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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
systematically working my way through the dublin murder squad series on my beautiful wife’s recommendation and this instalment is by far the biggest and most harrowing gut punch. scorcher kennedy is not my favourite protagonist in this series by far but his story has been the most affecting. yikes!!!!
Liked #4 more than #3 because of the main character - a good read even if it took me awhile to get through it
The fourth in the Dublin Murder Squad series of mysteries, and once again it is very different than the other books. This one is practically a gothic novel, set in a creepy housing development that is largely abandoned and crumbling, located (of course) close to the location of a terrible event from our protagonist's childhood.
Our protagonist this time is Michael "Scorcher" Kennedy, who was the lead investigator (but not the protagonist) in the last novel, Faithful Place. Mick Kennedy is an interesting guy, hauling around a cubic ton of family baggage, largely in the form of his younger sister. This sister is a wrecking ball for Mick and everyone else in his family, who all coddle and excuse her manipulative and destructive behavior, never require her to actually seek medical treatment, etc. I spent most of the book debating whether Mick was a saint or major enabler, and ended up with he wasn't actually helping the sister with his drop everything and run attitude. Hopefully that will change with her latest antics, but I'm betting against it.
The most interesting relationship in the book is between Kennedy and his rookie murder detective partner, Curren. Kennedy's paternalistic attitude towards Curren and his secret desire for it to turn into the kind of partnership he's only viewed from afar - that was quite interesting. Moreso than the murder mystery anyway.
And for this murder mystery - I called it pretty early on. Doesn't detract too much from the book, as the mystery pretty much serves just as a background in these character driven novels. It was still entirely sad and horrific, but served the purpose. The thankless task of investigating what appears to be a domestic dispute rang true.
What didn't ring true and actually took me out of the story was the "American" dialect in the section where we were reading message boards (on pest control and wild animals). It wasn't a major or very important part of the story, but there was a chapter with a decent amount of message board comments that were supposed to be from Americans. But they were so poorly written (I say, as an American) that it was distracting. I have no idea if the many variations of Irish and English dialects used in these books are accurate, but that isn't distracting, as I don't know the difference. But using the Irish verb choices and just inserting in some stereotypical "American" slang was so weird to read. Not that I would do any better with an Irish dialect, but I'd bring someone else in - editing could have fixed this.
Other than that, it was transfixing and I read it in two days. Well done.
Our protagonist this time is Michael "Scorcher" Kennedy, who was the lead investigator (but not the protagonist) in the last novel, Faithful Place. Mick Kennedy is an interesting guy, hauling around a cubic ton of family baggage, largely in the form of his younger sister. This sister is a wrecking ball for Mick and everyone else in his family, who all coddle and excuse her manipulative and destructive behavior, never require her to actually seek medical treatment, etc. I spent most of the book debating whether Mick was a saint or major enabler, and ended up with he wasn't actually helping the sister with his drop everything and run attitude. Hopefully that will change with her latest antics, but I'm betting against it.
The most interesting relationship in the book is between Kennedy and his rookie murder detective partner, Curren. Kennedy's paternalistic attitude towards Curren and his secret desire for it to turn into the kind of partnership he's only viewed from afar - that was quite interesting. Moreso than the murder mystery anyway.
And for this murder mystery - I called it pretty early on. Doesn't detract too much from the book, as the mystery pretty much serves just as a background in these character driven novels. It was still entirely sad and horrific, but served the purpose. The thankless task of investigating what appears to be a domestic dispute rang true.
What didn't ring true and actually took me out of the story was the "American" dialect in the section where we were reading message boards (on pest control and wild animals). It wasn't a major or very important part of the story, but there was a chapter with a decent amount of message board comments that were supposed to be from Americans. But they were so poorly written (I say, as an American) that it was distracting. I have no idea if the many variations of Irish and English dialects used in these books are accurate, but that isn't distracting, as I don't know the difference. But using the Irish verb choices and just inserting in some stereotypical "American" slang was so weird to read. Not that I would do any better with an Irish dialect, but I'd bring someone else in - editing could have fixed this.
Other than that, it was transfixing and I read it in two days. Well done.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow this totally makes up for book#2. I finally figured out Ms. French doesn’t keep the same protagonist throughout her books. Once I realized that-it’s all good.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**there's going to be spoilers up and through this thing so proceed accordingly**
Wow, it's been a long time since I've been this mad about a book. First of all, I have to sit through almost 500 pages of the most overwrought prose I've encountered in a long time...all to find out that this whole thing could have been wrapped up after their second search?! Like 100 pages in?? And the reason for withholding evidence is so flimsy, I almost threw my kindle across the room. This dude talkin about some, "she's suffered enough". Bro SHE CAUSED THE SUFFERING!! What do you meeeeean?!
This was more character driven than plot driven, which I'm now realizing is not my thing when it comes to mysteries. Like I need this shit to keep moving or else why TF am I here???
I've read 4 books in this series and I think that's it for me (I keep thinking of that "you do not have to worry about me" sound from tiktok). I've seen enough.
This was more character driven than plot driven, which I'm now realizing is not my thing when it comes to mysteries. Like I need this shit to keep moving or else why TF am I here???
I've read 4 books in this series and I think that's it for me (I keep thinking of that "you do not have to worry about me" sound from tiktok). I've seen enough.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes