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mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The truth is, I often have trouble with social situations; it’s as though everyone is playing an elaborate game with complex rules they all know, but I’m always playing for the first time.
I was in the mood for an easy, entertaining read, and this fit the bill as a cozy mystery. The main character, Molly, is apparently autistic, though I wish this had been explored more deeply. There’s no explicit mention of this and, sometimes, the portrayal felt a bit clichéd and maybe relied too much on stereotypes. That said, I did enjoy Molly’s internal dialogue about how she perceives the world and the people in it. There’s a layer of representation there, even if it didn't quite reach its full potential.
The ending, though, was a bit of a letdown for me. I love a cosy mystery with a shocking twist, but this was more of a meandering towards a semi-predictable conclusion. I didn't hate it, but it didn't leave me with that "OMGWHAT!" feeling that I love. I also wasn't sure about the side plot about her grandmother's death — was it necessary? Using something like
Despite these small criticisms, it was a super enjoyable read overall. If light, cozy mysteries are your thing, I definitely recommended it. For me personally, I prefer my mysteries with a bit more thrill, so although I had fun reading this, I probably won't pick it up again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“Sometimes, you must do one thing bad to do another thing good.”
This is one of those books that has been on my radar for a few years now, but I wasn’t intrigued enough to give it attention. When this book was picked for my August book club, I was ready to see what all the fuss was.
Things I Liked:
-This was a fun mystery in the sense that I wasn’t able to figure out who did it. I was still pleasantly surprised at the end when the twist was revealed.
-Molly’s relationship with her Grandmother (Gran) was so heartwarming. I loved how hard each of them worked for the other. It’s one of those grandparent relationships that makes me wish I had spent more time with my grandmother before she passes away.
-Molly. Oh, Molly. What a simultaneously brilliant yet socially unaware woman. I laughed so hard at the scene when she thought the room was filled with powder from powdered donuts and not drugs. What a hilarious misunderstanding that worked out quite well for the ones dealing drugs.
Things That Didn’t Work For Me:
-While I didn’t guess the twist at the end, it felt like it kind of came out of nowhere? I was not expecting the characters at the end to be in that scene and it made me wonder how on earth I was supposed to guess that when nothing in the book (in my opinion) appeared to lead to that conclusion. A shot out of left field, really.
-I picked up pretty early on that Molly is neurodivergent. Absolutely nothing wrong with that in itself. However, some of the narration felt a bit choppy and until I figured that out, I was very confused by the abrupt changes in Molly’s demeanor, especially as it came to how she interacted with other characters.
-The number of characters that appeared to take advantage of Molly and her inability to read social cues broke my heart a little bit. Have some sympathy, folks.
*Read for Read Between the Wines Book Club August 2024
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The characters felt incredibly stereotyped, the entire tension revolved around a detective never having met an autistic/ND person before (???), and the "mystery" component felt poorly done. A lot of people seemed to enjoy this book, but I think there are better cozy mysteries out there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Suicide
funny
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Deportation
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Murder
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcohol
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
It’s an interesting story. The main problem is that the most interesting, charming, unique, generally best part of the story….also makes it not work as a mystery. I felt like the narrator’s ‘naivety’ (read: definitely undiagnosed autism) makes her unique and someone to work for, but whenever she met someone I was like ‘well this is how I would interpret what they’re doing’ and that resulted in me figuring out all of the mysteries almost as soon as characters were introduced. The journey is definitely more important than the destination, but it was a pretty fun journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death
Molly’s grandmother’s death and illness is displayed graphically
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am conflicted about this book. Although there were aspects I enjoyed, those aspects also come with things I didn’t enjoy.
For the most part I liked the main character. Though the random quotes/catchphrases I found cringeworthy. The autism aspects of the character are pretty stereotypical but also don’t make much sense. On one page you have her struggling to understand emotions and facial expressions. On the next you have her perfectly understanding people's behaviour. It’s inconsistent.
This book is written in a first person perspective which I wasn’t a fan of at first but I eventually got used to it. FPP will always read like fan fiction to me in the beginning.
At the end of the book there is this really great scene showing us the moment that Gran died. It’s incredibly emotional… and then it’s ruined by the main character essentially murdering Gran upon her request. Why couldn’t she just go in her sleep and stop breathing normally. Why did she have to make the main character do that? Additionally, while I understand Gran was very important to Molly, the constant mentions of her death and the grief that Molly feels is so overdone. It feels like every single page Molly is talking about her Gran’s death. Like we get it, she’s dead and you are sad about it, anything else?
The writing of Detective Stark is so unprofessional and not at all how a detective would act. It’s like this was her first case ever. Every single time she spoke it irked me so bad. Not sure if the author intended for me to be so annoyed by her.
The part at the end where it is revealed that Molly knew who the killer was all along makes no sense and almost completely ruined the book for me. Molly has no reason to cover for the killer outside of not liking Mr Black. About 50% of this book would have been resolved much quicker if Molly just told the police that. There are no clues given to the reader at all that Molly knew who the killer was. It’s like the author threw it in there at the last minute. It honestly makes 0 sense at all. It’s so out of character.
The actual crime itself makes no sense. Why did nobody check the security cameras? Why is Molly arrested when there isn’t actually any substantial evidence towards her being the killer. Why isn’t there more investigation into Mr. Black’s day and his ex-wife. It just makes no sense at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Had a solid story line and kept my interest up to a point then I gave up and read the spoilers to see how it ended. It frankly was just too depressing for me. The gran storyline was too much for me personally and couldn’t finish the book. If that storyline was shortened I would’ve really enjoyed the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief