Take a photo of a barcode or cover
vgk's review against another edition
3.5
Very atmospheric. I enjoyed the characters and the setting, with the mystery taking a backseat to those.
madgrambo's review against another edition
1.0
Unfortunately, it was not a pleasant read. Lots of lovely new words and their meanings interrupted the flow. They didn’t work for me as part of a work of fiction.
dareads25's review against another edition
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
loley92's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
teecee86's review against another edition
4.0
A cleverly plotted murder mystery which revolves around Dent’s specialities – etymology and lexicography. The main characters work in Oxford at the Clarendon English Dictionary which gives Dent the freedom to indulge her passion of educating her readers on rare and interesting words and their provenance, sometimes to a distracting level of frequency. Despite this, the writing is excellent, and the overall story is great. I hope Dent continues crime writing as this is definitely promising for the future.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.
alison27's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
I listened to this book on Audio and found it to be quite tedious. I would say it needed at least 33% editing out. The ending reveal was good but even then there had to be a tedious & unnecessary epilogue.
grayroacegnome's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fantastic mystery, and I really enjoyed it - I highly recommend it to any lovers of mysteries and of words.
The clues were fantastically crafted, and I thought Susie Dent achieved a perfect balance with them - making them challenging but *just about* solvable with the right background knowledge (especially if you are a cryptic crossword fan like me!). The pacing of the story was also excellent, I felt carried through the story really smoothly and never wanted to put it down.
The characters weren't all given a huge amount of development, but I honestly didn't mind that; they got enough of a backstory and POV focus to let me connect with them individually, at least, without pulling from the main plot of solving the mystery unveiling via extremely cryptic letters.
It's no surprise that the book was also filled with a large number of enchantingly under-appreciated words (and explanations of their meaning or etymology), given the author's own vast experience as a lexicographer! I personally feel that they fit very nicely into the story, given the MCs are all lexicographers themselves, and I really loved learning so much about words I never knew and/or thought about before.
The mystery itself wasn't quite there for me; it was a little improbable (verging on, though never reaching, implausible) in places - but the vast majority of it held water, I still loved the journey through red herrings and possible solutions, and the eventual outcome did make sense to me.
I'm very glad to have read this book, and am keen to see if Susie Dent continues writing in future as I'd love to read more of her work. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre publisher for sending me an ARC (in exchange for an honest review), it was wonderful!
**I will now give a couple of minor Content Warnings, so be warned, here there be spoilers**:
Content Warnings:
- Bereavement (loss of parent, potentially also triggering for loss of a sibling)
- Cancer (mentioned in context of a parent having died from it, not described in detail)
The clues were fantastically crafted, and I thought Susie Dent achieved a perfect balance with them - making them challenging but *just about* solvable with the right background knowledge (especially if you are a cryptic crossword fan like me!). The pacing of the story was also excellent, I felt carried through the story really smoothly and never wanted to put it down.
The characters weren't all given a huge amount of development, but I honestly didn't mind that; they got enough of a backstory and POV focus to let me connect with them individually, at least, without pulling from the main plot of solving the mystery unveiling via extremely cryptic letters.
It's no surprise that the book was also filled with a large number of enchantingly under-appreciated words (and explanations of their meaning or etymology), given the author's own vast experience as a lexicographer! I personally feel that they fit very nicely into the story, given the MCs are all lexicographers themselves, and I really loved learning so much about words I never knew and/or thought about before.
The mystery itself wasn't quite there for me; it was a little improbable (verging on, though never reaching, implausible) in places - but the vast majority of it held water, I still loved the journey through red herrings and possible solutions, and the eventual outcome did make sense to me.
I'm very glad to have read this book, and am keen to see if Susie Dent continues writing in future as I'd love to read more of her work. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre publisher for sending me an ARC (in exchange for an honest review), it was wonderful!
**I will now give a couple of minor Content Warnings, so be warned, here there be spoilers**:
Content Warnings:
Spoiler
- Bereavement (loss of parent, potentially also triggering for loss of a sibling)
- Cancer (mentioned in context of a parent having died from it, not described in detail)
katiemalone301's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It lost a star because I got to the epilogue and saw it was AN HOUR LONG!
It lost the other star because Martha’s dad was a prick and deserved to be put into a home. He might as well of told her that he’d wished she’d gone missing instead of Charlie and at the end only showed her any affection AFTER she’d solved the mystery of Charlie’s disappearance…. Horrific excuse of a parent.
It lost the other star because Martha’s dad was a prick and deserved to be put into a home. He might as well of told her that he’d wished she’d gone missing instead of Charlie and at the end only showed her any affection AFTER she’d solved the mystery of Charlie’s disappearance…. Horrific excuse of a parent.
amywarren's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
nenenest's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the book. However sometimes the author forgot she was writing a mystery not a non-fiction book about words. Also I never really understood the letters and their solutions.