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janu0303's review against another edition
5.0
Better than even the first. Gripping, clever and historically breathtaking.
allibarb's review against another edition
3.0
The Redfyre mysteries take a LONG time to get going . . . While I like the Inspector, this series is not developing in an interesting fashion, at least how things were proceeding in prior novel. Sad. I think the author is changing her approach and I don't care for it.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
It's 1924 and the Great War is over but no one knows quite what to do with the soldiers who came back, many of whom have seen conflict beyond what anyone has seen before. In Cambridge, one such soldier has been living on the streets. Well-known for being affable, Richard 'Dickie' Dunne is the latest man to be invited to dine with a group of Cambridge dons. It seems this group of six men enjoy feeding incredibly opulent meals those who they consider "less" (for a variety of reasons) and then slowly tearing them apart. But it's not just the dons who are at this meal, there is also a man with whom Dickie fought; one who shares a dangerous secret. And, at the end of the night, someone ends up dead.
This was very much modeled after mysteries actually written in the '20s - aka- it was very confusing to begin with, had a lot of references to Great Lit-er-a-chur, and lots of focus on the classes. Also, long-winded conversations that can make a person lose track of what, exactly, is going on in the book. I hadn't read the first book in the series but didn't feel like I was missing anything because of it. I did like the character development of Inspector Redfyre but didn't really connect with anyone else. Golden Age mystery fans will probably find this book quite entertaining but I'm not certain about others.
This was very much modeled after mysteries actually written in the '20s - aka- it was very confusing to begin with, had a lot of references to Great Lit-er-a-chur, and lots of focus on the classes. Also, long-winded conversations that can make a person lose track of what, exactly, is going on in the book. I hadn't read the first book in the series but didn't feel like I was missing anything because of it. I did like the character development of Inspector Redfyre but didn't really connect with anyone else. Golden Age mystery fans will probably find this book quite entertaining but I'm not certain about others.
annarella's review against another edition
3.0
Even if I liked the setting and found this book entertaining I'm in two mind about how to rate it.
There's a lot of potential but I found the book confusing and it was hard to be engaged in the story or connect to the characters.
Sometimes I was confused by the sudden change of plot and found to understand who the characters were.
I think that a simpler plot would have helped and make this book more entertaining and engrossing.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
There's a lot of potential but I found the book confusing and it was hard to be engaged in the story or connect to the characters.
Sometimes I was confused by the sudden change of plot and found to understand who the characters were.
I think that a simpler plot would have helped and make this book more entertaining and engrossing.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
depizan's review against another edition
2.0
This was the most strangely organized mystery I've ever read. It starts with a chapter about a person who is of no importance to the plot whatsoever, starts to get into the mystery, then does a time jump to a suspect (in the murder that hasn't happened yet) talking to the detective and giving a lengthy war story, then jumps back to the discovery of the body and continues on from there. It's effectively an un-mystery. The order the story is told in completely robs it of any mystery other than "wtf?" (Okay, that's probably going too far, as you only get part of the solution before the question.)
If it had been told in chronological order it would've been better. Then the war story would actually be interesting, because we'd understand what it had to do with the plot and it would be answering questions we actually had. Also, the events prior to the murder should've been condensed. As it's written, it's as if the author expects us to be interested in events without context or any investment in the characters. Which makes for very odd reading. Hell, given that we find out some of the events during the investigation, you could probably start the book with the body being found, proceed chronologically and have a much more gripping read.
If it had been told in chronological order it would've been better. Then the war story would actually be interesting, because we'd understand what it had to do with the plot and it would be answering questions we actually had. Also, the events prior to the murder should've been condensed. As it's written, it's as if the author expects us to be interested in events without context or any investment in the characters. Which makes for very odd reading. Hell, given that we find out some of the events during the investigation, you could probably start the book with the body being found, proceed chronologically and have a much more gripping read.
mepitts's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Found this novel tedious, talky and hard to stay interested in.
annarella's review
3.0
Even if I liked the setting and found this book entertaining I'm in two mind about how to rate it.
There's a lot of potential but I found the book confusing and it was hard to be engaged in the story or connect to the characters.
Sometimes I was confused by the sudden change of plot and found to understand who the characters were.
I think that a simpler plot would have helped and make this book more entertaining and engrossing.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
There's a lot of potential but I found the book confusing and it was hard to be engaged in the story or connect to the characters.
Sometimes I was confused by the sudden change of plot and found to understand who the characters were.
I think that a simpler plot would have helped and make this book more entertaining and engrossing.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
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