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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Digital audiobook narrated by Nina Wadia
3.5***
This is book two in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, but it can easily be read as a stand alone.
A 90-year-old woman is found dead by her caretaker. It’s a peaceful scene; Peggy Smith’s body is sitting in her usual spot – a chair by the window where she liked to watch the goings on of her neighborhood. But Natalka, an immigrant from Ukraine, gets suspicious when she finds a stash of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy, “murder consultant.” Then an armed intruder arrives as Natalka and her friend are trying to clean up Peggy’s flat, and, at gunpoint, steals one of the books, and the author of the stolen book is shortly found murdered! So, the case gets the attention of D.S. Kaur.
This is NOT a cozy, as there is a true detective at the center of the investigation, but Natalka and two cohorts (Benjamin, a former monk who runs the local coffee shop, and Edwin, Peggy’s 80-year-old neighbor) run a sort of parallel investigation that (mostly) helps Harbinder solve the case.
I really enjoyed this. It’s not a traditional hard-hitting detective novel, nor is it a sweet and quirky cozy mystery. Instead it is a brilliant composite of those subgenres. I liked the relationships between these characters, how they came together and pulled apart; how they countered one another’s theories, and supported each other’s efforts. And I liked learning something about Harbinder, a gay 30-something detective, who still lives at home with her parents. I want to know more about her.
I also rather liked the supporting cast of Natalka and Benjamin and want to know more of their story, but from what I read of the synopses of the other two books in the series, they don’t appear again. Spin off?
As for the main reason I like mysteries … I was kept guessing right to the end, and that’s a good thing. This is the first book by Elly Griffiths that I’ve read. It won’t be the last.
Nina Wadia does a find job of narrating the audiobook. I don’t think I’ve heard a narration by her before and I’m impressed with her talent for voices. I’ll have to look for more of her audios.
3.5***
This is book two in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, but it can easily be read as a stand alone.
A 90-year-old woman is found dead by her caretaker. It’s a peaceful scene; Peggy Smith’s body is sitting in her usual spot – a chair by the window where she liked to watch the goings on of her neighborhood. But Natalka, an immigrant from Ukraine, gets suspicious when she finds a stash of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy, “murder consultant.” Then an armed intruder arrives as Natalka and her friend are trying to clean up Peggy’s flat, and, at gunpoint, steals one of the books, and the author of the stolen book is shortly found murdered! So, the case gets the attention of D.S. Kaur.
This is NOT a cozy, as there is a true detective at the center of the investigation, but Natalka and two cohorts (Benjamin, a former monk who runs the local coffee shop, and Edwin, Peggy’s 80-year-old neighbor) run a sort of parallel investigation that (mostly) helps Harbinder solve the case.
I really enjoyed this. It’s not a traditional hard-hitting detective novel, nor is it a sweet and quirky cozy mystery. Instead it is a brilliant composite of those subgenres. I liked the relationships between these characters, how they came together and pulled apart; how they countered one another’s theories, and supported each other’s efforts. And I liked learning something about Harbinder, a gay 30-something detective, who still lives at home with her parents. I want to know more about her.
I also rather liked the supporting cast of Natalka and Benjamin and want to know more of their story, but from what I read of the synopses of the other two books in the series, they don’t appear again. Spin off?
As for the main reason I like mysteries … I was kept guessing right to the end, and that’s a good thing. This is the first book by Elly Griffiths that I’ve read. It won’t be the last.
Nina Wadia does a find job of narrating the audiobook. I don’t think I’ve heard a narration by her before and I’m impressed with her talent for voices. I’ll have to look for more of her audios.
No sé si me gustó más que el primero, porque esto de seguir a tantos personajes me doy cuenta que mucho no me gusta. Pero sin duda, la historia me pareció mucho más original y mejor estructurada que el primer libro, se nota un cambio en la autora, que es para mejor, y adoro que las series de libros mejoren y no empeoren, como a veces suele pasar.
Lo que no me gustó fue seguir varios personajes, como mencioné, pero más allá de eso, me gustó mucho la historia. Adoro que, tanto en el primero como en el segundo, se siga manteniendo un hilo de "temática" con respecto a libros, escritores, etc. Acá podemos incluso ver más del mundo editorial, y fue interesante de leer.
Pero creo que de Elly, lo que más me gustan son sus personajes. Son tan diversos, le da voces a tantas personas distintas, de edades, nacionalidades, sexualidades, pero no se quedan en eso, en "es viejo, es india, es gay", sino que les da una personalidad, los hace creíbles. Harbinder sin duda es mi favorita, pero en este libro me encariñé mucho más con la mamá, Bibi, a pesar de sus pocas apariciones (necesito más de Bibi), y me encantó Edwin.
El misterio en sí, no lo vi venir, como me pasó con el primero, y por eso tal vez en el descenlace lo disfruté más.
En fin, recomiendo mucho el libro, porque maneja esta serie (ojalá así continúe) una dualidad entre la mirada de la detective + de personas ordinarias relativas al caso, lo que lo hace más interesante.
Y si pueden, escuchenlo en audiolibro (versión original), quién narra, le pone mucha impronta a los personajes, incluso imita acentos y tonalidades distinas, que es increíble que sea la misma mujer.
Lo que no me gustó fue seguir varios personajes, como mencioné, pero más allá de eso, me gustó mucho la historia. Adoro que, tanto en el primero como en el segundo, se siga manteniendo un hilo de "temática" con respecto a libros, escritores, etc. Acá podemos incluso ver más del mundo editorial, y fue interesante de leer.
Pero creo que de Elly, lo que más me gustan son sus personajes. Son tan diversos, le da voces a tantas personas distintas, de edades, nacionalidades, sexualidades, pero no se quedan en eso, en "es viejo, es india, es gay", sino que les da una personalidad, los hace creíbles. Harbinder sin duda es mi favorita, pero en este libro me encariñé mucho más con la mamá, Bibi, a pesar de sus pocas apariciones (necesito más de Bibi), y me encantó Edwin.
El misterio en sí, no lo vi venir, como me pasó con el primero, y por eso tal vez en el descenlace lo disfruté más.
En fin, recomiendo mucho el libro, porque maneja esta serie (ojalá así continúe) una dualidad entre la mirada de la detective + de personas ordinarias relativas al caso, lo que lo hace más interesante.
Y si pueden, escuchenlo en audiolibro (versión original), quién narra, le pone mucha impronta a los personajes, incluso imita acentos y tonalidades distinas, que es increíble que sea la misma mujer.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A cosy murder mystery but not her best.
I've really enjoyed the Ruth Galloway series so was glad to pick up something else by Elly Griffiths, but this was a slog. Funnily enough, it felt very much like it was trying too hard to be Richard Osman-esque tonally. However as it was first published a mere three weeks after The Thursday Murder Club, I have to conclude that they were simply part of the same 'moment' in the publishing cycle, but Osman did it better.
This book is a page turner, it combines crime, romance and friendship while still having the ability to be suspenseful. The plot centres around an elderly woman who has become known as a - “Murder Consultant” by coming up with original ways to kill characters off for a number of crime writers. But when she passes away and some of the writers she’s help start dying her friends begin to wonder if she may have been killed off herself.
Natalka, Benedict and Edwin set off on an adventure to find out the truth. They head off to the highlands to investigate a crime literary festival much to the annoyance of DS Kaur, who along with her colleague Neil are also trying to tracker down the killer.
With twists and turns and surprises throughout this is an enjoyable, easy read.
With thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Natalka, Benedict and Edwin set off on an adventure to find out the truth. They head off to the highlands to investigate a crime literary festival much to the annoyance of DS Kaur, who along with her colleague Neil are also trying to tracker down the killer.
With twists and turns and surprises throughout this is an enjoyable, easy read.
With thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
I can’t wait to read the further adventures of Harbinder Kaur. Such a different protagonist than Ruth Galloway, but just as fascinating!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the second Harbinder Kaur mystery: the first was supposed to be a stand-alone, but I hope there are more. It feels like Harbinder has more stories that want to be told ... in this one, an old lady dies in what Americans would call "assisted living," and everyone assumes that she died of natural causes since she was over 90. But her carer and her neighbor and the coffee guy think differently - especially after two of them are held up at gun point in her flat. They bring it to Harbinder, who doesn't dismiss it but also does not see any proof ... until a second author dies quite dramatically. And so this case goes from Shoreham to Aberdeen, which mysterious and threatening Ukrainians shadowing the case as well. Very much enjoyed it, and enjoyed the change of perspectives in the telling of the story, as it goes from one to the other of the four who working on figuring out who killed Peggy.