Reviews

Death of a Unicorn by Peter Dickinson

cimorene1558's review against another edition

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4.0

Another odd but to me, very compelling, book. A wealthy author reflects on things that happened to her in her youth, and learns new and disquieting things about them. Somewhat similar to the Yellow Room Conspiracy, Hindsight, Perfect Gallows, and The Last Houseparty by the same author, and I find all of them similarly compelling, and I don't know why. I do have a mild obsession with 20s and 30s England, and that's part but not all of it.

sandin954's review against another edition

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3.0

A young socialite meets a mysterious older man who sets her up as a society columnist at a magazine he owns in the 1950's. The author worked at Punch magazine for many years.

lizwisniewski's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved it - a mystery about a love story.

rabia_'s review against another edition

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to slow for me rn, might continue in between books

dnf'd a second time; why was i trying 

kiramke's review against another edition

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3.0

Not quite a mystery, nor did it fulfill the expectations I'd developed for the author's style. Still nicely written and an interesting glimpse of a particular setting. I'm willing to try another, I just don't think I picked the right book to start with.

sonofthunder's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a book I don't quite know how to discuss. I much enjoyed parts of it. The writing was brilliant and I adored the setting. I think I mainly liked this book because I got a glimpse into mid-20th century high society England - a period I know little (ok - nothing) about. Being able to peek into that world was a delight. Apart from that though...the story and characters themselves were rather grim. I suppose I shouldn't fault the book too much for that, but when I got to the end of it, I could not say I enjoyed this book. It was a good one, but dark. I did enjoy getting to the end and slowly realizing the resolution to the key mystery on this book - most satisfying and sign-posted just enough that I could discover the truth of it before we were explicitly told. Again though, this book made me sad in many ways and though I can't deny its quality, it is not a book I'd read again.

woolfardis's review against another edition

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1.0

Not this one; too slow and irritating. Try another.

walford's review against another edition

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4.0

Wow. I think I read this in the mid-eighties when it was new and it's every bit as good as I remembered. Also love The Yellow Room Conspiracy.
If you like really Smart Sophisticated British storytelling, do not miss.

leialocks's review against another edition

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2.0

My feelings on this book went up and down on this one. In the first section, I did enjoy the look into the upper-class mind of Lady Margaret. However, as soon as Mr. B came into the picture, the warning bells rang for me and I couldn't be on her side anymore. Then when the mystery came into the story, my interest perked up. Yet, the second section is a bore. It was like a crawl to the so-called payoff. It needed a scene with Jane at the end.

lizshayne's review against another edition

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3.0

I think I like DIckinson better when he's writing for kids. Or writing fantasy. I enjoyed this book, but I was never really struck by it or really drawn in.