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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Tuesday Mooney, prospect researcher (how many books use this as a character's job? This position sets her up perfectly for the rest of the book), is quiet, pale, and wears a lot of black. She has one good friend, Poindexter "Dex". Investment banker by day but with a flamboyant gay man who likes to wear dresses and makeup in his off time. He is the one standing next to Laila "Lyle" Pryce when her eccentric husband dies at a fundraiser Tuesday's nonprofit is running (though, why is she signed up as a volunteer? She works for the company). It is also Dex who sends Tuesday a link to the newspaper article announcing that Vincent Pryce (yes, really) has left clues around the city for people to solve a mystery that will lead them to inherit from his vast estate.
Tuesday is also approached to help by a man she identifies as Nathaniel Arches, a wealthy man whose family was in a feud with Vincent Pryce. But he has his own reasons for wanting to get to the end of the game; reasons he doesn't want to share with Tuesday.
She begins the game by asking her 15-year-old neighbor Dory to join in but drops her as soon as Dory's father asks. Which was interesting--most stories would have Tuesday forging ahead with her friendship with Dory no matter what rather than complying with her parent's request.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a "grown-up Westing Game" like some other reviewers but it certainly has elements of fun and mystery that make it a quick read.
Tuesday is also approached to help by a man she identifies as Nathaniel Arches, a wealthy man whose family was in a feud with Vincent Pryce. But he has his own reasons for wanting to get to the end of the game; reasons he doesn't want to share with Tuesday.
She begins the game by asking her 15-year-old neighbor Dory to join in but drops her as soon as Dory's father asks. Which was interesting--most stories would have Tuesday forging ahead with her friendship with Dory no matter what rather than complying with her parent's request.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a "grown-up Westing Game" like some other reviewers but it certainly has elements of fun and mystery that make it a quick read.
“Did you ever think about that, like, does Hogwarts offer need-based tuition assistance?”
What a super fun book! An absolute adventure that sucked me in from the start! It has tons of twists and turns and was like an Alfred Hitchcock story! I loved all the characters and the audio was brilliantly read!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tuesday Mooney is going about her life when an opportunity to solve a mystery comes up. Tuesday is going on an adventure to solve a dying billionaires riddle. The adventure sounds like it's going to be fun....it was not.
The premises was exciting, but we spend 3/4 of the book on other things. Tuesday has friends that want to help, but she immediately ditches them for a man she barely knows. Dax says that Tuesday has "trust issues" yet she is drawn to Archie who she knows is hiding something big. Tuesday also doesn't talk to ghosts. She may talk to one ghost, but she doesn't think she's a real ghost.
The premises was exciting, but we spend 3/4 of the book on other things. Tuesday has friends that want to help, but she immediately ditches them for a man she barely knows. Dax says that Tuesday has "trust issues" yet she is drawn to Archie who she knows is hiding something big. Tuesday also doesn't talk to ghosts. She may talk to one ghost, but she doesn't think she's a real ghost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Came highly recommended and lived up to all my expectations. This book checked so many boxes for me. Strong plot, mysteries, but characters and stakes high enough that it felt worth my time, not just trashy.
So so good and engaging.
So so good and engaging.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I. love. atmospheric. novels.
This one reminds me a lot of Karen McManus's work, but for adults. There is a sad absence of macabre quest-based treasure hunt murder mysteries in adult novels, so I normally turn to YA to satisfy that craving. But with this book you can have it all!
Racculia certainly knows how to turn a phrase, and it was refreshing to learn a heap of words I didn't know. Her characters are complex and well-developed and SO UNIQUE, and the plot is exciting and keeps you guessing and helps the characters find themselves. I actually asked my local librarian for recommendations based on And Then There Were None and The Seven and a Half Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle, so if you're fans of those, this may be a winner.
Now, this isn't a love story (God bless), but a few quotes did hit my gut:
• "The world was big and strange and exciting, and as long as you had your true partner — and you loved each other so much you couldn't even, like, discuss it — you would live to fight another monster. You might meet a miracle." MY HEART??? I want that!!!
• "I hate that phrase ['just friends']. Don't cheat your friendships. Don't ask them to mean less to you than they do, or think they only have value if they're a stop on the way to a real relationship. All relationships are real. Friendships can be as deep as the ocean. It's all a kind of love, and love isn't any one kind of thing." Just...
This one reminds me a lot of Karen McManus's work, but for adults. There is a sad absence of macabre quest-based treasure hunt murder mysteries in adult novels, so I normally turn to YA to satisfy that craving. But with this book you can have it all!
Racculia certainly knows how to turn a phrase, and it was refreshing to learn a heap of words I didn't know. Her characters are complex and well-developed and SO UNIQUE, and the plot is exciting and keeps you guessing and helps the characters find themselves. I actually asked my local librarian for recommendations based on And Then There Were None and The Seven and a Half Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle, so if you're fans of those, this may be a winner.
Now, this isn't a love story (God bless), but a few quotes did hit my gut:
• "The world was big and strange and exciting, and as long as you had your true partner — and you loved each other so much you couldn't even, like, discuss it — you would live to fight another monster. You might meet a miracle." MY HEART??? I want that!!!
• "I hate that phrase ['just friends']. Don't cheat your friendships. Don't ask them to mean less to you than they do, or think they only have value if they're a stop on the way to a real relationship. All relationships are real. Friendships can be as deep as the ocean. It's all a kind of love, and love isn't any one kind of thing." Just...