Reviews

A fun read

A fun read but honestly, the second book inside the book was mostly unnecessary. It made remembering the names of the characters so exhausting and confusing.

melissa_who_reads's review against another edition

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4.0

Enjoyed it, but not as much as Magpie Murders. I found the Atticus Pund novel thrust into the middle a bit jarring ... although I did enjoy that as well. All in all, a good outing. Lots of interesting characters and good plotting, though many of the characters were ... deeply unlikable.

pageboundreader's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gabmc's review

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4.0

I loved this second Susan Ryeland book - a book within a book with a very non-traditional detective. Susan Ryeland actually worked in publishing, as an editor of the 'Atticus Pund' series written by Alan Conway. Eight years prior to the action in this story there had been a murder at a hotel called Branlow Hall, owned by the Treherne family. Alan Conway visited the hotel shortly after the murder, as he had actually known the victim. A person had been convicted for that murder and was now in prison. After Alan's visit to Branlow Hall, he wrote 'Atticus Pund Takes the Case'. Cecily Treherne had just finished reading that book and was certain that the wrong man was in jail. She contacts her parents to let them know of her discovery and disappears soon after. The Trehernes then contact Susan to ask if she could come to Branlow Hall and see what she could come up with in terms of both the original murder and then the disappearance of Cecily. There is of course a cast of characters in the 'real' world, a few of whom could have killed the original victim. Inside this book is the complete Atticus book - so we get to read along with Susan and find out what Cecily had seen that convinced her that the wrong man had gone to jail. Many of the characters in the Atticus Pund book are based on staff at Branlow Hall. This book ticks a lot of my boxes (books about books, English mysteries and good characters) and I hope the author will write more in the series.

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