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verityw's review
2.0
*****Copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review******
Didn't work for me I'm afraid. Whether it was jumping into a long-running series with no background to help me, or dialogue which didn't sound real (or British English) I don't know. But surprisingly for a cozy about a school (and a boarding school at that) it didn't float my boat.
Didn't work for me I'm afraid. Whether it was jumping into a long-running series with no background to help me, or dialogue which didn't sound real (or British English) I don't know. But surprisingly for a cozy about a school (and a boarding school at that) it didn't float my boat.
cmbohn's review
4.0
Probably more like a 3.5 stars. I still love Ellie Haskell and Mrs. Malloy, but this one wasn't as hilarious as some of her others. I liked the setting, back at Ellie's old school. I think a lot of us could relate to the nightmare of having to go back to our old school!
khoerner7's review
3.0
I have been a fan of Dorothy Cannell since I read "The Thin Woman", the first book in the Ellie Haskell series. I love the titles of some of the other books in the series such as "How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams." In later years the series has not been as strong as it was in the beginning. It is the definition of a cozy British mystery with some humor. Ellie has been called back to her old boarding school to help figure out who stole a sport trophy. She must work through feelings of guilt over actions she did not take as a teen and nostaglia for old teachers and classmates. Of course, Ellie and her odd bunch of helpers saves the day.
longtimereader's review
3.0
This is what I called a light-fluffy read. It doesn't have much to it, but it is kinda fun. You can read it really fast and not miss anything. It is way deep in a series, but it stands alone ok if you don't mind not knowing a great deal of the back stories. The British part is cute in a fluffy way, very light-hearted, and rather cliche in a few way.
My copy came from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.
My copy came from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.
krikketgirl's review
3.0
As a mystery, I would give it 2 stars, but I enjoyed it enough despite its lackluster mystery that I bumped it up to three. This is primarily fluff and primarily about relationships, with the mystery thrown in as a skeleton on which to hang the body of the story.
For me, an effective mystery should have a detective who is actually trying to solve the mystery; it should be fair play (the clues should be obvious enough that one could solve it oneself, but not so obvious that it's a foregone conclusion), and the mystery should be solved satisfactorily and wrapped up plausibly. My complaint in this story is that--while there is a detective, and she died solve the mystery, it's done so at the last minute and with vague references back to this or that happening. Since the story was told in first person, it felt unfair: the narrator told us some of her thoughts, but not the ones pertinent to the resolution?
All this said, I will probably read another Dorothy Cannell book in future, because the writing itself was fun.
For me, an effective mystery should have a detective who is actually trying to solve the mystery; it should be fair play (the clues should be obvious enough that one could solve it oneself, but not so obvious that it's a foregone conclusion), and the mystery should be solved satisfactorily and wrapped up plausibly. My complaint in this story is that--while there is a detective, and she died solve the mystery, it's done so at the last minute and with vague references back to this or that happening. Since the story was told in first person, it felt unfair: the narrator told us some of her thoughts, but not the ones pertinent to the resolution?
All this said, I will probably read another Dorothy Cannell book in future, because the writing itself was fun.
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