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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
All the hallmarks of things I enjoy in my mystery series...interesting protagonist who is older than 30, landscape that evokes a feeling of melancholy longing, historical tidbits. This one pretty much fit the bill. I like that Ruth is a bit (a lot) of a loner, preferring her windswept salt marshes to living in the midst of other people. I like that she is secure enough to be content with where she is in life. The only thing that annoyed me was the number of times at the beginning of the book when she yammered on about how INCREDIBLY, HORRIBLY FAT she is. And then divulges that she weights 175. Pfft. Technically overweight? Yes. I would buy this narrative if she were a woman clearly struggling with body dysmorphia, but there is no other indication of that, just the author rattling on about how Ruth is GIANT. Practically unloveable, really. It's a shock a man would be attracted to her really, unless he has a thing for plump women. She is the size of the average 40 year old woman. It is so incredibly NON essential to the story to have her waxing on about her size. You want to compare her with the modelesque friend? Fine. Plenty of ways to do that without reminding me "Oh yeah, and she's FAT, ya'll." It annoyed me enough to make me knock a star off. I'll absolutely read the next book, but I only have so much patience for this 'Oh, and she's FAT narrative' so hoping it shapes up.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The mysteries, which are the heart of the book and the most important aspect, were intriguing. The perpetrator is fairly easy to figure out, but there are some really surprising twists involved. However, this is another book in which I was not too fond of the protagonist. This woman is in her thirties and single. She says she is happy and has a fine career, but she complains about her weight. Seriously. By description, she is not even that much overweight. It would have been a better book if Ruth had not been characterized as having this focus on her weight. I don't need a character's weight mentioned several times during events in which a murderer is running around threatening people.
I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of the landscape, and liked how the bleak and empty setting became a character in the story. I don't know if you understand what I mean by that, but it did make the book more enjoyable.
I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of the landscape, and liked how the bleak and empty setting became a character in the story. I don't know if you understand what I mean by that, but it did make the book more enjoyable.
An audiobook, and quite immersive - really enjoyed it (that’s never the right word for a murder story but ykwim). I liked Ruth a lot and suspect many slightly cantankerous women do :) The reader of the audiobook really emphasises the verbs, which is strange and it flows less well because of it.
In Norfolk, England a 40-ish, cat-loving, plump female archaeology professor lives alone along the isolated saltmarsh, the backdrop for this debut chilling mystery. The title refers to the limited ability to walk in the saltmarsh. One wrong step and one might never be seen again. "The Crossing Places" has a very interesting cast of characters that ultimately teach the reader bits about archaeology. There is also a hint of romance between a married, dedicated police inspector and the confident, independent professor. Loyalties and betrayals and misdirection abound. This is one excellent mystery novel.
Oh good grief. I was excited when I started listening to this book with my husband on a long car trip - excited to find a mystery series with an interesting female lead character, plus I loved the setting in Norfolk. But as the story went on it became less and less believable. By the end we were both stopping the recording every few minutes to laugh at the ridiculousness of what we’d just heard. Really, the ending just felt like a train wreck, with our heroine (who is described throughout the book as overweight and out of shape) leaping through a trap door, landing on the stone floor without injury, and then hoisting herself back up through said trap door, and all sorts of other incongruities. Even the writing became uneven and sometimes silly. It was as if the editor did a good job of polishing until the last few chapters, and then checked out. So, I went from rating this a 4-star book to giving it just 2 stars. My husband would probably give it 1 star.
Taas yksi näistä sisällöntuntemuksen vuoksi tehdyistä valinnoista.
Sellainen "ihan kiva kuus puol". Luihin erikoistunut arkeologi ja etsivä on hyvä tiimi. Hyvin kului työmatkat tätä kuunnellessa, voisin ottaa seuraavankin osan kuunteluun.
Sellainen "ihan kiva kuus puol". Luihin erikoistunut arkeologi ja etsivä on hyvä tiimi. Hyvin kului työmatkat tätä kuunnellessa, voisin ottaa seuraavankin osan kuunteluun.
Yes to the history, yes to the mystery, but a big no thank you to the soap opera level of drama.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
All in all, this was a book. it was a mystery novel, though not so much a thriller. I liked the atmopheric setting of the saltmarsh. However, the characters were eh. everybody cheating on everybody, and the fact that they killed, not only a cat, but a black cat is an automatic star off, but thats just me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Fantastic characters, story, and audiobook narration!
I do want to say the two star review is less reflective of the quality of the writing and more because I wasn't expecting a plot quite as dark and sinister.