Scan barcode
melissa_who_reads's review
4.0
It took me a bit to get into this one, as everyone in the main family is inherently unlikable ... which turns out OK as family members begin dying off and you realize in all likelihood one of them is responsible. I did not guess the murderer, but the points McDonald made as he summed up were utterly reasonable. Very few of the characters were likable, which is why McDonald finds himself summing up to a young farmer and his wife who manage the home farm for the family estate.
shanaqui's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I've said for a while that E.C.R. Lorac is one of my favourite authors from this period, and that's in part because she can sketch in a place and a cast that one can care about, often full of decent people trying to do their best, and driven by her humane and careful detective, Macdonald.
Accident by Design is another case of that, but it subverted my expectations somewhat in the way the characters were set up, proving that Lorac was careful not to get too formulaic. It would be easy to slip into looking for a certain character type, and to feel sure that they are guilty, but Lorac doesn't make it so easy.
In the end, it isn't one of my favourite stories by Lorac (I think that still goes to Death of an Author, which isn't even a Macdonald book, and is rather clever instead of being atmospheric), but it's a solid example of her work. Perhaps best enjoyed once you're used to her tendencies, so you get the surprise I did...
I continue to think Lorac's one of the best of her generation of mystery writers -- and that's despite a fairly prolific output.
Accident by Design is another case of that, but it subverted my expectations somewhat in the way the characters were set up, proving that Lorac was careful not to get too formulaic. It would be easy to slip into looking for a certain character type, and to feel sure that they are guilty, but Lorac doesn't make it so easy.
In the end, it isn't one of my favourite stories by Lorac (I think that still goes to Death of an Author, which isn't even a Macdonald book, and is rather clever instead of being atmospheric), but it's a solid example of her work. Perhaps best enjoyed once you're used to her tendencies, so you get the surprise I did...
I continue to think Lorac's one of the best of her generation of mystery writers -- and that's despite a fairly prolific output.
More...