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stefhyena's review
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
To be fair this is many books into the series and I haven't read the others (I don't much want to). I'd like to approve of the gossipy style of the book but it was a stereotypical boomer/karen constantly whinging about how much the world had been ruined by foreign food and the costs of labour and having to have rules about safety etc etc etc. I intially thought this was satire and I wish it was because they all sound like horrible toffs who care about Delia's riding lessons and setting up a Christmas wedding for their young neighbours and don't understand why Thai food is now on the menu in their local cafe.
Someone in the book has an addiction that is cured by the love of a good woman (I kid you not). The who did it is signalled very loudly for the first few chapters although to be fair then something happens to make that theory seem impossible for a while. Everyone has exactly the same voice. There's a lot of irrelevant dribble about hymns at funerals (the only convincing sign that they noticed the deaths which come very abruptly and anti-climactically in the barrage of shopping and coffee dates and pet antics that one feels the author would prefer to focus on. Another favourite moment (oh if only this was satire) is where the protagonist speculates that even if "they" are right about climate change it will just mean not having to wear winter clothes any more.
OK boomer (clearly not meant as an attack on older people who don't think this way). Another instance of sheer brilliance (which also buys into this mistrust of experts) is in the inquest they get forensic experts in to investigate something and make a particular ruling. This is dismissed as wrong by the local tradesman (who admittedly would have some expertise but so would the foresnsic experts who would also have better access to the scene of murder) and by a cantankerous old lady who is presented as unreliable throughout the book but here she is suddenly presented as being right in dismissing the expert evidence as "typical of the slipshod way things are done today" (p170) and because she believes the coroner is incompetent (never mind that he is not making stuff up on his own). This whole section about the inquest being "wrong" seemed unnecessary but if something like that was wanted a bit more research into how things work would have made it less ridiculous.
The "detective" (Mrs Malory) doesn't really solve the case just flaps around helplessly and lets people push her into things until it solves itself.
There's racism, classism and some pretty nonsensical gender stuff in there. I have to admit I sort of wanted to keep reading it to check if I was right about how did it. And I was. I have half a star more than I would have otherwise.
I won't get any more of these.
Someone in the book has an addiction that is cured by the love of a good woman (I kid you not). The who did it is signalled very loudly for the first few chapters although to be fair then something happens to make that theory seem impossible for a while. Everyone has exactly the same voice. There's a lot of irrelevant dribble about hymns at funerals (the only convincing sign that they noticed the deaths which come very abruptly and anti-climactically in the barrage of shopping and coffee dates and pet antics that one feels the author would prefer to focus on. Another favourite moment (oh if only this was satire) is where the protagonist speculates that even if "they" are right about climate change it will just mean not having to wear winter clothes any more.
OK boomer (clearly not meant as an attack on older people who don't think this way). Another instance of sheer brilliance (which also buys into this mistrust of experts) is in the inquest they get forensic experts in to investigate something and make a particular ruling. This is dismissed as wrong by the local tradesman (who admittedly would have some expertise but so would the foresnsic experts who would also have better access to the scene of murder) and by a cantankerous old lady who is presented as unreliable throughout the book but here she is suddenly presented as being right in dismissing the expert evidence as "typical of the slipshod way things are done today" (p170) and because she believes the coroner is incompetent (never mind that he is not making stuff up on his own). This whole section about the inquest being "wrong" seemed unnecessary but if something like that was wanted a bit more research into how things work would have made it less ridiculous.
The "detective" (Mrs Malory) doesn't really solve the case just flaps around helplessly and lets people push her into things until it solves itself.
There's racism, classism and some pretty nonsensical gender stuff in there. I have to admit I sort of wanted to keep reading it to check if I was right about how did it. And I was. I have half a star more than I would have otherwise.
I won't get any more of these.
darylreads's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0