Reviews

Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose

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abbyjennhm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

bookfortbuilder's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

dawn_marie's review

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mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

Murder at the Merton Library, the latest installment in Andrea Penrose's Wrexford and Sloane series, despite a few quibbles, was an entertaining read. In this offering, Wrexford receives a mysterious letter from a friend of his deceased brother and, when he goes to visit, learns that the friend was murdered. Meanwhile, Charlotte is convinced that an arsonist set a fire at a prominent research laboratory. As Wrexford and Charlotte work their cases, they begin to suspect that the two cases may have a common thread., and they draw on their inner circle to solve the crime.

This was a quick-moving murder mystery, with all clues clearly and cleverly laid out allowing the reader to solve the crime before the "reveal". I enjoy the historical events and persons that the author wove into her plot, as well as tackling some of the themes/issues of the time. While these are normally handled subtly, I felt that some of the issues - specifically those surrounding war veterans, and women's rights - were a bit too heavy-handed.

Ms. Penrose liberally sprinkles words, phrases, and terminology of the era into her narrative, fully immersing the reader in the story. However, in this volume, it felt that there was an overreliance on certain words - it got to the point that I started to groan every time I read "miscreant" or "blackard". My biggest quibble is in the character work - while never a strong suit of the novels, they seemed especially flat and annoying in this installment. I just wanted to slap each so they would snap out of their own personal pity party.

Other than a few quibbles, the story was entertaining - a nice palate cleanser between massive epic fantasy or space opera installments. I do enjoy the world and the mysteries and will continue to read future installments.

kebyrne2's review against another edition

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4.0

Mystery. Steamships. Power

This is just as good as the others. I was able to guess the final villain once we got first one.

The motives were not what I thought they were so that was nice. I really hope that we get more of the German. I wish to know who he is.

Andreas books are great and I can’t wait for more of these stories