Reviews

A murder mystery set in a small village in Ireland, a place full of lonely people with unfulfilled destinies. Whose are the bones that are discovered when a new housing estate is being built? How do they relate to a love triangle from thirty years ago? Is the local policeman capable of investigating?

Despite the overwhelming sadness surrounding most of the characters, I felt that this was an attempt at a comedy murder mystery. The characters were stereotypical : the fat policeman, the alcoholic housewife, the cheating husband, a whole chorus-line of unfulfilled spinsters etc and although there were attempts to give them more dimensions, the fact that these too were from the stock of the genre failed to make any of them come alive for me.

The story was told in the past tense from the multiple perspective of several of the main characters.

dunnadam's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved this book. Wasn't sure what to expect from Graham Norton the author but it wasn't this level of emotionally satisfying story. The book is written SO well, with a real eye for small town Irish life and a lilt of accent in his voice.
Only thing I found missing was a gay character, rather like James Baldwin writing Giovanni's Room about write people, I thought, though they were at least gay white people. Does a gay author have an obligation to write about gay people? Don't know, I was thinking maybe the neighbor or something.
Anyway these are after thoughts as this well written story sailed along so well. Loved the journey.

mariarty24601's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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