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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Agatha Dorn is never going to be a crowd´s darling. She is headstrong, quirky, pedantic and outspoken. Her personal life is messy, too - she is hunted by the eerie enemy, the crooked man, whom no other person has ever seen, also she has very few friends, maybe even only one friend - Amy Murgatroyd. Agatha has her ups and downs in life - she gets into the limelight when she finds a rare manuscript by her favourite authoress Gladden Green (Agatha Christie doppelganger, really), only to take a hard fall when said manuscript is found being false. Then, her friend Murgatroyd is found dead by suicide. She had had cancer, so...But Agatha suspects a foul play.
I do think the idea of this novel is interesting. Agatha is, in my uneducated opinion, somewhere on the autistic spectrum and I applaud the idea of this kind of voice! I would not call it the best mystery ever, but the fresh heroine with an unusual mind, the psychological issue behind and the homage to the Golden Era of the mystery stories definitely brings an interesting issue to the table.
I do think the idea of this novel is interesting. Agatha is, in my uneducated opinion, somewhere on the autistic spectrum and I applaud the idea of this kind of voice! I would not call it the best mystery ever, but the fresh heroine with an unusual mind, the psychological issue behind and the homage to the Golden Era of the mystery stories definitely brings an interesting issue to the table.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this.
Although, in part, a clever homage to and a pastiche of Agatha Christie and her books, this is no cozy mystery.
Rather, it is a delightfully sinister tale of many things gone woefully wrong.
I am surprised that more people have not read this.
Although, in part, a clever homage to and a pastiche of Agatha Christie and her books, this is no cozy mystery.
Rather, it is a delightfully sinister tale of many things gone woefully wrong.
I am surprised that more people have not read this.
The Mystery of the Crooked Man is a creepy, atmospheric, and gripping mystery.
I loved the mix of modern and old, scandal and red herrings. The character of Agatha was such an unreliable, and I sometimes felt like I was dipping in and out of a fever dream. The little voice of Murgatroyd made for such a compelling internal compass and the crooked man created a highly sinister and almost supernatural undertone that was delightfully creepy.
The narration was excellent and created a truly immersive experience. I particularly enjoyed the instrumental segues, which heightened the sense of intrigue gave the feel of an old timey mystery radio serial.
Thank you Belinda Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook. Opinions expressed are my own.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.25*
In this standalone mystery we meet Agatha Dorn, a cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green (Agatha Christie coded), the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist and overnight fame. This newfound fame takes a nosedive when the novel is exposed as a hoax, and when her ex-lover turns up dead, with a scrap of the manuscript by her side, Agatha suspects foul play.
Agatha turns detective to uncover the sinister truth that connects the murder and the fraudulent manuscript but to do so she has to uncover family secrets and most importantly stay sober for long enough to investigate.
This was a solid mystery story that has obvious great affection for the Golden Age of crime whilst remaining modern, current and also very very bookish which I really enjoyed. The story and mystery as a whole was inventive with a 'denouement' that I didn't see coming which was a great surprise.
I didn't however like the character of Agatha. She is designed to be an outsider and prickly - a mix in my mind of Sally Diamond (Strange Sally Diamond) and Eleanor Oliphant (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine), unfortunately for me she leaned more towards Eleanor (a book I really disliked) than Sally (a book I loved). I found her lacking an empathetic interior that allowed me to see beyond that stiff and difficult exterior. I think if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant then this characterisation will work for you but sadly it didn't for me.
Despite that I found the story to overall be an engaging and fun read. There's some memorable supporting characters and I did like how we got to know more about Agatha as the story unfolded. Readers of cosy mysteries and classic crime will likely enjoy this and I was glad that we had a fully self-contained story that was resolved in an engaging, twisting and satisfying way.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for a digital review copy of "The Mystery of the Crooked Man" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
In this standalone mystery we meet Agatha Dorn, a cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green (Agatha Christie coded), the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist and overnight fame. This newfound fame takes a nosedive when the novel is exposed as a hoax, and when her ex-lover turns up dead, with a scrap of the manuscript by her side, Agatha suspects foul play.
Agatha turns detective to uncover the sinister truth that connects the murder and the fraudulent manuscript but to do so she has to uncover family secrets and most importantly stay sober for long enough to investigate.
This was a solid mystery story that has obvious great affection for the Golden Age of crime whilst remaining modern, current and also very very bookish which I really enjoyed. The story and mystery as a whole was inventive with a 'denouement' that I didn't see coming which was a great surprise.
I didn't however like the character of Agatha. She is designed to be an outsider and prickly - a mix in my mind of Sally Diamond (Strange Sally Diamond) and Eleanor Oliphant (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine), unfortunately for me she leaned more towards Eleanor (a book I really disliked) than Sally (a book I loved). I found her lacking an empathetic interior that allowed me to see beyond that stiff and difficult exterior. I think if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant then this characterisation will work for you but sadly it didn't for me.
Despite that I found the story to overall be an engaging and fun read. There's some memorable supporting characters and I did like how we got to know more about Agatha as the story unfolded. Readers of cosy mysteries and classic crime will likely enjoy this and I was glad that we had a fully self-contained story that was resolved in an engaging, twisting and satisfying way.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for a digital review copy of "The Mystery of the Crooked Man" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.