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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
A lot less women-judging-women in this one! Hurray! And a very good mystery, lots of fun anyway... i feel like she works these out so there's no way for the reader to puzzle-out the solution, but with all the twists and turns I don't think I had a chance anyway ;)
Listened to the audiobook. Incredibly narrated. Fully developed story with a diverse cast of characters.
Griffiths' writing style in this series is more literary, refined. The Ruth G. series is more cozy; however, love all her books.
Griffiths' writing style in this series is more literary, refined. The Ruth G. series is more cozy; however, love all her books.
I enjoyed the first entry in this series so much, I fully expected to love this one as well. I enjoyed the first 75% of this even though it's cozier than I normally care for. The book is pretty evenly split between the police procedural part with Harbinder, and the cozy half with an eclectic and charming trio of amateur detectives, trying to find out if their mystery reading friend really did die of natural causes, or, as they suspect, was murdered.
But 3\4 of the way in, it all starts to falls apart. Everyone gets stupid. Plot lines start multiplying like the latest virus. Way too much happens to a small group of people in too short a period of time. And there are enough bad guys to populate a half dozen books. Probably would have been better had the plot lines and bodies been spread out.
But 3\4 of the way in, it all starts to falls apart. Everyone gets stupid. Plot lines start multiplying like the latest virus. Way too much happens to a small group of people in too short a period of time. And there are enough bad guys to populate a half dozen books. Probably would have been better had the plot lines and bodies been spread out.
I was glad to see Harbinder was back in another book, but know I hope some of the other characters in The Postscript Murders appear again. Such a quirky story and quirky characters!
Elly Griffiths creates amazingly real characters, I loved Edwin
I'm reading the Harbinder Kaur series in reverse order, having started with Bleeding Heart Yard and now working my way back. This series really leans on the strength of its protagonist, the talented and tenacious DS Kaur who's fighting both crime and stereotypes, one case at a time.
When the elderly Peggy Smith is found dead in her chair, there couldn't be a less suspicious death – a woman in her nineties with a heart condition. However, her care aide Natalka soon discovers that the mystery novels which line Peggy's shelves – which her son is desperate to get rid of, asap – are all dedicated to Peggy. Suddenly, the death of this "murder consultant" is looking a lot less natural. When several crime authors soon receive threatening postcards – and one turns up dead – they might have a serial killer on their hands.
Alongside a delightful cast of characters, DS Kaur must determine who could possibly want these authors dead. This was a fun, fast-paced read with plenty of twists and turns, and several sub-plots which kept me intrigued to the end. Some of them were a little thin, but overall still an enjoyable and entertaining read.
When the elderly Peggy Smith is found dead in her chair, there couldn't be a less suspicious death – a woman in her nineties with a heart condition. However, her care aide Natalka soon discovers that the mystery novels which line Peggy's shelves – which her son is desperate to get rid of, asap – are all dedicated to Peggy. Suddenly, the death of this "murder consultant" is looking a lot less natural. When several crime authors soon receive threatening postcards – and one turns up dead – they might have a serial killer on their hands.
Alongside a delightful cast of characters, DS Kaur must determine who could possibly want these authors dead. This was a fun, fast-paced read with plenty of twists and turns, and several sub-plots which kept me intrigued to the end. Some of them were a little thin, but overall still an enjoyable and entertaining read.
I enjoyed everything about this book, including the female author's adeptness at creating male and female characters of various ages and sexualities. The allusions to Golden Age mysteries and the wordplay did well by me too. If only Harbinder had been allowed a love life, I might have forsaken my better judgment and given it five stars.
It's certainly much lighter and brighter than the previous book in the series, and I am only sorry that I read it when it was so newly published because that means I'll have longer to wait for Harbinder Kaur #3.
It's certainly much lighter and brighter than the previous book in the series, and I am only sorry that I read it when it was so newly published because that means I'll have longer to wait for Harbinder Kaur #3.
Read this one after hearing the author discuss it on the Shedunnit podcast and it was as good as I had hoped it to be. Nice and twisty and fun.
I didn't realize this was the second in the series when I started it, and I haven't read the first yet, but this stood well on its own! There were multiple POVs and each character was well-developed, interesting, and easy to like. The murders (there were multiple) were clever and there were plenty of red herrings that kept me guessing until the very end of the book. All of the plot lines were tied up (yay!) but it didn't feel forced (double yay!). A really great read!
P.S. If possible, I'd recommend the audio version of this book, the narrator is exceptional!
P.S. If possible, I'd recommend the audio version of this book, the narrator is exceptional!
I always had high expectations for Elly Griffiths’ latest novel, a sequel to her previous 2018 standalone, ‘The Stranger Diaries’ which was a rather creepy horror/mystery novel set in my own neck of the woods, dear old West Sussex. Harbinder Kaur was introduced in the Stranger Diaries as a young gay Sikh detective who solves a death at a high school surrounded by literary associations, and she is back in The Postscript Murders, investigating the suspicious death of a 90-year old crime fiction lover in Shoreham-by-Sea, who seems to have been acknowledged in dozens of books and had a business card calling her a ‘Murder Consultant’. As with The Stranger Diaries, this is a murder mystery set within a literary circle, with strong links to the book community, which only serves to make it doubly interesting to a girl like me who loves all things books.
I absolutely loved The Stranger Diaries and in general I’m quite an Elly Griffiths fan, so I went in with really high expectations, but if anything this book is even better than the first. It introduces us to a quirky band of mismatched characters who fancy themselves amateur detectives: Natalka, the beautiful and sporty Ukrainian carer with a secret bitcoin empire; Benedict, the beachside coffee shop owner who used to be a monk; and Edwin, an elderly gay gentleman who used to work for the BBC. Together they set out to solve the ‘murder’ of their friend Peggy before it even seems there’s a solid reason to call it a murder, and along with Harbinder end up on a murder-solving trip to a Scottish book festival. This motley crew were very entertaining reading. The plot itself was intricate and cleverly pieced together; and I absolutely loved everything about it!
My thanks to the author, the publisher, @QuercusBooks, and to #NetGalley, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. The book is out on the 1st October in the UK.
I absolutely loved The Stranger Diaries and in general I’m quite an Elly Griffiths fan, so I went in with really high expectations, but if anything this book is even better than the first. It introduces us to a quirky band of mismatched characters who fancy themselves amateur detectives: Natalka, the beautiful and sporty Ukrainian carer with a secret bitcoin empire; Benedict, the beachside coffee shop owner who used to be a monk; and Edwin, an elderly gay gentleman who used to work for the BBC. Together they set out to solve the ‘murder’ of their friend Peggy before it even seems there’s a solid reason to call it a murder, and along with Harbinder end up on a murder-solving trip to a Scottish book festival. This motley crew were very entertaining reading. The plot itself was intricate and cleverly pieced together; and I absolutely loved everything about it!
My thanks to the author, the publisher, @QuercusBooks, and to #NetGalley, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. The book is out on the 1st October in the UK.