funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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: No
adventurous lighthearted 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: Complicated
greenmind's profile picture

greenmind's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 25%

Just found I wasn’t very interested in what was happening. I haven’t read any murder mysteries before - I think I will start with Agatha Christie instead.
lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Kind of boring tbh - I didn’t like Daphne much as a protagonist (she was very vain - not in terms of looks, but in aspirations, daydreaming about accolades for solving crimes etc) and to be honest I thought the mystery fell a little flat so it was hard to buy into the portrayal of her as a genius. She’s compared to Sherlock Holmes a few times and I think I’d have liked that comparison better if more care had been taken in establishing the breadth of her knowledge and skill.

What bothered me though was the slips and inconsistencies - Daphne being woken up by sun in her face at five to six in the morning, two days after the winter solstice, when famously the sun does not actually rise until eight in the morning?? Or how about, Daphne goes to meet somebody at 4pm, stuff happens, more stuff happens, and then she checks the time and it is…4pm. Hmm. I’m also puzzled by how when Daphne goes to Surrey she thinks she can be dropped off in Slough on the way back to London, as going to Slough would be out of the way and not actually “on the way back”. It was frustrating and irritating to come across these inconsistencies so often because the result is that I didn’t trust there was much coherence between the clues and the mystery and how it came together. And as it was, I just didn’t gel with it.

I did like the character of Veronica, who came across very obviously queer to me and the hint of Daphne going on a date with her at the end, but it also felt too subtle - it could be interpreted very heterosexually after all…

Idk, this didn’t hit the mark for me in many ways. How many Christmassy murder mysteries do I have to read to find a good one???
mysterious tense medium-paced
adventurous mysterious fast-paced
medium-paced

Not a very good murder mystery. I got confused by the characters and forgot who was who. The clues found were very random and I just don’t think the story was plotted out very well. Kind of enjoyable but still kind of bad. It’s like it tried to be Agatha Christie but missed the mark.
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's a nice murder mystery book, with a nice Christmassy touch! But it's nothing rather special, nothing to write home about.

Just some solid, but rather forgettable fun.

Also the missed opportunities in a Daphne/Veronica relationship...it's truly astounding how hard straight people miss the obvious.

Anyway, it was fun, I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't great.
lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes