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gmamartha's review against another edition
4.0
A Cornish Mystery. Aged Eleanor gives detectives help with investigations of artist murder. Personalities of police departments rise to shine.
cimorene1558's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't like this as much as Manna from Hades, in part because of a couple of little errors of the kind that drive me nuts, stuff that anyone could check with Google or a decent encyclopedia in thirty seconds. This one is also much more focused on solving the crime, whereas there were some charming irrelevancies in Manna, and I miss those.
cathy_browne's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hilaryrowell's review
It was a cozy-crime-by-numbers and bored me to tears. I chose it for a reading challenge & needed a book with mountains on the cover. I knew it was a cozy but it's a rainy Saturday so I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately it had no humour, no sign of particular creativeness in describing surroundings, people or events. The murderer is ridiculously obvious from the off & I decided just to write off the 2 hours I had spent on the first 20% and I revisited books already read this year & found one to fit the challenge.
stephh's review against another edition
1.0
I love reading a good crime novel, but I think this errs on the side of a 'midsomer murders' esque mystery book than something I could really get my teeth into. This is the second book I've read this year that's clearly intended for an older audience and just didn't grip me at all. It put me into the worst reading slump I've had in a long time and was the closest I've come to DNFing a book in years.
A Colourful Death is set in Cornwall where a local artist is murdered in his studio. Local shop owner Eleanor Trewynn ends up right at the heart of the investigation (as she did last time something like this happened), and needs to clear her friend Nick of being accused of the crime. A rival local artist, Nick's the number one suspect as the murdered man destroyed some of Nick's paintings shortly before he was found dead. Between the local cops and Eleanor, the real killer can't stay on the loose for long.
This book just wasn't for me. It was definitely aimed at a much older reader, and although I like slow books with a lot of description, this was slow with a lot of tangents about minor characters that I just didn't care about. Usually with this kind of book I am gripped in trying to work out who the real killer is, but I just totally lost interest as I made my way through it.
I gave this one star and would only recommend it if you enjoy slow crime novels. It reminded me a little of The Thursday Murder Club, but with a lot less humour and with characters that weren't as interesting.
A Colourful Death is set in Cornwall where a local artist is murdered in his studio. Local shop owner Eleanor Trewynn ends up right at the heart of the investigation (as she did last time something like this happened), and needs to clear her friend Nick of being accused of the crime. A rival local artist, Nick's the number one suspect as the murdered man destroyed some of Nick's paintings shortly before he was found dead. Between the local cops and Eleanor, the real killer can't stay on the loose for long.
This book just wasn't for me. It was definitely aimed at a much older reader, and although I like slow books with a lot of description, this was slow with a lot of tangents about minor characters that I just didn't care about. Usually with this kind of book I am gripped in trying to work out who the real killer is, but I just totally lost interest as I made my way through it.
I gave this one star and would only recommend it if you enjoy slow crime novels. It reminded me a little of The Thursday Murder Club, but with a lot less humour and with characters that weren't as interesting.
fern17's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
drizcoll's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Very enjoyable - I listened to this at night to wind down. Definitely a cosy murder mystery, and the Eleanor character is great.
__legiteststal's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.5
verityw's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this second installment in Carola Dunn's Cornish cozy mystery series. I'm not sure I like them as much as her Daisy Dalrymple series, but they're still a really good read with an entertaining plot and an engaging set of characters. The resolution felt a little bit rushed, but it was still very neatly wrapped up.