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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Not as good as the Ruth Galloway series, but engaging. There were a few loose ends and questions that never got answered.
Another wonderful, inventive mystery from Elly Griffiths. Fascinating characters, odd situations and great surprises. Loved it!
Elly Griffiths makes a world, invites you in, and then makes it very difficult to ever want to leave. Charming, funny, full of characters you'll want to meet again, and with a series of crimes fully wound up at the end. Great fun.
Murder and books! Who could ask for more? A beloved elderly lady, Peggy, who calls herself a murder consultant, is suddenly dead. Her neighbor Edwin, friend Benedict, and caregiver, Natalka, are concerned when an armed robber enters Peggy's apartment and steals only one book. As it turns out, several murder mystery authors have received a postcard which threatens that someone is coming for them. Clues are dropped left and right, including a few red herrings, but the trio work with Detective Harbinder Kaur to track down the murderer of not one, but three victims, all connected by the murder mystery books. Their sleuthing takes them to a Scottish book festival, where Harbinder runs into a Detective Inspector we first met in the initial book of this series, The Stranger Diaries. The characters are delightful and well developed. I can't wait for the next installment!
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths is the second instalment in the DS Harbinder Kaur series but it easily reads well as a standalone. A ninety-year-old woman dies in her home of what is believed to be natural causes. She was an avid fan of mystery novels and their authors and collected many volumes of these books. The young woman who was her carer becomes suspicious of the circumstances of her demise and relays her fears to Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur. Soon, crime writers begin dying in odd ways. The investigation will take the reader from Sussex to Aberdeen to Edinburgh and back. Cozies are normally not my favorite genre but I stayed with this one. The characters are well-developed and the fact that The Postscript Murders reads like an old-fashioned mystery (Agatha Christie comes to mind) kept me turning the pages. This genre is a departure for Elly Griffiths but she does cozies justice. Highly recommended. Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Elly Griffiths is becoming a favorite author of mine. She has a well-loved series, but she also wrote The Stranger Diaries (which I adored), and The Postscript Murders is its follow-up.
These books have a modern Christie feel, and I can definitely see the comparison to the clever Anthony Horowitz as well. The Postscript Murders is about a 90 year old female murder consultant. Yes, my friends. She’s an expert on how to kill people, and authors hire her when writing their books. Peggy ends up dead under suspicious circumstances, and an investigation ensues. The best part of all, the book often takes place during a literary festival, so it’s full of bookish content.
Lots of layers to analyze, witty dialogue, great tension; it has it everything you are looking for in a solid literary mystery. I hope there’s a book three on the horizon!
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
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These books have a modern Christie feel, and I can definitely see the comparison to the clever Anthony Horowitz as well. The Postscript Murders is about a 90 year old female murder consultant. Yes, my friends. She’s an expert on how to kill people, and authors hire her when writing their books. Peggy ends up dead under suspicious circumstances, and an investigation ensues. The best part of all, the book often takes place during a literary festival, so it’s full of bookish content.
Lots of layers to analyze, witty dialogue, great tension; it has it everything you are looking for in a solid literary mystery. I hope there’s a book three on the horizon!
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
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Another great book by Elly Griffiths. I really like this new series.
When Peggy Smith, a 90-year-old woman, is found dead, no one believes foul play had a role in her death….that is no one but her Ukrainian carer, Natalka. Peggy was a murder consultant, thinking up unique ways for characters to die for popular authors, I do wish we had gotten to know Peggy a bit more, she sounded like an amazing character. Natalka teams up with Edwin, an 80-year-old former TV producer, and Benedict a former monk now coffee shop owner to investigate Peggy’s death. And she takes her story to the police, bringing Detective Harbinder Kaur into the group.
This is a character-driven mystery. Natalka, Edwin, and Benedict are fully developed and each truly likable, and they work together so well. The investigation and friendships change all their lives, in good ways. It’s an eccentric group of characters, and each has their own viewpoint and reasons for joining the inquiry. I love Harbinder and how she both befriends and accepts the trio’s help and is exasperated by their actions. Harbinder is unique. She’s intelligtent and hard-working. She is a gay Sikh, in her thirties, who lives with her parents. All those aspects come into play, both in how she views the world and how this particular mystery plays out.
The Postscript Murders is a book for mystery lovers. The plot revolves around books, authors, and the publishing industry. It’s also a neat mix between cozy and police procedural. The amateurs get to meet people and ask questions, but they don’t have a badge to make people talk to them. Harbinder has authority behind her when she interviews people, which is good and bad, but she can’t follow whims as easily.
It’s a smart book and the mystery itself was well done. There were just enough suspects and clues. There were also a few twists that I didn’t see coming. Even though it’s the second in the series, it can definitely be read as a stand alone. You might get more of a feel for Harbinder by reading the first, but I don’t think you’ll miss all that much.
This is a character-driven mystery. Natalka, Edwin, and Benedict are fully developed and each truly likable, and they work together so well. The investigation and friendships change all their lives, in good ways. It’s an eccentric group of characters, and each has their own viewpoint and reasons for joining the inquiry. I love Harbinder and how she both befriends and accepts the trio’s help and is exasperated by their actions. Harbinder is unique. She’s intelligtent and hard-working. She is a gay Sikh, in her thirties, who lives with her parents. All those aspects come into play, both in how she views the world and how this particular mystery plays out.
The Postscript Murders is a book for mystery lovers. The plot revolves around books, authors, and the publishing industry. It’s also a neat mix between cozy and police procedural. The amateurs get to meet people and ask questions, but they don’t have a badge to make people talk to them. Harbinder has authority behind her when she interviews people, which is good and bad, but she can’t follow whims as easily.
It’s a smart book and the mystery itself was well done. There were just enough suspects and clues. There were also a few twists that I didn’t see coming. Even though it’s the second in the series, it can definitely be read as a stand alone. You might get more of a feel for Harbinder by reading the first, but I don’t think you’ll miss all that much.
Well, what a nice surprise. Interesting, unusual characters, plenty of twists and turns, and some gentle social commentary. The word "cozy" is used a few times in the novel and that's a fairly good description of the way it feels to read through these pages... comfortable, satisfying, cozy.