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octavietullier's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre, on y retrouve ce que j'adore chez O'Connel, un style élégant servi par un narrateur peu fiable, un mystère pas très réaliste certe mais bien monté, et surtout des personnages originaux et touchants, sans l'effet outré des derniers livres de la série. Mais la traduction est assez faible. Des expressions un peu vieillottes en France, du type "Ma foi", et le style reprend le phrasé des expressions anglaises sans l'adapter.
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure I'm happy about living in a world where a man lying bleeding to death on the floor of an art gallery can be mistaken for art. I don't think it's so very far-fetched, either.
Interesting characters here, to say the least. In a series that shines spotlights on some of New York's Craziest, this was extreme: there is a fashion terrorist, one of the more horrific murder scenes O'Connell has featured (the details of which are one of those things which most of the characters know, but which are kept up the book's sleeve until near the end), and … the art world. 'Nuff said. There are reasons I'm just as happy never to have joined the world of working artists, and it's personalities such as are brought into this story (not very widely caricatured, I fear) that rank high among them.
I couldn't help asking one question through at least the first half of Killing Critics, having just come away from The Man Who Cast Two Shadows: what happened to the cat? This is where I discovered that once something has happened it's happened and is very unlikely to be addressed in any other book. While these books are sequential to some degree – Mallory's actions in the first book lead to her promotion in the second from sergeant to detective, and her actions at the end of Killing Critics feed directly into Stone Angel – they seem designed to be almost purely standalone (which means I could have just jumped in with the ARC I received of Chalk Girl and been just fine… Oh well).
There are two certain hallmarks of a Mallory novel: there will be something major O'Connell hides from the reader (here the details of the horrific murders which seem to have laid the groundwork for the ones currently under investigation), and the writing will be beautiful. Actually, as I've discovered in reading the series in sequence, there are others as well, but those can wait.
Interesting characters here, to say the least. In a series that shines spotlights on some of New York's Craziest, this was extreme: there is a fashion terrorist, one of the more horrific murder scenes O'Connell has featured (the details of which are one of those things which most of the characters know, but which are kept up the book's sleeve until near the end), and … the art world. 'Nuff said. There are reasons I'm just as happy never to have joined the world of working artists, and it's personalities such as are brought into this story (not very widely caricatured, I fear) that rank high among them.
I couldn't help asking one question through at least the first half of Killing Critics, having just come away from The Man Who Cast Two Shadows: what happened to the cat? This is where I discovered that once something has happened it's happened and is very unlikely to be addressed in any other book. While these books are sequential to some degree – Mallory's actions in the first book lead to her promotion in the second from sergeant to detective, and her actions at the end of Killing Critics feed directly into Stone Angel – they seem designed to be almost purely standalone (which means I could have just jumped in with the ARC I received of Chalk Girl and been just fine… Oh well).
There are two certain hallmarks of a Mallory novel: there will be something major O'Connell hides from the reader (here the details of the horrific murders which seem to have laid the groundwork for the ones currently under investigation), and the writing will be beautiful. Actually, as I've discovered in reading the series in sequence, there are others as well, but those can wait.
trisha76's review against another edition
4.0
Een bekende kunstenaar wordt vermoord tijdens de opening van een expositie. Wie de dader is, is niet bekend. Want ondanks de honderden aanwezigen is de moord zonder veel omhaal gepleegd.
Kathleen Mallory herinnert zich een moord die twaalf jaar eerder was gepleegd. Het speelveld was hetzelfde, namelijk de kunstenaarswereld.
Mallory wilt de zaak oplossen, maar krijgt de opdracht van hoger hand om de zaak te laten liggen. Mallory kan hier niet mee omgaan en besluit met het onderzoek verder te gaan.
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Helaas kan ik over dit boek weinig melden. Ik weet dat het een spannend en boeiend boek was. Het hield je vast tot het eind en je werd continu op het verkeerde been gezet. Je blijft betrokken bij de hoofdpersonen en de emoties zijn tastbaar. Je leeft gewoon mee.
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Over Carol O'Connell is weinig bekend. Ze is in de Verenigde Staten geboren in het jaar 1947. Studeerde aan California Institute of Arts/Chouinard en aan de Universiteit van Arizona. Ze woont in New York. Haar laatste boek is verschenen in 2010.
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Boekinformatie
Uitgeverij: Meulenhoff
ISBN: 90.290.6819.1
350 pagina's; Paperback
Kathleen Mallory herinnert zich een moord die twaalf jaar eerder was gepleegd. Het speelveld was hetzelfde, namelijk de kunstenaarswereld.
Mallory wilt de zaak oplossen, maar krijgt de opdracht van hoger hand om de zaak te laten liggen. Mallory kan hier niet mee omgaan en besluit met het onderzoek verder te gaan.
---
Helaas kan ik over dit boek weinig melden. Ik weet dat het een spannend en boeiend boek was. Het hield je vast tot het eind en je werd continu op het verkeerde been gezet. Je blijft betrokken bij de hoofdpersonen en de emoties zijn tastbaar. Je leeft gewoon mee.
---
Over Carol O'Connell is weinig bekend. Ze is in de Verenigde Staten geboren in het jaar 1947. Studeerde aan California Institute of Arts/Chouinard en aan de Universiteit van Arizona. Ze woont in New York. Haar laatste boek is verschenen in 2010.
---
Boekinformatie
Uitgeverij: Meulenhoff
ISBN: 90.290.6819.1
350 pagina's; Paperback
chyde's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a very weird little book. It's quite beautiful in places. It's not your typical detective mystery/thriller. The mystery itself doesn't make much sense but the characters are very interested so by the end you don't really care that it's totally implausible and wrapped up too neatly.
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
4.0
Mallory is basically a non-verbal Sherlock Holmes. She is gorgeous, brilliant, perfect with weaponry, emotionally masked, above physical desire, and unerring.
Still, these books are pretty awesome. These are some evil characters and some pretty wooden dialogue (you never worry that a villain is going to turn out to have a good reason for doing stuff... a murderer maybe, but never a villain) but every once in a while there's a scene that just knocks you for a loop. Messy genre stuff that digs deep and connects.
Still, these books are pretty awesome. These are some evil characters and some pretty wooden dialogue (you never worry that a villain is going to turn out to have a good reason for doing stuff... a murderer maybe, but never a villain) but every once in a while there's a scene that just knocks you for a loop. Messy genre stuff that digs deep and connects.
nocto's review against another edition
So far I'm not finding this as good as the previous book in the series, probably because the focus is on the mystery rather than on the intriguing character of Mallory. It's reminding me somewhat of Sara Paretsky's standalone book Ghost Country because of the assortment of characters whose viewpoints we keep switching too.
The second half of the book was a big improvement on the first half culminating in a fantastic ending that has left me intrigued as to where O'Connell will go next with this series.
happlepider's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The book has an interesting premise and milieu - of an 'art terrorist' who commits real murders, and the art world - but doesn't really deliver in its end stages. I didn't actually know that it was book 3 of a series - this wasn't mentioned anywhere on my copy - although Mallory is clearly the lead / focus character all the same. The author's other favourite character is art dealer Quinn, who is supposedly a suspect until very late on in the book, except the author is so clearly enamoured of him too that it was obvious that him being the murderer (or murdered) was never going to happen. It was all a lead up to a 'sexy' fight between him and mallory that dragged the momentum out of the final 100 pages completely - the only character I got at all attached to is his hang-dog competitor, Charles - and then the murderer turns out to be the author's blatantly least favourite character, Emma Sue Halloran, who is not allowed to be on the page without being described as fat, stupid, ugly, old, spoiled, desperate, delusional and / or getting rejected by a much better looking male character who both sneers at and vaguely pities her. It's a shame, because the book has some good moments - in particular, another character who adopts the mantle of 'art terrorist' to chastise new yorkers for crimes of fashion.
nutti72's review against another edition
3.0
Mallory being Mallory. She did end up solving the one that got away from her father, but man what a price she had to pay.
lauraellis's review
medium-paced
4.0
A great third in the Mallory series, although it took me awhile to get into it. In this one, an art critic is killed and Mallory links it to a case her father never felt was solved. Also, there were some more details about her growing up. I was crushed to discover, however, that just when Charles gathered together the courage to tell her he loved her, Mallory leaves town without a trace.