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A review by tita_noir
Who Buries the Dead by C.S. Harris
3.0
It took me forever to read this. I started it and put it down, picked it up again and then put it down... you get the drift. I finally finished it and realize why I had a hard time staying engaged. It felt like treading water.
Three main things happen in this book:
- There is a central mystery centered on a murderer who is decapitating people
- There is some old business between Devlin and a despicable character from his past
- There is family business
The central mystery really wasn't exciting. Sure a mad decapitator should be interesting. But ultimately the main mystery didn't create any real tension. Devlin basically questions a bunch of people. Some people lie, so he circles back and re-questions them with some new information her learned. Some of the people he questions end up dead. And so on.
And then there was the inclusion of Jane Austen and her brother as characters/witnesses and a possible suspect. And oh by the way, everyone is reading that book about an English upper class family that feels so authentic but the author is mysterious, who could it be? See what she did there? Yeah, that felt a little too meta. I think the intro of the Austens was the first place I put the book down.
The rather more interesting piece of the book is Devlin's hateration for an old enemy who did something incredibly murderous and heinous and is super smug about it. And his stupid wife too. This little side plot was interesting and I really wanted Devlin to get his inner Hulk on and smash something. But alas, he was too civilized.
Meanwhile the personal stuff moves along. I always enjoy the parts of Hero and Devlin's relationship and am liking how they are settling into parenthood. And normally in my review of these books, this is the part where I roll my eyes about Hero's father, Jarvis. But damned if he didn't do something really rather gangsta that I could get behind 100%. Now if he could just get over what ever it is that chaps his ass about Devlin. There is a place where that just feels over-done and tiresome.
And finally, there is a death of a character that made me take an entire star off this book. It felt rather premature and feels like it really diminishes some of the potential of the story going forward.
Boo. Hiss.
Three main things happen in this book:
- There is a central mystery centered on a murderer who is decapitating people
- There is some old business between Devlin and a despicable character from his past
- There is family business
The central mystery really wasn't exciting. Sure a mad decapitator should be interesting. But ultimately the main mystery didn't create any real tension. Devlin basically questions a bunch of people. Some people lie, so he circles back and re-questions them with some new information her learned. Some of the people he questions end up dead. And so on.
And then there was the inclusion of Jane Austen and her brother as characters/witnesses and a possible suspect. And oh by the way, everyone is reading that book about an English upper class family that feels so authentic but the author is mysterious, who could it be? See what she did there? Yeah, that felt a little too meta. I think the intro of the Austens was the first place I put the book down.
The rather more interesting piece of the book is Devlin's hateration for an old enemy who did something incredibly murderous and heinous and is super smug about it. And his stupid wife too. This little side plot was interesting and I really wanted Devlin to get his inner Hulk on and smash something. But alas, he was too civilized.
Meanwhile the personal stuff moves along. I always enjoy the parts of Hero and Devlin's relationship and am liking how they are settling into parenthood. And normally in my review of these books, this is the part where I roll my eyes about Hero's father, Jarvis. But damned if he didn't do something really rather gangsta that I could get behind 100%. Now if he could just get over what ever it is that chaps his ass about Devlin. There is a place where that just feels over-done and tiresome.
And finally, there is a death of a character that made me take an entire star off this book. It felt rather premature and feels like it really diminishes some of the potential of the story going forward.
Boo. Hiss.