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drpig's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
cameronmh's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Slightly lower rating from me due to how hard it is to follow the characters (even harder than other D Dalrymple). Delightful nonetheless, however!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Racism, and Murder
Poison! Poison poison! Cursed on StoryGraph for not having that as an option!eamily's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Chronic illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Grief, and Fatphobia
jandi's review against another edition
3.0
The characters are a collection of stereotypes, but this is so much fun to read.
helenephoebe's review against another edition
4.0
Yet another Daisy Dalrymple book that I steamed through. Daisy is such an engaging character in the way that she is often looked down upon for working for a living, and for her developing relationship with Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher. The people around her, of her own class, seem to think that she can do better, but she ignores them and does what makes her happy.
The supporting characters in this novel were intriguing - Bettina, Muriel, Lakov, Mr and Mrs Gower, Mr and Mrs Cochran, Robert. They all had their own reasons to want Bettina dead, and more motives just seemed to keep coming to light. I did guess who had done this murder before it was revealed, so that was a nice surprise for me as I don't often seem to guess it.
I'm enjoying seeing Alec and Daisy growing closer, and how Daisy keeps getting herself embroiled in murders without meaning to, and how people just seem to confide in her. It was difficult to feel sympathy for the victim, though Alec and Daisy make it easy to feel sympathy for her relatives, as we learn more about how Bettina treated people and manipulated them. I don't think you are supposed to feel sympathy for the victim, it is more about misdirection.
What does keep annoying me in this series, as I think I said in my review of the first book, is that people speak almost stereotypically, as we thought they would have spoken, using words like "spiffing", which I don't believe were ever used as much as they are in this series. Sometimes I wish the characters would just speak normal English as it almost seems to halt the story or make it seem less real.
The supporting characters in this novel were intriguing - Bettina, Muriel, Lakov, Mr and Mrs Gower, Mr and Mrs Cochran, Robert. They all had their own reasons to want Bettina dead, and more motives just seemed to keep coming to light. I did guess who had done this murder before it was revealed, so that was a nice surprise for me as I don't often seem to guess it.
I'm enjoying seeing Alec and Daisy growing closer, and how Daisy keeps getting herself embroiled in murders without meaning to, and how people just seem to confide in her. It was difficult to feel sympathy for the victim, though Alec and Daisy make it easy to feel sympathy for her relatives, as we learn more about how Bettina treated people and manipulated them. I don't think you are supposed to feel sympathy for the victim, it is more about misdirection.
What does keep annoying me in this series, as I think I said in my review of the first book, is that people speak almost stereotypically, as we thought they would have spoken, using words like "spiffing", which I don't believe were ever used as much as they are in this series. Sometimes I wish the characters would just speak normal English as it almost seems to halt the story or make it seem less real.
lukasmummy's review
lighthearted
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
cariadreads's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
alanafiuza's review
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Antisemitism
novel_nomad's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 Artistic temperament stars
This was such a joy to read, I was forced to finish it even with my attempts to stretch out the read for as long as possible. I do love Daisy as a character and I like the steady character development in her personal and professional life, alongside the development of her relationship with friends and possible love interest. My fascination for the characters aside, the mystery was highly compelling as poison in a public location made it tricky, let alone the murder occurring deep in the world of ambitious opera singers - the scenes were choked with the dreaded 'artistic temperament'.
This was such a joy to read, I was forced to finish it even with my attempts to stretch out the read for as long as possible. I do love Daisy as a character and I like the steady character development in her personal and professional life, alongside the development of her relationship with friends and possible love interest. My fascination for the characters aside, the mystery was highly compelling as poison in a public location made it tricky, let alone the murder occurring deep in the world of ambitious opera singers - the scenes were choked with the dreaded 'artistic temperament'.
softstarrynights's review against another edition
3.0
I have such a soft spot for the Daisy Dalrymple books that I can't help but enjoy reading them each and every time. They're short (my copies have all been around 250 pages) and sweet cozy murder mystery books following a young woman in the 1920s who finds herself mixed up in an extraordinary amount of murders. In this instance, Daisy is witness to the death of a singer during a concert at the Albert Hall. Unlike the previous two, I felt like I was a lot closer to guessing the murderer, though I wasn't sure until all was about to be revealed. At the moment I've been reading the ebooks from the library but one day I think I would like to own the series as they're just such easy reads. I'm already looking forward to the next book.