoying.
The problem with the book is that it starts with a murder in which someone is shotgunned in the dark on a croft. Initially it seems like an accident because one of the neighbors was out shooting rabbits with a shotgun, but Perez is suspicious, and he eventually concludes it’s murder, mentally wandering from suspect to suspect as he tries to figure out who did it.
The problem with this is he never asks the first guy if he heard a shotgun blast; and the question is, how the hell could two people be out with shotguns, on the same croft, and the first one not hear the other one shoot. It’s just dumb. You either have to believe it was indeed an accident, or you have conclude that the first guy is the one who did it. And of course, that’s the answer. So rather than a dog that didn’t bark, it’s the shotgun that didn’t shoot. So annoying.
This the third novel in the Shetland Quartet and the best one so far. An obsessive student, Hattie, is working a dig on Whalsay island, off the main land, when a skull is found. The woman living at the site, Sandy Wilson's grandmother Mima, is found shot a little later. It is deemed an accident, but detective Jimmy Perez isn't convinced. Mima was a lively character, an avid gossip, and not particularly well liked. When Hattie is found dead in an apparent suicide Jimmy can't believe that the two deaths would be a coincidence. So he and Sandy delve further into the secrets of the island families.
This isn't precisely a page turner. It's a "choppy" read and doesn't ensnare me quite as much as a novel written by an author who's really deft with words. However, the story itself is good enough to keep my interest. Different chapters are through different characters point of view and that helps to get an understanding of the atmosphere of the place - both the landscape and its people. Well worth reading.
This isn't precisely a page turner. It's a "choppy" read and doesn't ensnare me quite as much as a novel written by an author who's really deft with words. However, the story itself is good enough to keep my interest. Different chapters are through different characters point of view and that helps to get an understanding of the atmosphere of the place - both the landscape and its people. Well worth reading.
The interweaving of the landscape, the family tensions, and the historical mystery made for such a satisfying read. And I enjoyed discovering more of Sandy's story. A couple of negatives though. I became slightly irritated with the "Fran said," "Fran thought" sequences in relation to the lovesick Perez. And the editing--at least in this edition--was very poor. There is one paragraph where Perez starts to make tea and ends the paragraph drinking coffee. Also the line "There was a nose outside." Would expect better!