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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first new Miss Fisher book after a pause of seven years, and in my opinion this pause is quite noticeable. Well established facts of the previous 20 books are mixed up in this 21st book. The style of how the story is told and characters changed as well, for example no new notebook for every case and for the first time, the reader gets to read some of the notes, or Dot being more nervous and conservative than used to, also where did the annoyance with her beige clothing come from. Dot was always wearing mostly brown tones, but here it was harped on and on again about the colour choice.
Summary: I had difficulties to get into the story at the beginning, it got better after the first few chapters and I started to enjoy the middle part, which is the reason for the 2,5 points. I did however not like the resolution of the murders and final twist. For me personally, it felt very disconnected to the original style of Phryne Fisher stories and characters.
The book felt erratic: the jumps between the happenings in Melbourne and Daylesford that were strangely spaced out through the book; the disappearance of Jack Robinson, only to resurface at the end with barely any information of what happened (my guess is that this will be taken up in one of the following books); the disappearance of the women; the dead girl; the dead suitors; etc. A number of parallel plots are normal for a Phryne Fisher book, however here I felt like it was too much. The conclusion of the dead girl and missing women was somewhat alright and there were earlier hints that one could pick up on. The discovery of the murder due to one game of bridge, that was too far fetched in my opinion. Plus I found it rather uninteresting to read the detailed description of the bridge game when you don't know anything and are not interested in the game. I did wonder why it was described in such excruciating detail, and I was right, it turned out to be the only clue. Where the book completely lost me was the revelation that the murderer was not actually related to the nice for which he murdered. Why did he not disclose this when he was caught I will never understand, but instead was resolved through old dog-tags. At that point I was just looking forward to finish the last few pages and sincerely hope the next book is better.
Summary: I had difficulties to get into the story at the beginning, it got better after the first few chapters and I started to enjoy the middle part, which is the reason for the 2,5 points. I did however not like the resolution of the murders and final twist. For me personally, it felt very disconnected to the original style of Phryne Fisher stories and characters.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fairly sophisticated way to tie up a number of mysteries. A little gratuitous with the murdering.
The narrator wasn't my cup of tea. So I'll probably try reading a hardcopy instead.
This book is terrible compared to the previous 20 books in this series. It was as if someone else wrote it. Or, more likely, a long time editor left and someone new took over. There are all sorts of inconsistencies from the previous books, as well as a plethora of random capitalization. Stop at book 20 if you're reading this series.
This was my first time reading a physical book of the Miss Fisher series and it was a change for sure, but as far as I could tell the audiobook was not available in the States (at least both through Audible or my local library). So I cannot say for sure if the book felt a bit drawn in many directions because of this new reading experience or if it was because of the plot. I had heard that some of the details of the world were about mixed up - Ember being misgendered as a female cat instead of a male etc. and that did stand out like a sore thumb to me. However I still enjoyed the mysteries and the ultimate resolutions though it did seem like a lot of turns! The murderer is a mastermind lecherous uncle who also rigged a bomb to explode in case of his untimely demises and a crafted letter explaining almost all - but actually he was an imposter so not incestuous lusting at least. They were mostly set up but still it was quite tumultuous. Also, why did Jack Robinson get booted stage left? Just so the adopted kids would get a chance to solve a mysterious death?
Some choices were just interesting in this novel but again, still a fun read.
Some choices were just interesting in this novel but again, still a fun read.
Loved the plot, but missed the narration style of Stephanie Daniel, who portrayed Phryne's style so well on the other audiobooks.
Just slightly too many characters for me to keep a track of and for barely one dimension to be described for each of them. Nice to see the younger cast have their own mystery to solve and lovely as always to spend time with the inhabitants of Ms Fisher's menagerie.
A wet day and a perfect book to pick up and spend the afternoon with.