Reviews

Fortune Favours the Dead by Stephen Spotswood

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theo_thefrog's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Did what it set out to do as a kind of lighthearted mystery with LGBT+ themes. The references didn't always seem to fit the time period and were a little distracting. Though I wanted something of a light read and this was, Will in her sassiness came off as kind of a flat, sociopathic caricature when I'm pretty sure she was not meant to be. The phrase "'[Something snarky]', I quipped." came up far too often, at extremely inappropriate times. I am bothered more than I should be maybe by this, but it seems to go directly against the message "the cops are unprofessional and don't care about women/lgbt/other vulnerable groups who get killed and we are and do" when she's making snarky jokes in the face of witnesses who just suffered the death of someone they care about, and sleeping with a main suspect, which of course was a terrible idea. Wanted to make her seem sassy and recite hardboiled detective lines, at the expense of her seeming to care about human life. Overall, alright though.

isaacrm's review against another edition

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4.0

Four stars which means that if you are into suspense novels, you should read this book.

Finally, a good old detective suspense novel in the spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie.

Set in the late 40's right after WWII comes an impossible crime that only Pentecost and Parker can decipher. Don't let the epoch deter you from reading this book. It has suspense, it has action, and it has the necessary twists and turns.

I loved the prose. I found the characters interesting, and they left me wanting more from them. Unfortunately, this is the first book of a series and the second is not going to be released until the end of the year. I'll definitely wait for it.

Why not 5 stars? Well, I leave 5 stars for books everyone should read regardless of your interests. This one is for fans of good, old detective novels.

ant_i_dot's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

tamarant4's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This city’s full of monsters, thieves, and assholes. And that’s just City Hall.” [loc. 3789]

First in a series of murder mysteries set in 1940s New York. Willowjean ('Will') Parker ran away to the circus as a teenager, and has accumulated a host of useful skills including lock-picking, highwire-walking and knife-throwing. The latter of these brings her to the attention of Ms Lillian Pentecost, 'the most famous woman detective in the city and possibly the country'. Ms P, as Will calls her, suffers from multiple sclerosis, and would like an assistant to aid in situations where her 'physical limitations' prove inconvenient. Will would like a roof over her head, worthwhile employment, and considerable freedom to live as she chooses.

Fortune Favours the Dead is an account of a classic locked-room murder. Socialite Abigail Collins was murdered at a Halloween party she was hosting: the murder weapon was a crystal ball, and Abigail was alone in the room after a seance in which fashionable spiritualist Ariel Belestrade apparently channelled the spirit of Abigail's husband, who'd committed suicide a year before. While investigating the crime, Will (who's bisexual) strikes up a relationship with the daughter of the murdered woman. Ms P is more interested in Ariel Belestrade, and how she works her con...

I like the way Will and Ms P complement one another: they're a detective duo comparable with Holmes and Watson, Wolfe and Archie, et cetera. And I like the way the novel handles queerness (Will's and Becca's, as well as a couple of other characters. ('Ms. Pentecost had never shown a romantic interest in anyone, man or woman.') There were a couple of ... not quite anachronisms, but details that I think people in 1945 would have reacted to with more surprise: Ms P's 'Ms', which indeed was in parlance, though it didn't come into general use until the 1970s; and a woman not drinking champagne at the party, thus revealing to Belestrade that she's pregnant). I don't think alcohol avoidance in pregnancy was common practice: see A Brief History of Awareness of the Link Between Alcohol and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

But overall, great fun, and I liked the two protagonists very much: Will's pulp-inflected narration and Ms P's composure and dignity contrast very nicely. I'll probably read more in this series.

Fulfils the ‘locked room mystery’ rubric of the 52 books in 2024 challenge.

duparker's review against another edition

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4.0

This book does a great job of grabbing you at the onset and running. The atmosphere of post WWII New York is a great character for any book to inhabit. The fact that the leads were women, and women you could connect with, was a real bonus. Not sure I'd read the series, if this becomes one, but as a one off, it really held me.